[BUG] Claude Design "Send to local coding agent" handoff fails — generated prompt relies on a "Claude Design connector" that local Claude Code does not have and cannot install

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Claude Design's Export → "Send to local coding agent" generates a default prompt of the form:

Import this Claude Design project using the Claude Design connector: https://claude.ai/design/p/<PROJECT_ID>?file=<FILE>.dc.html Implement: <FILE>.dc.html

When this default prompt is pasted into local (terminal) Claude Code, there is no "Claude Design connector" available, so CC cannot fetch the design. It falls back to WebFetch, which hits the authenticated claude.ai/design/... page and returns nothing usable, then attempts Playwright scraping, which does not yield the real handoff bundle either. The net result is a fetch/auth failure and no design content.

claude mcp list shows no Design-related server — only the connectors I have configured (e.g. alphaXiv, Gmail, context7, figma, github, playwright). I could not find any documented way to add or enable a "Claude Design connector" for local Claude Code.

The export dialog itself implicitly acknowledges the gap: the "Download zip instead" option is labeled "For agents without the Claude Design connector — drop the bundle into your agent's chat manually." In other words, the default / recommended prompt is the one that fails for local CC, and only the non-default zip path works.

What Should Happen?

One of:

• (a) Local Claude Code ships with — or has a documented way to install — a Claude Design connector that authenticates and fetches the bundle from the share URL; or
• (b) The "Send to local coding agent" default prompt should not assume a connector that local CC does not have. It should default to the downloadable-bundle path (or detect the connector's absence and instruct the user accordingly).

At minimum, document how to obtain/enable the connector for local terminal CC.

Error Messages/Logs

The default prompt fails. The `claude.ai/design/...` share URL returns nothing usable to clients without the connector (cf. #52292). Only the **"Download zip instead"** fallback works.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create/open a project in Claude Design (Pro/Max account).
2. Click Export → "Send to local coding agent".
3. Copy prompt (the default prompt references "using the Claude Design connector" plus the claude.ai/design/... URL).
4. Paste it into local Claude Code (terminal).
5. CC reports it has no Claude Design connector; WebFetch cannot read the authenticated URL; the fetch/auth step fails and no design is imported.

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

2.1.176

Claude Code Version

2.1.181

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Workaround (for others hitting this)

In the export dialog, check "Download zip instead", unzip the bundle, and point Claude Code at the extracted folder — it contains the design files plus a README describing intent. This bypasses the connector/URL fetch entirely:

cd <your-project>
unzip ~/Downloads/<bundle>.zip -d ./design-bundle
claude
> Implement the design in ./design-bundle (see the README inside for intent)

Environment

• Claude Code version: <run: claude --version>
• Operating System: macOS <version>
• Account type: Claude Pro/Max (personal, no organization)
• Surface: local terminal Claude Code
• Auth mode: subscription OAuth (verify via /status)

Related Issues

• #52292 — Claude Design share URLs return "not found" to unauthenticated clients (blocks Claude Code integration). Narrower symptom of the same gap.
• #60327 — Feature request: a way for Claude Code to query an externally-maintained design system (e.g. Claude Design) / first-class Design MCP connector.
• #51980 — "Send to Claude Code Web" from Claude Design lacks a repo picker; confirms the one-shot bundle handoff exists but is one-time only.