--- title: DESIGN.md: an open standard for describing design... description: Google's Stitch team has open-sourced DESIGN.md, a file format specification that enables AI agents to read and act on design systems. The format pairs... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/design-md-an-open-standard-for-describing-design-systems-to-ai-agents-wf1vrlba0 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: DESIGN.md: an open standard for describing design systems to AI agents | daily.dev og:description: Google's Stitch team has open-sourced DESIGN.md, a file format specification that enables AI agents to read and act on design systems. The format pairs... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/design-md-an-open-standard-for-describing-design-systems-to-ai-agents-wf1vrlba0 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/WF1vRLbA0.png og:image:alt: DESIGN.md: an open standard for describing design systems to AI agents og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # DESIGN.md: an open standard for describing design systems to AI agents **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 1 min read · 48 upvotes · 8 comments ## Summary Google's Stitch team has open-sourced DESIGN.md, a file format specification that enables AI agents to read and act on design systems. The format pairs structured design tokens (hex codes, font sizes) with human-readable rationale explaining the reasoning behind design decisions. The GitHub-published spec includes a token section, a work-in-progress components section for role-based references, and a CLI tool that validates files against the spec with WCAG contrast ratio checks. The goal is to provide a shared foundation so AI agents and tools can consistently generate and consume design systems without each platform inventing its own approach. ## Content Google's Stitch team has open-sourced DESIGN.md, a file format that lets AI agents read and act on visual identity and design systems. The idea is straightforward: instead of an agent guessing at your brand's colors or typography, it reads a single file that explains both the actual values (hex codes, font sizes) and the reasoning behind them (why those choices were made). Human-readable rationale and structured design tokens live together in one place. The spec, now published on GitHub, sets baseline rules while leaving room for extensions. A few things worth noting: - A **token section** pairs design values with the reasoning behind them - A **components section** (still in progress) lets you reference roles rather than hardcoding values - A **CLI tool** validates DESIGN.md files against the spec, including WCAG contrast ratio checks The goal is to give any agent or tool a shared foundation for generating and consuming design systems consistently, rather than every platform reinventing its own approach. The spec is live on GitHub, and Stitch has already shipped support for it. ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@talhasiddique7** · 0 upvotes > **i try this its mind blowing ** **@kenilchristian** · 0 upvotes > There is a Bug in the [Design.md](http://Design.md) link **@jibonkrishnaroy** · 0 upvotes > Thanks for the information **@seetwo** · 0 upvotes > That sure does look interesting. Great idea from Google. **@vladsiu** · 0 upvotes > Long waited improvement for .md files ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [and it might replace the way we share UI Design forever : fireup.pro](https://daily.dev/posts/and-it-might-replace-the-way-we-share-ui-design-forever-fireup-pro-pjhgzpndo) · FireUp · 120 upvotes · 12 comments --- Tags: [#google](https://daily.dev/tags/google), [#ui-design](https://daily.dev/tags/ui-design), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#design-systems](https://daily.dev/tags/design-systems) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/design-md-an-open-standard-for-describing-design-systems-to-ai-agents-wf1vrlba0) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"DESIGN.md: an open standard for describing design systems to AI agents","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/design-md-an-open-standard-for-describing-design-systems-to-ai-agents-wf1vrlba0","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/design-md-an-open-standard-for-describing-design-systems-to-ai-agents-wf1vrlba0"},"datePublished":"2026-04-21T17:10:19.559Z","dateModified":"2026-04-23T17:22:13.929Z","description":"Google's Stitch team has open-sourced DESIGN.md, a file format specification that enables AI agents to read and act on design systems. The format pairs...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W1gWIQp9k1Y/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W1gWIQp9k1Y/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Collections","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Collections","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--fk_6ycEi--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780996001/logos/collections?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},"commentCount":8,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/design-md-an-open-standard-for-describing-design-systems-to-ai-agents-wf1vrlba0","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":48},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":8}],"keywords":"google,ui-design,ai-agents,design-systems","timeRequired":"PT1M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collections","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"DESIGN.md: an open standard for describing design systems to AI agents"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/design-md-an-open-standard-for-describing-design-systems-to-ai-agents-wf1vrlba0","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"**i try this its mind blowing **","datePublished":"2026-04-28T12:28:43.253Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/WF1vRLbA0#c-ateYcjHfZ","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Talha Siddique","url":"https://daily.dev/talhasiddique7","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--ICFWp8AE--/f_auto/v1776346634/avatars/avatar_6b53uw8lPdfVKdrwHcxDO?_a=BAMAMiWQ0"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"There is a Bug in the Design.md link","datePublished":"2026-04-28T12:24:21.236Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/WF1vRLbA0#c-AZej7QGcU","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Kenil Christian","url":"https://daily.dev/kenilchristian","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocJXn1J6OCDkfbSQA_r1CIofJc5_WySxL48p0mCkrfKTbk74tA=s96-c"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Thanks for the information","datePublished":"2026-05-02T03:16:13.442Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/WF1vRLbA0#c-AeTFKdX0D","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Jibon Krishna Roy","url":"https://daily.dev/jibonkrishnaroy","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocIaoOOW6GkBaZgUYqEW96neuO8N1W3rzBgE4rfqk9R0R1Czt6yL=s96-c"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"That sure does look interesting. Great idea from Google.","datePublished":"2026-04-28T16:30:47.570Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/WF1vRLbA0#c-amu9oN3Im","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Charles Desaulniers","url":"https://daily.dev/seetwo","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/5693643?v=4"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Long waited improvement for .md files","datePublished":"2026-04-29T04:17:52.928Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/WF1vRLbA0#c-GeO1X4HYs","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Vladislav Siumbeli","url":"https://daily.dev/vladsiu","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--GalxSgjS--/f_auto/v1757768087/avatars/avatar_ezH33Lu6a37KM1SfsCwIx?_a=BAMClqZW0"}}]} ```