openpencil/packages/docs/reference/cli.md
Danila Poyarkov 7ee621ec41
feat: import and export W3C design tokens (#964)
* feat(core): read and write W3C design tokens

Variables export as DTCG 2025.10 token files, one per collection mode in the shape Figma imports, with text and effect styles as typography and shadow tokens and a resolver document that combines them. OpenPencil's own token fields ride in a dev.openpencil extension, so an export reads back as it was.

Import reads plain mode files, resolver documents, and Tokens Studio themes, plans what it would add, update, or skip against the document without changing it, and applies the plan as one undo step: values merge into variables by name, nothing is deleted, and an updated style updates the layers that use it.

* feat: import and export design tokens from the variables dialog

The stylesheet menu exports the document's variables and styles as a zip of W3C design tokens, and Import design tokens reads token files, folders, or a zip into a dialog that shows where each collection and mode goes, what would be added, updated, or skipped and why, before applying it as one undo step.

* feat: import and export design tokens from tools and the CLI

openpencil tokens --format dtcg --out <folder> writes the token files, design_to_tokens takes the same format, and import_design_tokens imports token files into a document for AI, MCP, and openpencil tool call. The editor and these paths share one apply step behind a target interface: the editor makes each change undoable, a headless document takes them directly.

Re-importing an export changes nothing it does not need to: values that match are left alone, layers that use an updated style are changed only outside instances, where they follow their component, and collections that share a name keep their own files apart.

* perf(core): index token lookups when planning an import

Resolving each reference scanned every token and variable, which made importing a large design system quadratic. A resolver now also finds files picked without their folders by name.

* docs: document design token import and export

* test: type the design token result in the tokens command test

* fix: lay out the design token import dialog as a mapping list

Each collection and mode sits beside the picker for where it goes, in one bordered list, so the pickers no longer read as headings. Skipped tokens use AppCollapsible, file problems AppAlert, and the counts move to the footer.

* fix: keep durations, variable metadata, and style edits through design token import

A duration Figma's format writes in seconds goes back into a variable that holds milliseconds. Tokens without OpenPencil's extension leave an updated variable's unit, scopes, and code syntax as they are. A style token whose value was edited in another tool takes that edit instead of the stale exact fields its extension still carries. Aliases to a repeated collection name resolve within one collection, a collection named Styles no longer collides with the resolver's styles set, and the dialog plans again when the document changes and right before applying. The editor imports the apply step directly rather than the whole format barrel.

* fix: keep effect order and explicit alias targets in design token import

Edited shadows take the places of the shadows they replace, so blurs keep their positions. An alias whose Figma data names a collection that is left out or absent is missing rather than bound to the same path in another collection. The resolver reserves the Styles set name only when there is a styles file.

* perf(cli): print token stylesheets without loading every page

A CSS or Tailwind stylesheet reads only variables, which load with the document, so tokens skips populating and laying out every page as variables already does. On an 85 MB design kit this takes the command from about seven minutes to seconds.
2026-10-08 16:53:46 +00:00

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title description
CLI Reference Complete reference for all openpencil commands, options, and flags.

CLI Reference

Document commands accept a .fig file as a positional argument. When omitted, the CLI connects to the running desktop app via RPC. documents, undo, redo, and settings always act on the running app.

info

Show document info — pages, node counts, fonts, file size.

openpencil info [file] [--json]
Option Description
--json Output as JSON

tree

Print the node hierarchy.

openpencil tree [file] [options]
Option Description
--page Page name (default: first page)
--depth Max depth (default: unlimited)
--json Output as JSON

find

Search nodes by name or type.

openpencil find [file] [options]
Option Description
--name Node name (partial match, case-insensitive)
--type Node type: FRAME, TEXT, RECTANGLE, INSTANCE, etc.
--page Page name (default: all pages)
--limit Max results (default: 100)
--json Output as JSON

node

Show detailed properties of a node.

openpencil node [file] --id <id> [--json]
Option Description
--id Required. Node ID (e.g. 1:23)
--json Output as JSON

pages

List all pages in the document.

openpencil pages [file] [--json]
Option Description
--json Output as JSON

variables

List design variables and collections.

openpencil variables [file] [options]
Option Description
--collection Filter by collection name
--type Filter by type: COLOR, FLOAT, STRING, BOOLEAN
--json Output as JSON

tokens

Print design variables as a stylesheet of CSS custom properties. Default mode values go in :root; every other mode overrides them under its condition, [data-<collection>="<mode>"] unless the mode names a selector or @media query. Aliases stay var() references. Tokens or modes that cannot be written are listed on stderr.

openpencil tokens [file] [options]
Option Description
--format css (default), tailwind for a Tailwind v4 @theme with a @custom-variant per mode, or dtcg for W3C design token files
--out, -o Folder the dtcg files are written to; required for that format
--collection Filter by collection name
--type Filter by type: COLOR, FLOAT, STRING, BOOLEAN
--json Output { css, tokenCount, issues } as JSON

export

Export to PNG, JPG, WEBP, SVG, JSX, HTML, .fig, or Storybook stories.

openpencil export [file] [options]
Option Alias Description
--format -f png (default), jpg, webp, svg, pdf, pptx, jsx, tailwind-jsx, html, fig, storybook
--output -o Output file path (default: <name>.<format>); a directory for storybook (default: <name>-stories)
--scale -s Export scale (default: 1)
--quality -q Quality 0–100, JPG/WEBP only (default: 90)
--page Page name (default: first page; fig, pptx, and storybook default to every page)
--node Node ID to export (default: all top-level nodes)
--style JSX style: openpencil (default), tailwind (same as -f tailwind-jsx)
--html HTML mode: fragment (default), standalone
--css HTML CSS output: inline (default), tailwind
--assets Standalone HTML assets: inline (default), external
--fonts Standalone HTML font output: assets, none (default)
--framework Storybook framework: react (default), vue, html
--design-images Storybook: render a PNG per variant for the Design panel (default: on; --no-design-images to skip)
--watch Storybook: re-export whenever the document is saved
--beside Storybook: write each document's stories into the document's own folder; the file argument can then be several files or a quoted glob
--thumbnail Export page thumbnail instead of full render
--width Thumbnail width (default: 1920)
--height Thumbnail height (default: 1080)

import

Import HTML/CSS/Tailwind into an editable OpenPencil document.

openpencil import page.html [options]
Option Alias Description
--format -f Output format: fig (default), json
--output -o Output file path (default: <name>.<format>)
--css CSS file to apply before conversion
--css-text Inline CSS text to apply before conversion
--tailwind Tailwind utility candidates to compile and apply
--tailwind-file File containing Tailwind utility candidates
--page-name Scene graph page name (default: DOM/CSS)
--json Print a machine-readable summary

Examples:

openpencil import card.html --css card.css -o card.fig
openpencil import card.html --tailwind "flex flex-col gap-3 w-80 p-6 rounded-xl bg-white" -o card.fig

eval

Execute JavaScript with the Figma Plugin API.

openpencil eval [file] [options]
Option Alias Description
--code -c JavaScript code to execute
--stdin Read code from stdin
--write -w Write changes back to the input file
--output -o Write to a different file
--json Output as JSON
--quiet -q Suppress output

analyze colors

Analyze color palette usage across the document.

openpencil analyze colors [file] [options]
Option Description
--limit Max colors to show (default: 30)
--threshold Distance threshold for clustering similar colors, 0–50 (default: 15)
--similar Show similar color clusters
--json Output as JSON

analyze typography

Analyze font family, size, and weight distribution.

openpencil analyze typography [file] [options]
Option Description
--group-by Group by: family, size, weight (default: show all styles)
--limit Max styles to show (default: 30)
--json Output as JSON

analyze spacing

Analyze gap and padding values across auto-layout frames.

openpencil analyze spacing [file] [options]
Option Description
--grid Base grid size to check against (default: 8)
--json Output as JSON

analyze clusters

Find repeated node patterns — potential components.

openpencil analyze clusters [file] [options]
Option Description
--limit Max clusters to show (default: 20)
--min-size Min node size in px (default: 30)
--min-count Min instances to form a cluster (default: 2)
--json Output as JSON

diff create

Patch that turns one node tree into another, as JSX attribute changes plus moved, added, and removed children. Children match by name; see Comparing designs for the format.

openpencil diff create [file] --from <id> --to <id> [options]
Option Description
--from Source node ID
--to Target node ID
--depth Max tree depth (default: 10)
--json Output as JSON

diff jsx

Structural diff between two nodes as design JSX.

openpencil diff jsx [file] --from <id> --to <id> [--json]

diff show

Preview the patch that setting JSX attributes on a node would produce, without changing it.

openpencil diff show <id> [file] --attributes '<jsx attributes>' [--json]

--attributes takes attributes as the JSX export writes them, such as 'w={200} bg="#FF0000"'.

diff apply

Apply a patch from diff create, diff show, or diff files. Every node must still match the patch's old values unless --force is set, and nothing changes unless every hunk applies.

openpencil diff apply <patch> [file] [options]
Option Alias Description
--dry-run Validate and list changes without applying
--force Apply even when current values differ from the patch
--write -w Write changes back to the input file
--output -o Write to a different file
--json Output as JSON

Pass - as the patch path to read it from stdin.

diff visual

Pixel diff between two rendered nodes, written as a PNG with changed pixels in red.

openpencil diff visual [file] --from <id> --to <id> --output <png> [options]
Option Alias Description
--output -o Diff PNG path
--scale Render scale before the max-edge limit (default: 1)
--max-edge Maximum image width or height (default: 1280)
--threshold Color tolerance 0–1; smaller is stricter (default: 0.1)
--json Output as JSON

diff files

Structural diff of two documents, page by page. Pages match by name and nodes by name path, so two versions of a file compare even though their node IDs differ. Exits with status 1 when the documents differ and 2 when the options are invalid, such as a --page neither document has.

openpencil diff files <before> <after> [options]
Option Description
--page Compare only the page with this name
--depth Max tree depth below each page (default: unlimited)
--json Output as JSON

documents

Manage documents (tabs) in the running app. See Controlling the App.

openpencil documents list [--json]
openpencil documents open <file> [--json]
openpencil documents new [--path <file>] [--json]
openpencil documents save [--path <file>] [--document-id <id>] [--json]
openpencil documents close [--save | --discard] [--path <file>] [--document-id <id>] [--json]
openpencil documents activate <document-id> [--page-id <id>] [--json]
Option Description
--path .fig path to create or save to; relative to the current directory
--save close: save unsaved changes first
--discard close: close without saving; unsaved changes are lost
--document-id Target document; defaults to the active tab
--page-id Page to switch the activated document to
--json Output the result and target document as JSON

undo / redo

Undo or redo the newest change made through the CLI or MCP in the running app. Fails when the newest change was made in the editor; see Controlling the App.

openpencil undo [--document-id <id>] [--json]
openpencil redo [--document-id <id>] [--json]

settings

Read and change editor settings in the running app by dotted key. Values parse as JSON, falling back to plain strings.

openpencil settings get [key] [--json]
openpencil settings set <key> <value> [--json]

See Controlling the App for the available keys.

tool

List, describe, and call the editor tools that the MCP server exposes.

openpencil tool list [--json]
openpencil tool describe <name> [--json]
openpencil tool call <name> [file] [options]
Option Alias Description
--args Tool arguments as a JSON object
--args-file Read arguments from a JSON file, or - for stdin
--write -w Headless: write changes back to the input file
--output -o Headless: write changes to a different file
--document-id App: target document
--page-id App: target page
--json Output as JSON