The gist

Open Design is an open-source, local-first design tool from nexu-io. It provides an alternative to closed platforms like Claude Design, solving for vendor lock-in by letting users generate design artifacts on their own machines. It uses local coding agents to turn text prompts into UI prototypes, presentations, videos, and images, all while adhering to a specified design system.

What it does

Generate interactive web, desktop, and mobile prototypes from text prompts.
Create presentation decks and export them to HTML, PDF, or PPTX formats.
Produce brand-grade images and visual assets using integrated models.
Render programmatic motion graphics and video clips using the HyperFrames framework.
Integrate with over 20 local coding agent CLIs like Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor.
Apply brand guidelines from a library of over 150 version-controlled design systems.

How it works

Open Design runs as a native desktop app for macOS and Windows or via CLI. Users input a text brief, select a skill and a design system, and the tool orchestrates a local coding agent to generate the output. Artifacts like HTML prototypes, decks, and MP4 videos are produced locally on the user's machine. The tool is open-source and free, supporting a bring-your-own-key (BYOK) model for connecting to various AI model endpoints.

Best for

Developers and design engineers who want to rapidly generate UI mockups, presentations, and other visual assets using a code-native, agent-driven workflow directly on their local machine.

Watch out for

While a desktop app simplifies setup, users wanting to leverage its full power via CLI integrations will need some familiarity with terminal commands and coding agent configurations.