Figma Expands Support for MCP Despite Co-founder Dylan Field's Reservations

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Figma is broadening support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) with 20 new partners, though co-founder Dylan Field acknowledges MCP's limitations and concerns about data exposure risks.

At its first Config conference in India, design platform Figma announced the addition of 20 new partners supporting the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard aimed at connecting AI agents to external tools and data sources. Among the new MCP partners are Amp, ClickUp, Dia, Junie by JetBrains, Linear, Meta Muse, Mistral, Notion, OpenCode, and Sarvam Agents, reinforcing Figma's commitment to expand interoperability within its ecosystem.

Despite this expansion, Figma co-founder Dylan Field publicly expressed reservations about MCP’s current state. He highlighted that while the protocol facilitates greater openness, it is imperfect and offers significant scope for improvement. Field pointed out that MCP tends to favor cutting-edge labs, suggesting an imbalance in how context data is shared among participants.

Field also discussed concerns about asymmetric sharing of context that could occur when entities expose or withhold certain AI resources via MCP. He specifically noted Anthropic, a co-creator of MCP, does not make some of its computing artifacts and cloud resources available through the protocol, raising questions about completeness and openness.

Addressing potential risks of data exposure, Field emphasized that Figma aims to be as open as possible but must carefully control the amount of data shared through MCP. Increased exposure heightens the risk of misuse, although most users do not intend malicious purposes. This caution reflects Figma’s efforts to balance openness with security and privacy.

Field’s recent remarks came after criticism regarding Figma’s initial lack of support for the open-source AI tool Pi, which the company now plans to integrate, further demonstrating responsiveness to community feedback.

In summary, Figma is enhancing its support for MCP to foster a more connected and versatile design ecosystem while acknowledging the protocol’s current shortcomings and the necessity to mitigate potential abuse risks associated with greater data exposure.