Design Md
Maintain a single DESIGN.md source of truth for tokens, visual rules, and direction before agents implement UI.
Overview
design-md is an agent skill most often used in Build (also Validate, Build frontend) that creates and manages DESIGN.md files as a single source of truth for design tokens and visual rules.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/nexu-io/open-design --skill design-mdWhat is this skill?
- Creates and updates DESIGN.md for direction, design tokens, and visual rules
- Trigger phrases: design.md, design doc, design tokens doc, visual rules doc
- Curated from Google Labs Stitch (design-systems category)
- Open Design catalogue entry with upstream install path to full Google Labs skills bundle
- Pairs with planning workflows that need a written design contract before codegen
Adoption & trust: 862 installs on skills.sh; 61.4k GitHub stars; 2/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You know how the product should look but keep re-stating colors, spacing, and rules in chat instead of a file the agent can reuse.
Who is it for?
Solo builders starting a new UI or design system who want one markdown contract before agent-driven implementation.
Skip if: Teams that already enforce tokens only in Figma or a component library with no markdown workflow, or tasks that need live WCAG rule packs instead of a design doc.
When should I use this skill?
User mentions design.md, design doc, design tokens doc, or visual rules doc.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You get a maintained DESIGN.md the agent can invoke by name or trigger phrases, ready to guide frontend work and downstream review.
- DESIGN.md with design direction, tokens, and visual rules
- Updated design documentation aligned to agent trigger phrases
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Canonical shelf is build/docs because DESIGN.md is the durable design artifact agents reference while implementing and iterating. Design documentation belongs with product docs—not ad-hoc chat—so layout, tokens, and rules stay aligned across sessions.
Where it fits
Lock typography and color tokens in DESIGN.md before approving a prototype scope.
Author or refresh DESIGN.md so every agent session loads the same visual rules.
Invoke design-md triggers so the agent implements components against written token names.
Compare shipped UI against DESIGN.md during a lightweight visual consistency review.
How it compares
Use for a project-local DESIGN.md artifact, not as a full WCAG guideline checker like a platform design-rules skill.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is design-md for?
Solo and indie builders using AI coding agents who need a persistent design-direction document (DESIGN.md) for tokens and visual rules.
When should I use design-md?
During Validate when scoping look-and-feel, during Build docs when authoring tokens, and during Build frontend when the agent should read design rules before coding.
Is design-md safe to install?
Review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page and inspect the upstream Google Labs skills repo before copying bundles into your agent skills directory.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Design Md
# design-md > Curated from Google Labs (Stitch). ## What it does Create and manage DESIGN.md files. Useful for capturing design direction, tokens, and visual rules in a single source of truth. ## Source - Upstream: https://github.com/google-labs-code/skills - Category: `design-systems` ## How to use This catalogue entry advertises the skill in Open Design so the agent discovers it during planning. To run the full upstream workflow with its original assets, scripts, and references, install the upstream bundle into your active agent's skills directory: ```bash # Inspect the upstream README for exact paths open https://github.com/google-labs-code/skills ``` Then ask the agent to invoke this skill by name (`design-md`) or with one of the trigger phrases listed in this skill's frontmatter.