Open Design: Anthropic Claude Design

Open Design (from nexu-io) is a local, open-source tool that replicates and extends the capabilities of the closed Anthropic Claude Design. It allows AI agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, etc.) not just to write text, but to fully generate design artifacts: web prototypes, mobile applications, dashboards, pitch decks, presentations, images, videos and HyperFrames.

The project is built on the principle of local-first and BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) - everything works on your computer, without cloud dependency and paid subscription.

## Why did Open Design come about?

In April 2026, Anthropic introduced Claude Design, a revolutionary tool where AI generates not just descriptions, but ready-made visual artifacts. However, it remained closed, cloud-based and tied only to Anthropic models. Open Design is an open, free and extensible alternative without lock-in.

## Key opportunities

• 19+ composable Skills - ready-made scenarios (web-prototype, saas-landing, mobile-onboarding, gamified-app, social-carousel, magazine-poster, pitch deck and many others).
• 71+ branded Design System - Linear, Stripe, Vercel, Airbnb, Apple, Notion, Anthropic, Figma, etc. Each with a palette, typography and rules.
• • 11+ Agent Support* – automatically detects PATH: Claude Code, Cursor Agent, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, Qwen, Hermes, Kimi and others. There is a fallback through OpenAI-compatible proxy.
• Generation of media - images (gpt-image-2), video (Seedance 2.0), motion graphics (HyperFrames), audio. More than 90 ready-made prompt templates.
• Sandbox preview - instant browsing in iframe, editing, exporting to HTML, PDF, PPTX, MP4, ZIP.
• ** Interactive workflow**:
  • Form of clarification of the brief before generation.
  • Choosing a Visual Direction (5 Schools of Design).
  • Live TODO + streaming progress.
  • Self-criticism of a checklist agent.
• Persistence - SQLite for projects, chats and artifacts.
• Imports - Support for exports from the original Claude Design.
• Desktop + Web – works locally, the web part can be deposited on Vercel, there is an Electron shell.

## How does it work?

1. Run pnpm tools-dev (or make dev).
2. Choose Skill and Design System.
3. Write a brief (for example: "magazine-style pitch deck for seed round").
4. The agent clarifies the details, chooses the direction, builds a plan.
5. Generates a real project on disk + sandbox preview.
6. You can intervene, edit, export.

## Advantages of Open Design

• Full openness - Apache-2.0, you can fork, improve, add your skills.
• **Locality: You have the data and generation.
• Flexibility – Works with any strong coding agent.
• ** Quality** – uses advanced design systems, checklists and anti-slop mechanisms.
• *Extensibility - It is easy to add new skills and design systems.

** Nuances:

• It requires the installation and launch of a local demon.
• Quality depends heavily on the selected LLM agent (the top-end Claude / Cursor / Gemini works best).
• For advanced use, you need to understand prompt engineering and design principles.

## Who's good?

• Designers and product designers who want to speed up routines.
• Startups and freelancers for quick prototyping and presentations.
• Developers of AI-agents and open-source enthusiasts.
• Teams who want to work with design without a Figma subscription and in a completely local environment.

## Conclusion

Open Design is one of the most exciting open-source projects of 2026 in the field of AI + Design. He democratizes what Anthropic has made closed: transforming LLM into a true senior designer with a file system, design systems and production process. If you work with AI agents and need visual artifacts, this is a must-try tool.

**References:

• GitHub: https://github.com/nexu-io/open-design