Plugin rejected for “overlapping with MCP server” — but MCP is not accessible for hardware integrations

I built a Figma companion plugin that allows an external hardware controller to interact with the Figma canvas (create shapes, align layers, toggle visibility, export images, etc.) via localhost HTTP.

It was rejected with the reason: “not able to approve apps that overlap with native capabilities in the Figma MCP server” and suggested using the use_figma tool.

However, the MCP server is not a viable alternative for this use case:

• OAuth is restricted to approved AI clients only (Claude, Cursor, VS Code, etc.). Custom applications cannot request the mcp:connect scope.
• The local desktop MCP server is read-only — use_figma is not available.
• The REST API cannot write to the canvas.

My plugin is not an AI tool — it’s a hardware device integration. The companion plugin architecture (Plugin API + localhost HTTP) is currently the only way for a non-AI external application to write to the Figma canvas.

Is there an alternative pathway for hardware integration plugins? Or is there a way to request MCP access for non-AI applications?