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Design OS

The missing design process between your idea and your codebase

Design OS is a product planning and design tool that helps you define your product vision, sketch out your data shape, design your UI, and export production-ready components for implementation. Rather than jumping straight into code, you work through a guided process that captures what you’re building and why—then hands off everything your coding agent needs to build it right.

The Problem

AI coding tools are incredible at building fast. But the results often miss the mark. You describe what you want, the agent builds something, but it’s not what you envisioned. The UI looks generic. Features get half-implemented. You spend as much time fixing and redirecting as you would have spent building. The core issue: we’re asking coding agents to figure out what to build and build it simultaneously. Design decisions get made on the fly, buried in code, impossible to adjust without starting over. There’s no spec. No shared understanding. No source of truth for what “done” looks like.

The Design OS Process

Design OS powers a guided design and architecture process. You + AI, working together through structured steps:
1

Product Planning

Define your vision, break down your roadmap, and model your data
2

Design System

Choose colors, typography, and design your application shell
3

Section Design

For each feature area: specify requirements, generate sample data, and design the screens
4

Export

Generate a complete handoff package for implementation
Each step is a conversation. The AI asks questions, you provide direction, and together you shape a product that matches your vision—before any implementation begins.

Quick Start

Getting Started

Learn the basics and start designing your first project

Installation

Set up Design OS on your local machine

Product Planning

Define your vision, roadmap, and data shape

Design Sections

Create screen designs for each feature area

How It Works

Design OS is its own separate codebase—a design environment you use before building. When you’re done, you export components and assets to import into your actual product’s codebase. You interact with Design OS through slash commands. Each command walks you through a specific part of the process:
  • /product-vision — Define your product, break it into sections, and sketch the data shape — all in one flow
  • /design-tokens — Choose your color palette and typography
  • /design-shell — Design navigation and layout
  • /shape-section — Define a section’s scope, requirements, and generate sample data + types
  • /design-screen — Create production-ready React components
  • /export-product — Generate the complete handoff package
Design OS is free, open source, and runs locally on your machine.

Who It’s For

Technical Builders

Full control over architecture and design decisions without doing all the legwork yourself

Non-Technical Builders

A strong vision for how your product should work, plus the ability to put your imprint on its systems—no technical background required

Compatibility

Frontend: React and Tailwind CSS requiredBackend: Any stack—Rails, Laravel, Next.js, Python, whatever you chooseAI Coding Agents: Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, or any agent that can implement from a handoff

Support & Community

For official support, training, and community as you use Design OS—for yourself or with your team, consider joining Builder Methods Pro. You’ll get access to Brian Casel (the creator) for questions, a community of builders using Design OS, plus all Builder Methods workshops and training on AI-first development.

Created by Brian Casel

Created by Brian Casel, the creator of Builder Methods, where Brian helps professional software developers and teams build with AI. Get Brian’s free resources on building with AI:

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