Which Coding Agent Should You Run Open Design With?

Open Design’s first real decision isn’t what to build — it’s which coding agent drives it. This guide focuses on that choice: the (long) list of supported agents, how to pick one, and how to set up and build. It follows the walkthrough Tony Xhepa gives in his video, rewritten and brought up to date with the current release. Watch the video above, or read on for the written version.

The Open Design workspace: describe what you want to build, pick a mode, and your agent does the rest.

Why the agent is the important choice

Open Design doesn’t ship its own model — it’s an open-source, local-first surface that runs on whatever coding agent you already have. So the agent you pick is your design engine: it determines quality, cost, and speed. The beauty is the breadth. Tony’s list of supported agents is long: Claude Code, Codex, Devin for Terminal, Cursor, Gemini, OpenCode, Qwen, GitHub Copilot CLI, Hermes, Kimi, Pi, Kiro — and more. Whatever you’re already running, Open Design probably supports it, and if you have none installed, you can use an Anthropic or OpenAI API key instead.

How to pick one

A quick way to choose:

• Already paying for a coding CLI? Use it — Open Design rides on that subscription, so there’s no second bill.
• Want the strongest design output? Point it at a top model (e.g. Claude Code on a capable model) for the initial build.
• Want it cheap or free? Gemini CLI’s free tier or OpenCode’s bundled models work well; you can also bring your own key.
• Care about privacy/local? Any local CLI keeps generation on credentials that never leave your machine.

You’re not locked in — swap the active agent later in one click.

Step 1 — Install from source

Open Design is a Next.js app; the Quick Start is a handful of commands:

git clone https://github.com/nexu-io/open-design.git
cd open-design
corepack enable
pnpm install
pnpm tools-dev run web

Then open the local URL it prints (a dynamic port — don’t hardcode one). One note Tony hits: it wants Node 24 — on Node 22 you’ll see an “unsupported engine” warning, so install Node 24 first. Prefer no terminal? There’s a desktop app at open-design.ai/download.

Step 2 — Configure execution mode (pick your agent)

On first launch you set the execution mode: local CLI, Anthropic API, or OpenAI API. Choose local CLI and Open Design shows which agents it detected on your machine — Tony has Codex, Gemini, OpenCode, and Pi installed (Claude Code shown as not installed on that machine). Pick one (he goes with OpenCode), optionally choose the model, and Get started.

The plugins hub: browse the registry, import plugins, and prepare them for your team.

Step 3 — Build your first design

Create a Prototype, name it, pick fidelity (high), and start from a suggested brief (Tony picks a SaaS analytics dashboard). Open Design runs the discovery questions (brand context, chart data source, visual direction), you answer, pick a direction, and it builds. The finished artifact has a preview, source-code view, comments, and a Share menu — export as PDF, download, standalone HTML, save as template, and more.

The plugin library: install skills straight from the registry — including anti-slop design skills.

Tips

• Pick the agent you already pay for — no second subscription, and it sets your quality/cost.
• Install Node 24 first to avoid the unsupported-engine warning.
• Use local CLI mode so Open Design auto-detects your installed agents.
• Swap agents anytime — the choice isn’t permanent; change it in one click.
• No CLI? Use an API key (Anthropic or OpenAI) instead.

FAQ

Which agents does Open Design support? Many — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, OpenCode, Qwen, GitHub Copilot CLI, Devin, Hermes, Kimi, Pi, Kiro, and more. It auto-detects the ones installed on your machine.

How do I choose one? Use the CLI you already pay for; pick a strong model for the initial build and a cheaper one for iteration; or use a free tier / your own API key.

Why the Node 24 warning? Open Design requires Node 24; on Node 22 you’ll see an “unsupported engine” warning. Install Node 24 to clear it.

Is it free and open source? Yes — Apache-2.0, local-first. Run it for free; you only pay for the model usage of whichever agent or key you connect.

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This written guide is based on Tony Xhepa’s walkthrough. Watch the full video above, and subscribe to Tony Xhepa for more open-source dev tools.