open-design-v0.4.0

> ## ⚠️ DO NOT USE — replaced by v0.4.1
>
> **v0.4.0 has a confirmed startup-blocking bug and should not be installed.** The bundled daemon crashes on first import with `ERR_UNSUPPORTED_NODE_MODULES_TYPE_STRIPPING` because `@open-design/contracts` was packaged with raw `.ts` source files instead of compiled JS. The desktop window never appears (timed-out / spinner / brief Task Manager entry, depending on platform). Tracked in #576, #573, #589, #598, #593.
>
> ✅ **v0.4.1 is now available and replaces this release:** https://github.com/nexu-io/open-design/releases/tag/open-design-v0.4.1
>
> Please install v0.4.1 instead. Downgrading from 0.4.0 was safe because the 0.4.0 daemon crashed before database migrations ran, but v0.4.1 is now the recommended stable build.

---


🎉 **`71 PRs` · `100+ contributors` · `2 days`** — Open Design 0.4.0 levels up across the board: a brand-new **live artifacts** platform with a Composio connector catalog, **MCP** integration with every major AI editor, **Critique Theater (Design Jury)** scoring drafts before they ship, plus a wave of preview / agent / i18n / security work. 🚀

## 🔥 Highlights

- ✨ **Live artifacts + Composio connector catalog.** Designs that don't go stale: artifacts react to live data, and the new catalog plugs into hundreds of SaaS tools through Composio. (#381) Thanks @mrcfps.
- 🤖 **MCP server (`od mcp`).** Stop screenshotting your designs into Cursor — Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Zed, Windsurf and any MCP-aware tool now read your Open Design files directly. (#399) Thanks @emilneander.
- 🎭 **Critique Theater (Design Jury) ships end-to-end.** No more "good enough" drafts: every artifact gets graded by five panelists on accessibility, brand fit, and craft, and only ships above 8/10. (#387, #481) Thanks @Nagendhra-web.
- ⚡ **Live-reload + Tweaks-mode HTML previews.** Stop hitting reload — save a file and the preview refreshes itself; click any element to drop a tweak straight into the agent's context. (#384, #409, #513) Thanks @bankielewicz and @Martin-Atrin.
- 🪢 **Link code folder for agent context.** Your agent can finally see your design and your code repo at the same time — point it at a folder, no copy-paste. (#455) Thanks @encyc.
- 🤖 **Kilo CLI + DeepSeek TUI agent adapters.** Two more AI agents to pick from — Open Design now drives 13+ coding CLIs out of the box. (#439, #480) Thanks @Ajay-Satish-01 and @pftom.
- 🌍 **Five new locale pushes.** Open Design speaks more of your team's languages — Ukrainian and full French UIs, refreshed Russian, plus Brazilian Portuguese and Arabic READMEs. (#326, #393, #395, #396, #397, #434, #458, #460) Thanks @davezfr, @DrMaks22, @devcodex2025, @qiongyu1999, and @oscarnogueira.
- 🔒 **Daemon localhost binding + API key hygiene.** Self-hosters can sleep better — Open Design no longer exposes itself to your LAN by default, and your API keys stay sealed when agents spawn. (#365, #392, #400, #404, #514) Thanks @JasonOA888, @sebastianwestberg, @aitonic, @VioletCoding, and @lefarcen.

> 📥 **Download:** final asset URLs are below. Tag: `open-design-v0.4.0`.
>
> | Platform | Architecture | Asset |
> |---|---|---|
> | macOS | Apple Silicon (arm64) | [open-design-0.4.0-mac-arm64.dmg](https://github.com/nexu-io/open-design/releases/download/open-design-v0.4.0/open-design-0.4.0-mac-arm64.dmg) |
> | macOS (auto-update feed) | Apple Silicon (arm64) | [open-design-0.4.0-mac-arm64.zip](https://github.com/nexu-io/open-design/releases/download/open-design-v0.4.0/open-design-0.4.0-mac-arm64.zip) |
> | Windows | x64 (unsigned) | [open-design-0.4.0-win-x64-setup.exe](https://github.com/nexu-io/open-design/releases/download/open-design-v0.4.0/open-design-0.4.0-win-x64-setup.exe) |

## ✨ What's New

### 🤖 MCP & agent integration

- **`od mcp` — stdio MCP server.** Drop into Claude Code / Cursor / VS Code / Zed / Windsurf via standard MCP config. (#399) Thanks @emilneander.
- **Link code folder support for agent context.** (#455) Thanks @encyc.
- **Kilo CLI (ACP)** agent adapter. (#480) Thanks @Ajay-Satish-01.
- **DeepSeek TUI** agent adapter. (#439) Thanks @pftom.

### 🎭 Critique workflow

- **Critique Theater Phase 4** — persistence, transcript, orchestrator. (#481) Thanks @Nagendhra-web.
- Critique Theater foundation — shared contracts and streaming v1 parser. (#387) Thanks @Nagendhra-web.

### 🖼️ Preview pane

- **Live-reload preview iframes.** (#409) Thanks @bankielewicz.
- **Tweaks mode for HTML previews** — element picker, pod selection, batched chat attachments. (#513) Thanks @Martin-Atrin.
- URL-load HTML preview iframes by default. (#384) Thanks @bankielewicz.
- **Live artifacts and Composio connector catalog.** (#381) Thanks @mrcfps.

### 📦 Packaging & deployment

- Optimize packaged mac artifact size. (#424) Thanks @PerishCode.

### 🤖 Daemon

- `OD_MEDIA_CONFIG_DIR` for read-only / immutable installs. (#411) Thanks @GodTamIt.
- Modernized multi-provider API proxy routing (Anthropic, OpenAI-compatible, Azure OpenAI, Google Gemini). (#385) Thanks @lefarcen.
- Seed daemon with pre-baked decks and web prototypes. (#457) Thanks @pftom.

### 🎨 Skills, design systems & prompt templates

- **Atelier Zero** editorial collage landing-page design system. (#366) Thanks @pftom.
- `open-design-landing` rename + **kami skill bundle** + landing OG assets. (#428) Thanks @pftom.
- Craft `animation-discipline` module + opt-ins on mobile-app, mobile-onboarding, gamified-app. (#515) Thanks @MohamedAbdallah-14.
- Craft `state-coverage` module + opt-ins on dashboard, mobile-app, kanban-board. (#502) Thanks @MohamedAbdallah-14.

### 📁 Design Files

- Batch ZIP download with multi-select. (#405) Thanks @dabing1022.

### 🌍 Internationalization

- 🇫🇷 Complete **French** localization, README, and Quickstart. (#326, #397, #434) Thanks @davezfr.
- 🇺🇦 **Ukrainian** UI localization. (#395) Thanks @devcodex2025.
- 🇷🇺 **Russian** UI refresh + README + gallery metadata. (#393, #396) Thanks @DrMaks22.
- 🇧🇷 Brazilian Portuguese README. (#460) Thanks @oscarnogueira.
- 🇸🇦 Arabic README translation. (#458) Thanks @qiongyu1999.

## 🛡️ Stability & Reliability

- 🔒 **Bind daemon to localhost by default with origin validation.** (#365) Thanks @JasonOA888.
- 🔑 **Strip `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` when spawning Claude Code** + preserve when `ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL` is set. (#400, #514) Thanks @sebastianwestberg and @VioletCoding.
- 📦 **Preserve `*_API_KEY` env vars for CLI agents in packaged builds.** (#404) Thanks @aitonic.
- 🌐 **Normalize daemon proxy origins.** (#392) Thanks @lefarcen.
- 🆔 **Daemon `package.json` resolves from any compiled layout** so the packaged app reports the correct version. (#537) Thanks @jinmeihong0201-gif.
- 🛂 **Correct Claude Code `--add-dir` capability detection.** (#440) Thanks @1119302165.
- 🔧 **Handle ACP `-32603` errors gracefully** in `session/set_model`. (#492) Thanks @goemonwanwan.
- 📂 **Skill resources via cwd-relative aliases** + nested project file paths. (#401, #435) Thanks @nikshh and @fancyboi999.
- 🔌 **Respect `baseUrl` path verbatim in OpenAI-compat proxy.** (#410) Thanks @GodTamIt.

## 🐛 Bug Fixes

- 📜 Prevent vertical scrollbar on artifact preview frame and `ws-tabs-bar`. (#448, #453) Thanks @nmsn.
- 🔠 Language option button height truncation in Settings. (#447) Thanks @nmsn.
- 🃏 Aspect-ratio cards no longer overflow into siblings. (#476) Thanks @dabing1022.
- 📋 Copy buttons on FileViewer code blocks. (#471) Thanks @jiakeboge.
- ⚙️ Lowercase `todowrite` compatibility in ToolCard. (#523) Thanks @1119302165.
- 💧 Cap `htmlPreviewSlideState` Map to prevent memory leak. (#488) Thanks @hobostay.
- 🖼️ Isolate preview blob export paths. (#429) Thanks @Aresdgi.
- 🗂️ Split execution-mode tabs and align active chip visuals. (#418) Thanks @monshunter.
- 🎨 Tighten entry-tab layout and design-system showcase color picker. (#412) Thanks @pftom.
- 🌒 Lift coming-soon tip above sticky tabs and make it readable in dark theme. (#382) Thanks @emilneander.
- 📁 Clear Design Files selection on project switch. (#465) Thanks @dabing1022.
- 🤖 Copilot prompt processing with correct command format. (#466) Thanks @albertasaftei.
- 🤖 Codex Gemini CLI trust handling + sandbox invocation. (#352, #477) Thanks @danduma and @irixzafra.
- 🍎 Show window on macOS dock activate. (#270) Thanks @StotheC90.
- 📦 Bundle prompt templates in packaged desktop resources. (#417) Thanks @Romantin.
- 🚀 Deploy landing-page with `npm wrangler`. (#421) Thanks @mrcfps.
- 🔄 Refactor `RUNTIME_DATA_DIR` resolution. (#391) Thanks @vistar.

## 📚 Documentation

- 💬 Discord invite badge in README. (#504) Thanks @joeylee12629-star.
- 📥 Surface desktop downloads in README. (#522) Thanks @qiongyu1999.
- 🚦 "Running the Project" section in README. (#468) Thanks @sinamashini.
- 🤝 First-PR link points to /contribute. (#494) Thanks @lefarcen.
- 🌐 Defer README template-driven generation. (#403) Thanks @laihenyi.

## 🔨 For Developers

<details>
<summary>Click to expand</summary>

- 📊 Auto-generated metrics SVG and contributors wall refresh. (#406, #407, #489, #490)
- 🧪 Enforce test directory conventions. (#496) Thanks @PerishCode.

</details>

## ✅ System Requirements

- **macOS** — Apple Silicon (arm64) only, macOS 11 Big Sur or newer. Intel macs are not supported.
- **Windows** — x64, Windows 10 / 11. Installer is **unsigned** (SmartScreen will warn on first launch — choose "More info → Run anyway").
- **Linux** — no packaged desktop artifact in 0.4.0 stable; run from source while the AppImage release lane is hardened.
- **From source** — Node.js 24.x and pnpm 10.33.2+ (per `engines` in `package.json`).

## ⚠️ Known Issues

- 🪟 **Windows installer is unsigned** — SmartScreen / antivirus warnings on first launch. Code signing tracked for a follow-up release.
- 🐧 **No Linux desktop package in 0.4.0 stable** — AppImage packaging is deferred while the containerized release lane is hardened. Run from source for now.
- 🍎 **No macOS Intel (x64) build** — Apple Silicon only.
- 🐚 **`od` CLI shadows the POSIX `od` (octal dump) when installed globally.** Use `/usr/bin/od` or `command od` for the system tool.
- 🌐 **i18n metadata drift on new prompt templates** — A handful of templates still don't have display titles in every UI locale; the i18n coverage test step is still skipped in `release-stable`.

---

**Full Changelog:** https://github.com/nexu-io/open-design/compare/open-design-v0.3.0...open-design-v0.4.0