Design and UI APIs and MCP servers for AI agents
Read and write design files, generate branded graphics and publish websites.
6 design and ui APIs an AI agent can call: auth method and header, official MCP server (5), free tier (4), docs links. Machine-readable JSON included. Agents: fetch catalog/design-ui.json instead of parsing this page. Last checked 2026-09-24.
Ratings and usage (★) fetched: .
| Service | What an agent can do | Auth | MCP server | Free tier | Details (with sources) | Notes | Proof (ratings, usage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canva Connect API | Programmatically create, autofill, and export Canva designs, and manage assets and comments via a REST API. | OAuth 2.0OAuth2 Authorization Code + PKCE (SHA-256); Authorization: Bearer <access_token> | official | check pricing (free to build/test; public apps require Canva review before production use) | Base URL: https://api.canva.com/rest/v1 Rate limits: Per endpoint; e.g. create export job 20 req/min per user, 750 exports/5 min per app ↗ Async jobs: POST /v1/exports returns a job id; poll GET /v1/exports/{exportId} until success/failed ↗ OAuth scopes: design:meta:read, design:content:read, design:content:write, asset:read, asset:write, folder:read, comment:write ↗ MCP tools: 14: search-designs, get-design, get-design-content, generate-design, create-design-from-candidate, export-design … ↗ | Auth is OAuth2 only (no raw API key/static token option). Apps using preview/beta scopes cannot pass Canva's required review for production/public use. A general apps llms.txt exists at canva.dev/docs/apps/llms.txt but no Connect-specific one was found. | — |
| Figma REST API / Dev Mode MCP | Read and write Figma file/comment/component data via REST, and feed live design context to coding agents via the official Dev Mode MCP server. | API key / OAuthX-Figma-Token: <personal-access-token> or OAuth2 Bearer token | official | free: personal access tokens work on free plan, rate-limited per seat/plan tier; MCP free during beta | Base URL: https://api.figma.com/v1 Free plan: Starter plan: Tier 1 endpoints 10 req/min for Dev/Full seats; View/Collab seats up to 20 Tier 1 calls/month ↗ Rate limits: Tiered per seat and plan: Tier 1 10-20 req/min, Tier 2 25-100 req/min, Tier 3 50-150 req/min for Dev/Full seats; View/Collab much lower ↗ OAuth scopes: file_content:read, file_metadata:read, file_comments:read, file_comments:write, file_variables:read, current_user:read ↗ Example call: read a Figma file (document tree, components, styles): GET https://api.figma.com/v1/files/{file_key} ↗ MCP tools: 14: get_design_context, get_metadata, get_screenshot, get_variable_defs, get_code_connect_map, search_design_system … ↗ | REST API rate limits vary by seat/plan (e.g. Tier 1 ~10-20 req/min), returns 429 with Retry-After. Remote MCP (mcp.figma.com/mcp) works on all plans and is free during beta, will move to usage-based pricing; local desktop MCP variant requires a paid Dev/Full seat. | GitHub 219★ figma/rest-api-spec |
| Framer | Automate publishing of Framer sites programmatically (get project info, publish previews, promote to production) via a Node SDK. | API keyProject-scoped API key generated in Site Settings, passed to the framer-api SDK's connect() function | — | Free: Server API is free while in beta; Framer plans per-use pricing with a monthly free allowance later | Free plan: Server API free of charge during beta ↗ | Framer's genuine server-side surface is narrow: the Server API (npm package framer-api) only covers publish/deploy automation, not general design editing. The in-editor Plugin API, Code Components, and Fetch are for the visual editor/site runtime, not agent-callable server-side. No MCP server confirmed; 'External Agents' docs reference coding-agent workflows (Claude Code/Cursor) rather than a formal MCP endpoint. | SourceForge 4.0★/1 review |
| Penpot API | Read, create, and modify Penpot design files, comments, and webhooks via a token-authenticated RPC/REST API, or via the official MCP server. | API keyAuthorization: Token <personal-access-token> | official | free tier: free cloud account (design.penpot.app) plus free, open-source self-hosting | Base URL: https://design.penpot.app/api/main/methods Free plan: Professional plan $0: up to 10GB storage, up to 8 team members, per month, no card ↗ Rate limits: Per-user rate limit (all tokens of a user share it); values not published ↗ Example call: get a design file by id: POST https://design.penpot.app/api/main/methods/get-file ↗ | API is RPC-style; methods are listed at https://design.penpot.app/api/main/methods/<name>, no OpenAPI file; open source, self-hostable. Remote MCP takes ?userToken=<MCP key> and needs the MCP plugin open in a Penpot browser tab; local: npx @penpot/mcp@stable. | SourceForge 5.0★/1 review |
| v0 Platform API (Vercel) | Generate full UI/frontend code from natural-language prompts, iterate via chat, and deploy the result directly to Vercel via REST API. | API keyAuthorization: Bearer <V0_API_KEY> | official | Free tier: v0 Free plan includes $5 of credits per month (7 messages/day); Platform API use on Free not confirmed, credits also included on Premium/Team plans | Base URL: https://api.v0.dev/v2 Free plan: $5 of included credits (Free plan, 7 messages/day); API use on Free not confirmed, per month ↗ Rate limits: 10,000 API requests/day, 1,000 chat messages/day, 100 deployments/day ↗ Async jobs: responseMode=async returns a placeholder message; poll the chat/message by id (or use experimental SSE stream) ↗ Example call: create a chat that generates an app from a prompt (blocks until done): POST https://api.v0.dev/v2/chats ↗ Unit price: Per token, drawn from plan credits: v0 Mini $0.20/$1.20, v0 Pro $2/$10, v0 Max $5/$25, v0 Max Fast $10/$50 per 1M input/output tokens ↗ MCP tools: 10: chats.create, chats.createAsync, chats.getUrl, chats.getPreview, chats.getFiles, chats.deploy … ↗ | Different product from Vercel's core platform API; API access is tied to v0 plan credits rather than a standalone free signup. The official remote MCP server (v0.app/api/mcp) uses OAuth, not the API key. | — |
| Webflow Data API | Create/update CMS collections, items, and pages, and publish Webflow sites programmatically via REST API or the official MCP server. | API key / OAuthAuthorization: Bearer <site-token|workspace-token|oauth-token> | official | check pricing (API access itself is free with a token; some CMS/publish actions require the site to be on a paid Webflow plan) | Base URL: https://api.webflow.com/v2 Rate limits: 60 req/min on Starter/Basic site plans, 120 req/min on CMS/eCommerce/Business; 429 with Retry-After ↗ OAuth scopes: sites:read, sites:write, cms:read, cms:write, pages:read, pages:write, assets:read, forms:read ↗ | Three token types: Site tokens (single site), Workspace tokens (multi-site read-only), OAuth tokens (multi-site apps). Official SDKs exist but specific languages weren't confirmed in docs excerpt; rate limits documented separately under 'Rate Limiting'. | — |
Other categories
- Web search
- Web scraping and browser automation
- Knowledge and research data
- Image generation and editing
- Video generation and editing
- Speech and audio
- Music generation
- 3D generation and assets
- Architecture, CAD and BIM
- Diagrams and software architecture
- Documents, OCR and presentations
- Translation and language
- Code execution sandboxes
- Developer platforms and DevOps
- Cloud and hosting
- Databases
- Vector search, memory and RAG
- Email, team chat and notifications
- SMS and messaging apps
- Voice agents and telephony
- Productivity and workspace
- CRM, support and marketing
- Social media
- Maps, geolocation and weather
- Finance, payments and market data
- E-commerce
- Automation and integration platforms
- Model APIs and inference