OpenDesign

Overview

OpenDesign is an open-source, local-first desktop app and a Claude Design alternative. It makes existing coding agents the design engine for producing design artifacts from briefs.

Key Features

• Open-source and local-first: native desktop apps for macOS and Windows, with Linux available from source.
• Agent-native and model-agnostic: uses coding-agent CLIs such as DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, and others, or BYOK OpenAI-compatible endpoints.
• Produces prototypes, live dashboards and artifacts, decks, mobile apps, documents, images, video, and HyperFrames motion graphics.
• Sandboxed iframe preview; exports to HTML, PDF, PPTX, MP4, ZIP, or Markdown.
• Composable plugins, functional skills, design templates, and DESIGN.md design systems; 151 design systems ship with the repository.
• MCP server and per-agent install scripts expose local OpenDesign project files to compatible coding agents.

Use Cases

• Generate web, desktop, or mobile prototypes from a brief, plugin, and active design system.
• Create live dashboards, decision rooms, KPI walls, and data-rich artifacts.
• Build decks, pitch presentations, weekly updates, and magazine-style slides.
• Generate images and agent-native motion graphics or video with HyperFrames.

Getting Started

• Download the desktop app for macOS or Windows from the official website or GitHub Releases; after install, it auto-detects coding-agent CLIs and loads skills, templates, and design systems.
• Install into a coding agent with od mcp install <agent>, or use the hosted install script with sh -s <agent>.
• Run with Docker: clone the repository, change to open-design/deploy, copy .env.example to .env, add OD_API_TOKEN, run docker compose up -d, and open port 7456.
• Run from source: clone the repository, enable corepack, install with pnpm install, and start the web app with pnpm tools-dev run web.

Deployment & Requirements

• Desktop app supports macOS Apple Silicon and Intel, and Windows x64; no prebuilt Linux artifact is currently published in official releases.
• Docker deployment uses the deploy directory, an OD_API_TOKEN, and Docker Compose; browser access can use open-design as username and the token as password.
• Sealos App Store template runs the published Docker image with persistent workspace storage and Basic Auth on the public proxy.
• Running from source requires Node approximately 24 and pnpm 10.33.x.
• For MCP integration, DeepSeek Harness requires the official dsh CLI first; automatic MCP configuration for Claude Desktop is currently supported on macOS and Windows only.

Before You Adopt

• License: Apache-2.0. Review its terms before using, modifying, or distributing the project.