Using the MCP without running the command

[yldzmuhammed]

First of all, this is awesome. Thank you very much.
Second, do I have to run the npx figma-developer-mcp --figma-api-key=f command everytime? Is there anyway to make it run auto when I start the Cursor?
I am using Cursor 0.47 and I put my key into the MCP config file.

[ZhuoYitao]

This looks like something Cursor should do.

[GLips]

Yes! In the latest version of Cursor you should be able to update your mcp.json file with a config like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "figma-developer-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "figma-developer-mcp", "--stdio"],
      "env": {
        "FIGMA_API_KEY": "<your-figma-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

No server required.

[yldzmuhammed]

@GLips This is what the JSON file looks like after adding the MCP server but it doesn't work if I don't run the server separately from a terminal in Cursor. That is why I created this issue. Because I agree, the JSON you shared should work but it doesn't.
Here is what my mcp.json file looks like:
"figma-mcp": { "note-cmd": "npx figma-developer-mcp --figma-api-key=a figma key", "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "figma-developer-mcp", "--stdio"], "env": { "FIGMA_API_KEY": "a figma key" } }

Please, ignore the note-cmd part. I kept it as a note since it doesn't work without me running the server and I didn't want to find the command whenever I needed it.
When I try to use it without starting the server myself, I see the following error on the MCP menu:
SSE error: TypeError: fetch failed: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:3333, connect ECONNREFUSED ::1:3333

[GLips]

Gotcha. And if you delete the note-cmd it still doesn't work?

Try this instead (i.e. including the Figma API key as a command line argument rather than an environment variable)

    "Figma MCP - npx": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "figma-developer-mcp",
        "--figma-api-key=figd_xxxx",
        "--stdio"
      ]
    }

There shouldn't be any message about finding an SSE in the logs if you do it this way. When you run it this way it's a stdio server, which is different.

[souluu]

With stdio server, do we still need the SEE like this?

{
   "mcpServers": {
    "Figma-MCP": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3333/sse"
    },
    "Figma MCP - npx": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "figma-developer-mcp",
        "--figma-api-key=key",
        "--stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

[yldzmuhammed]

@GLips I changed my MCP json file according to your suggestions but no difference.
Worst part is, now nothing works. Browser tools plugin for Chrome is keep failing.

[GLips]

@souluu, no, with the stdio server you don't need the SSE configuration.

@yldzmuhammed, I'm not sure what that's a screenshot of, but are you on Windows? If so, your configuration would look like this instead:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Framelink Figma MCP": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": [
        "/c",
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "figma-developer-mcp",
        "--figma-api-key=YOUR-KEY",
        "--stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

If you continue to have issues, copy and paste the logs from CMD + Shift + P > Show Developer Logs > Cursor MCP and we'll see what we can do.

[yldzmuhammed]

That screenshot was from a Mac Chrome browser. I was also using Browser-Tools MCP, which is what it was.
For some reason, this MCP is not very consistent on my computer. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.
How I know it doesn't work is the Cursor starts telling me it can not access Figma files even if I tell it to use MCP for Figma.
I really don't know what to tell you. I am a software developer too and I understand you need more information about the issue so you can figure it out. But belive me, I don't have any errors or warning when I run the MCP with the commands you tell us to use in the repo.