A Figma plugin panel is small, and a design system with several hundred variables is not. The browser view runs the same interface in a full browser window on your own machine, driving the Figma file you have open.
Nothing is uploaded. A small server runs on your computer, on 127.0.0.1 only, and relays messages between the Figma plugin and the browser tab. Your tokens never leave the machine.
Install
npm install -g winden-tokens
Requires Node.js 18 or newer. To run it without installing:
npx winden-tokens
Use it
winden-tokens
That starts the local server and opens the browser. Then, in Figma, open the Winden Tokens plugin — the browser tab fills with the variables of your open file.
Keep the plugin window open. It is the only thing that can talk to the Figma API; the browser tab is a remote control with no document of its own. The plugin window collapses to a small status strip while the browser has the wheel, and Take over hands control back.
Order does not matter. Both sides reconnect on their own, so starting Figma first or the server first works either way.
Options
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
--port N |
Use a different port. The Figma plugin can only connect to the port its manifest declares, so change this only if you know you need to. |
--no-open |
Do not open a browser. |
--help |
Show all options. |
If the tab stays empty
The tab shows a red banner saying what is wrong:
- "No plugin connected" — the Figma plugin window is closed, or it is not the build that can reach the bridge. Open the plugin in Figma.
- "Bridge relay not reachable" — the server is not running. Run
winden-tokens.
Privacy and security
- The server listens on
127.0.0.1only. Nothing on your network can reach it. - It checks the origin of every connection before accepting it, so a web page you happen to have open cannot connect to it and issue commands into your Figma file.
- It stores nothing. It holds no copy of your variables; it forwards messages and forgets them.