MCP server

The Subframe MCP server gives AI coding assistants like Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex direct access to your Subframe projects. AI can read, design, and delete pages, components, and snippets, screenshot pages and components, read prototypes, write design documents, edit the theme, and search the Subframe docs. A separate Subframe Docs MCP server gives AI access to Subframe documentation (this site).

Installing the MCP server and Agent skills

Claude Code
Claude Desktop
Cursor
Codex
Other clients

Install the Subframe plugin

claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/SubframeApp/subframe && claude plugin install subframe@subframe

The Subframe plugin for Claude Code sets up the MCP server and agent skills in one install.

Enable auto-update (recommended)

Keep the Subframe plugin up to date automatically:

Run /plugin to open the plugin manager
Select the Marketplaces tab
Choose the subframe marketplace
Select Enable auto-update

Verify installation

Run /mcp to check that the Subframe MCP server is connected, then try asking Claude Code to use Subframe.

Add the Subframe connector

Go to Customize > Connectors
Click and select Add custom connector
Set the name to Subframe
For Remote MCP Server URL, paste the following URL:
https://mcp.subframe.com/mcp
Click Add

Authenticate

Find the Subframe connector in your connectors list and click Connect. Follow the instructions on the Subframe website to complete authentication.

Install MCP servers

Add the Subframe MCP servers to Cursor. You’ll be prompted to authenticate via OAuth.

Troubleshooting: Manual installation

If the install links don’t work, make the following changes to ~/.cursor/mcp.json.

~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "subframe": {
      "url": "https://mcp.subframe.com/mcp"
    },
    "subframe-docs": {
      "url": "https://docs.subframe.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Cursor will handle OAuth authentication automatically when you first connect.

Install agent skills

Agent skills are guided workflows that teach Cursor how to best use Subframe. Install them with:

npx skills add https://github.com/SubframeApp/subframe --skill '*' -g --agent cursor --yes

Verify installation

Check that the Subframe MCP server has successfully connected in Cursor Settings > MCP, then try asking Cursor to use Subframe.

Install MCP servers

Run the following commands to add the Subframe MCP servers and authenticate:

codex mcp add subframe --url https://mcp.subframe.com/mcp && codex mcp add subframe-docs --url https://docs.subframe.com/mcp && codex mcp login subframe

Troubleshooting: Manual installation

If the commands above don’t work, add the following to ~/.codex/config.toml:

~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.subframe]
url = "https://mcp.subframe.com/mcp"

[mcp_servers.subframe-docs]
url = "https://docs.subframe.com/mcp"

Then authenticate:

codex mcp login subframe

Install agent skills

Agent skills are guided workflows that teach Codex how to best use Subframe. Install them with:

npx skills add https://github.com/SubframeApp/subframe --skill '*' -g --agent codex --yes

Verify installation

Run /mcp in Codex to check that the Subframe MCP server is connected, then try asking Codex to use Subframe.

Configure the Subframe MCP Server

Configure your MCP client to connect to the Subframe MCP server:

URL: https://mcp.subframe.com/mcp
Transport: HTTP
Authentication: OAuth (your client will handle the authentication flow)

Configure the Subframe Docs MCP Server (optional)

Optionally add the Subframe Docs MCP server for documentation access:

URL: https://docs.subframe.com/mcp
Transport: HTTP
Authentication: None required

Install agent skills (optional)

If your client supports the Agent Skills standard, install the Subframe skills with:

npx skills add https://github.com/SubframeApp/subframe --skill '*' --agent '*' --yes

Verify installation

Restart your MCP client, then check that the Subframe MCP server has successfully connected and try asking your AI assistant to use Subframe.

Using Agent skills

Agent skills are guided workflows that teach your AI agent how to use Subframe. The MCP server gives the agent access to Subframe, while the skills teach it what to do with that access. Subframe provides three skills:

/subframe:design designs and edits pages, components, snippets, design documents, and themes in Subframe
/subframe:develop implements a Subframe design in your codebase and adds the required application logic
/subframe:install installs Subframe in a codebase and configures its theme, fonts, and components

Agent skills use the Agent Skills open standard ↗.

Keeping Agent skills up to date

The Subframe plugin for Claude Code can update itself automatically. For Cursor, Codex, and other clients, check for updates with:

npx skills check

Install available updates with:

npx skills update

Enabling the Claude Code plugin for your team

Add the following to .claude/settings.json so team members are prompted to install the Subframe plugin:

.claude/settings.json

{
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "subframe@subframe": true
  },
  "extraKnownMarketplaces": {
    "subframe": {
      "source": {
        "source": "github",
        "repo": "SubframeApp/subframe"
      }
    }
  }
}

Commit this file to your repository.

Using the MCP server

Once configured, your AI assistant can access Subframe automatically when you prompt or paste an MCP link to a page from the Code panel. You can get the MCP link for any design by either:

Copying the link from the browser address bar
Copying the link under Code > Inspect in Subframe

Available tools

The Subframe MCP server exposes tools across several categories. Most read tools take a projectId. If omitted, the first project the user has access to is used.

Discovery

Tool	Description
`list_projects`	List the projects you have access to
`generate_auth_token`	Generate a CLI auth token for a team
`get_project_info`	Get project metadata and its design documents
`search_docs`	Search the Subframe documentation

Pages

Tool	Description
`list_pages`	List all pages and the flows they belong to
`get_page_info`	Get a page’s generated React and Tailwind code
`design_page`	Generate new page designs from a description
`edit_page`	Edit a single element on a page
`screenshot_page`	Screenshot a page, a single element, or a breakpoint
`delete_page`	Delete a page

Components

Tool	Description
`list_components`	List all components
`get_component_info`	Get a component’s generated code and design document
`screenshot_component`	Screenshot a component’s variants and states
`design_component`	Design a new component from a description
`edit_component`	Edit a component, updating every page that uses it
`delete_component`	Delete a component or custom page layout

Snippets

Snippets are small, standalone bits of UI typically embedded inside design documents as live examples (e.g. a “Button variants” snippet showing every Button state). They live within Subframe and do not sync out.

Tool	Description
`list_snippets`	List all snippets
`get_snippet_info`	Get a snippet’s generated code
`design_snippet`	Design a new snippet from a description
`edit_snippet`	Edit a single element in a snippet
`delete_snippet`	Delete a snippet and remove it from any design documents

Flows

A flow is a collection of related pages (e.g. “Onboarding”, “Checkout”).

Tool	Description
`list_flows`	List all flows
`get_flow_info`	Get a flow and its ordered pages
`delete_flow`	Delete a flow, optionally with the pages inside it

Prototypes

A prototype is an interactive, AI-built running app — its own React + Vite codebase — created in the Subframe prototyping editor. The read tools below expose a prototype as a standalone, runnable Vite app: internal scaffolding is dropped and the Vite/Tailwind config plus an entrypoint are added, so the file paths and contents you get back are ready to run with npm install && npm run dev.

Tool	Description
`list_prototypes`	List all prototypes
`get_prototype_info`	Get a prototype’s metadata and file list
`read_prototype_file`	Read one file from a prototype

Design documents

Design documents are markdown files that convey how to work within your design system — brand voice, design principles, component usage rules (“when to use Toggle vs. Checkbox”), accessibility requirements, do/don’t examples. AI automatically reads them when designing or implementing. Project-scoped docs (many per project) cover broad guidance; component-scoped docs (one per component, attached directly to it) cover specifics for that component.

Tool	Description
`write_design_document`	Create or update a design document

A component can have at most one design document. Snippets can be embedded as live examples with <div data-type="component-example" data-component-id="..."></div>.

Theme

Tool	Description
`get_theme`	Get a project’s themes, breakpoints, and available fonts
`edit_theme`	Edit a theme’s colors, fonts, corners, shadows, and typography
`search_icons`	Search the project’s icon library

A project can hold several themes that share token names but differ in values. Theme edits apply immediately across every page and component.

Deleting a theme token is destructive. Every reference to it in your designs is replaced with the token’s value at deletion time, and those references stay detached even if you restore the token.

Design references

The design tools can ground a generation in real material — an existing page, component, or snippet in your project, raw code from your codebase, or a mockup uploaded to Subframe. Each reference comes with a note telling the generator how to use it, like “Match this page’s layout and header”. Invalid references are dropped with a warning in the tool result rather than failing the design.

Async jobs

Tool	Description
`wait_for_jobs`	Wait for background design jobs to finish

design_page, design_component, and edit_component run in the background and return a URL you can open right away to watch progress in the editor. Reading a page or component back before its job finishes returns stale content.

Prompting with an MCP link

To reference a page in an external agent, copy its MCP link from the Code panel.

Implement the design at https://app.subframe.com/design/...

To get the latest version of components in your project, run npx @subframe/cli@latest sync to sync components.

Example prompts

Implement a new page from a design

Create a new page using the Subframe page at
https://app.subframe.com/PROJECT_ID/design/DESIGN_ID/edit as reference.

Wire up relevant app logic (API calls, hooks, routing) where applicable.
Keep it consistent with existing project conventions.

Update an existing page with a new design

Update the existing page to match the Subframe design at
https://app.subframe.com/PROJECT_ID/design/DESIGN_ID/edit.

Preserve all existing functionality unless the new design requires a change.

Design a new component

Design a PrivacyToggle component in Subframe. It should have an on/off state,
a label, and a description below the label. Use the same toggle styling as
our existing Toggle component.

Write a design document

Write a design doc for the Toggle component covering when to use it,
accessibility considerations, and a snippet showing all variants.

Delete unused components

List the components in my Subframe project and help me delete any that
aren't being used in any pages.

Add accessibility tags in code

Review the Subframe design at
https://app.subframe.com/PROJECT_ID/design/DESIGN_ID/edit and add proper
accessibility attributes to the existing page.

Add ARIA labels, roles, and descriptions, and proper semantic HTML throughout.

Migrate to Subframe's design system

Migrate the components on the existing page to use Subframe components instead
of the old components.

Get all components in my Subframe project and preserve all existing
functionality unless the new design requires a change.

Fetch a component

Get the Button component from Subframe and use it in this file.

List available components

Show me all components in my Subframe project.

Get the theme

Get my Subframe theme configuration.

Troubleshooting

Authentication failed

The Subframe MCP server uses OAuth. If you’re seeing authentication errors:

Try re-authenticating by reconnecting to the MCP server in your client
Check that you have the correct permissions for the project you’re trying to access
Make sure your browser session is active when authenticating
Confirm your client supports MCP OAuth — Subframe access tokens are not accepted by the MCP server

AI not calling the server

Make sure your AI tool:

Has MCP support enabled
Has the Subframe server in its MCP configuration
Has been restarted after adding the configuration

Check your tool’s logs for MCP-related errors.

Component or page not found

Use list_components, list_pages, list_snippets, or list_flows to see what’s available.Verify:

The component/page/snippet exists in your Subframe project
The name or URL matches exactly
You have access to the project

Background job seems stuck

design_page, design_component, and edit_component run as background jobs. Check wait_for_jobs with the jobId returned by the design tool — it reports running, done, error, or not_found. The URL is live throughout, so opening it in the editor shows real-time progress.If a job stops reporting progress for ~10 minutes, the server treats it as stalled (worker died, request timed out) and reports it as error so polling never hangs — its summary explains that the result could not be verified. Open the URL to see whether anything was actually generated; the chat panel surfaces any errors from the AI agent.

Connection errors

If the MCP server is unreachable:

Check your internet connection
Verify the URL is https://mcp.subframe.com/mcp
Reach out to the Subframe team for support

Design

Browser

Agent

Building from scratch

Admin and billing

Installing the MCP server and Agent skills

Using Agent skills

Keeping Agent skills up to date

Enabling the Claude Code plugin for your team

Using the MCP server

Available tools

Discovery

Pages

Components

Snippets

Flows

Prototypes

Design documents

Theme

Design references

Async jobs

Prompting with an MCP link

Example prompts

Troubleshooting

​Installing the MCP server and Agent skills

​Using Agent skills

​Keeping Agent skills up to date

​Enabling the Claude Code plugin for your team

​Using the MCP server

​Available tools

​Discovery

​Pages

​Components

​Snippets

​Flows

​Prototypes

​Design documents

​Theme

​Design references

​Async jobs

​Prompting with an MCP link

​Example prompts

​Troubleshooting

Installing the MCP server and Agent skills

Using Agent skills

Keeping Agent skills up to date

Enabling the Claude Code plugin for your team

Using the MCP server

Available tools

Discovery

Pages

Components

Snippets

Flows

Prototypes

Design documents

Theme

Design references

Async jobs

Prompting with an MCP link

Example prompts

Troubleshooting