OpenPencil

Open-source, AI-native design editor. Figma-compatible, AI-first, fully local.

Status: Active development. Not ready for production use.

Try it online → · Download · Documentation

Why

Figma is a closed platform that actively fights programmatic access. In February 2026, Figma 126.1.2 started stripping --remote-debugging-port on startup — killing CDP-based automation tools like figma-use that filled gaps Figma refused to address. Their own MCP server, launched months after figma-use proved the demand, still can't create or modify designs — it's read-only.

This is a supply chain problem. Designers and developers build workflows on top of their design tool. When that tool is closed-source, the vendor controls what's possible. They can break your tooling overnight with a point release. Your design files are in a proprietary binary format that only their software can fully read.

Coding tools went through the same shift. VS Code opened the editor. LLMs opened code generation. Projects like pi opened the AI coding agent. Design tools are next.

OpenPencil is:

• Open source — MIT license, read and modify everything
• Figma-compatible — opens .fig files natively, copy/paste between apps
• AI-native — built-in chat with tool use, bring your own API key, no vendor lock-in
• Free forever — no account, no subscription, no internet required, ~5 MB install
• Programmable — headless CLI, every operation is scriptable

Your design files are yours. Your tools should be too.

Features

• Figma .fig file import — open native Figma files directly
• Figma clipboard — copy/paste between OpenPencil and Figma
• Vector networks — complex boolean shapes and open paths, like Figma
• Auto-layout — constraint-based layout matching Figma behavior
• Components & instances — with live sync, overrides, component sets
• Pen tool — bezier curves with tangent handles
• Inline text editing — multi-line text with system fonts
• Image export — PNG, JPG, WEBP at any scale
• Headless CLI — inspect, search, and render .fig files without a GUI
• Undo/redo — all operations are undoable
• Snap guides — edge and center snapping
• Color picker — HSV, hue/alpha sliders, hex input, gradients
• ~5 MB install, works fully offline — no account, no server, no internet required

Tech Stack

Layer	Tech
UI	Vue 3, VueUse, Reka UI
Styling	Tailwind CSS 4
Rendering	Skia (CanvasKit WASM)
Layout	Yoga WASM
File format	Kiwi binary (vendored) + Zstd + ZIP
Color	culori
Desktop	Tauri v2
CLI	citty, agentfmt
Testing	Playwright (visual regression), bun:test (unit)
Tooling	Vite 7, oxlint, oxfmt, typescript-go

Getting Started

bun install
bun run dev

CLI

Headless .fig file operations — no GUI needed:

bun open-pencil info design.fig         # Document stats, node types, fonts
bun open-pencil tree design.fig         # Visual node tree
bun open-pencil find design.fig --type TEXT  # Search by name or type
bun open-pencil export design.fig       # Render to PNG
bun open-pencil export design.fig -f jpg -s 2 -q 90  # JPG at 2x

All commands support --json for machine-readable output.

Scripts

Command	Description
bun run dev	Dev server at http://localhost:1420
bun run build	Production build
bun run check	Lint + typecheck
bun run test	E2E visual regression
bun run test:update	Regenerate screenshot baselines
bun run test:unit	Unit tests
bun run tauri dev	Desktop app (requires Rust)

Desktop App

Requires Rust, the Tauri CLI, and platform-specific prerequisites (Tauri v2 guide).

bun run tauri dev                      # Dev mode with hot reload
bun run tauri build                    # Production build
bun run tauri build --target universal-apple-darwin  # macOS universal

Cross-compilation to other platforms requires their respective toolchains or CI (e.g. GitHub Actions).

Platform Prerequisites

macOS

Install Xcode Command Line Tools:

xcode-select --install

Windows

1. Install Rust — make sure the default toolchain is stable-msvc:

   rustup default stable-msvc
   

2. Install Visual Studio Build Tools with the "Desktop development with C++" workload (MSVC compiler + Windows SDK)
3. WebView2 is pre-installed on Windows 10 (1803+) and Windows 11. If missing, download from Microsoft

Linux

Install system dependencies (Debian/Ubuntu):

sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev build-essential curl wget file \
  libxdo-dev libssl-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev

For other distros, see the Tauri v2 prerequisites.

Project Structure

packages/
  core/           @open-pencil/core — engine (scene graph, renderer, layout, codec)
  cli/            @open-pencil/cli — headless CLI (info, tree, find, export)
src/
  components/     Vue SFCs (canvas, panels, toolbar, color picker)
  composables/    Canvas input, keyboard shortcuts, rendering
  stores/         Editor state (Vue reactivity)
  engine/         Re-export shims from @open-pencil/core
  kiwi/           Re-export shims from @open-pencil/core
  types.ts        Shared types
  constants.ts    App-specific constants + re-exports from core
desktop/          Tauri v2 (Rust + config)
tests/
  e2e/            Playwright visual regression
  engine/         Unit tests

License

MIT