The OpenDesign BookTurn the agent you already run into a design engine

A complete guide to OpenDesign — install, connect a local agent, the discovery form, DESIGN.md systems, skills, craft rules, and export. The spine is a ten-step workflow for building an editable AI deck.

Get started

The deck workshop

FAQ

Not another design subscription

OpenDesign is an Apache-2.0 desktop app that runs on your machine, driven by the Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor you already have, with your own keys. Artifacts are real files in your repo, not rows in someone else's database.

The work happens before generation

Which design system, how you answer the discovery form, which reference image you pick — settle those and the output stops looking like a purple gradient. This book covers the setup instead of teaching you to ask for "something nicer".

Ten deck steps you can actually check

The full walkthrough of the official ten-step workshop. Each step ships a copy-ready prompt, what to look at before moving on, and what going too far looks like.

About this site: an unofficial community guide, compiled from public material on open-design.ai and hands-on notes. The product moves fast — where this book and the official docs disagree, believe the official docs.

43chapters

10steps to a deck

21agent adapters

3languages

Reading path / 01—03

Three ways in

The three tracks stand alone. New to OpenDesign, start on the left. Just want a deck by tonight, go straight to the workshop. Been running it for a while, skip to the deeper material.

Start · 8 chapters

Get started

From install to a first artifact you would actually show someone. Understand how the thing works before you start tuning prompts.

Desktop app, or three commands from source
Which of the 21 agent adapters to point it at
The discovery form — the step nobody should skip
Design systems, so output looks like you

Start here →

For anyone opening OpenDesign for the first time

Main line · 12 chapters

The deck workshop

The full walkthrough of the official ten-step deck tutorial. Start by deciding what the deck has to win, end with something you can present, export, and keep editing.

One image to choose the visual direction
Deck Mode for editable HTML slides
Make it diff its own output against the reference
How far to push logos, charts, and motion

Open the workshop →

The spine of this book, and the easiest to check

Deeper · 9 chapters

Go deeper

Turn one good run into a repeatable one. Skills, design systems, the craft rules, the anti-slop machinery, and what it all costs.

A skill is just a folder you can fork
Craft: 12 rules no brand gets to override
Artifacts land in your repo — diffable, revertable
Where BYOK and the managed tiers actually differ

Read on →

For long-term and team use

Start with a real task

Start from something real

Every playbook says what to feed it, what to write, how to check the result, and where people usually get stuck.

Landing page from one linePick a system, say what you sell and to whom Sketch to app prototypeDraw it badly — it reads the structure A dashboard, not a templateDecide the question first, then the cards A brand from a screenshotOne image → DESIGN.md → every output Figma files into codeExport, paste, say which layer matters Posters and article artLock the style, generate a whole set Motion shorts in codeHTML video you can edit and re-render A deck good enough to presentTen steps, and the PPTX still edits Prompts you can copyEvery prompt in the book, on one page

From one task to a system

One generation is really four decisions

Most people burn their time re-prompting step three. The order is what saves you: direction first, then generation, and motion and export last.

Choose a starting point

One line about the goal, or open from a template or plugin. A blank canvas is the most expensive place to start.

Set the visual direction

Pick a design system and palette, type, and spacing flow into every generation after it.

Generate and fix in place

The agent reads the context and writes real runnable files. Preview, comment, and edit them in the sandbox.

Deliver, or make a video

Export HTML, PDF, PPTX, or MP4 — or hand it to engineering. The source never leaves your repo.

Sources

Where this comes from

Mostly the official tutorials, quickstart, and plugin library on open-design.ai, plus notes taken while running it. The full list is on the sources page.

01How to Create an AI-Powered PPT with OpenDesignOpenDesign tutorials · the basis for the deck workshop 02Quickstart — install in three commandsopen-design.ai · install and requirements 0321 BYOK agents, one skill protocolopen-design.ai · the adapter list 04Craft — 12 brand-agnostic rendering principlesopen-design.ai · the craft catalog 05Skills, Design Systems, and Anti-Slop Guardrails ExplainedOpenDesign tutorials · how the library is put together 06Pricing (machine-readable)open-design.ai · free tier and managed plans

Go generate something

A hundred pages of reading loses to one finished artifact. Take something real off your desk — a talk you owe someone, a page you want to test, a sketch — and change one line of a playbook prompt.

Ship your first artifact Prompt library