DESIGN.mdA
DESIGN.md from different-ai/openwork is a DESIGN.md file: the design rules coding agents follow in that repo.
mdr add different-ai/openwork/DESIGN.md@git:20261105.74b7c70Pins git:20261105.74b7c70 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 14 of 14 checks passed
- Kind
- DESIGN.md file
- Repository
- different-ai/openwork
- Path
DESIGN.md- Versions recorded
- 6
- Latest version
- git:20261105.74b7c70, committed Nov 5, 2026
- First version recorded
- Sep 16, 2026
- Size
- 14,831 bytes
- Repository stars
- 24,407
- License
- a license file GitHub does not identify
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# DESIGN.md
How OpenWork UI is designed. Agents read this before building or reviewing any
user-facing surface (`apps/app`, `apps/desktop`, `ee/apps/den-web`, MCP Apps,
generated artifact views). The optional `.warden/skills/design-spec-review` skill
can review the numbered rules below locally. Automated Warden reviews focus on
security and confidentiality.
## Who we design for
Non-technical knowledge workers doing real work with agents on their own
files and connected services. Chat is the home surface; everything else
(tool activity, apps, panels, settings) supports the conversation. The user is
usually a *perpetual intermediate*: make the common path fast and obvious, keep
advanced options discoverable but quiet.
## Principles
- **P1 · Show state, don't explain the UI.** A surface reports what is true
("Verified 2 min ago", "Blocked by your team", "Not posted") instead of
describing itself. Count the sentences in the first viewport; if a sentence
explains the interface rather than reporting state, delete it. Exception:
feature intros (I1–I10) explain what a feature is *for*.
- **P2 · Title *or* description, never both.** Pages, cards, rows, dialogs,
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add different-ai/openwork/DESIGN.md@sha256:a1ca84426143e2bbThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261105.74b7c70, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_qhuon5qraabixvi2)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 6 versions of this file, between Sep 16, 2026 and Nov 5, 2026, about one every 10 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261105.74b7c70 latest | 2026-11-05 | 74b7c70 | 14,831 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261013.6d48e23 | 2026-10-13 | 6d48e23 | 11,064 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261002.a90d9ea | 2026-10-02 | a90d9ea | 10,046 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260922.c26be48 | 2026-09-22 | c26be48 | 9,709 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260920.2739533 | 2026-09-20 | 2739533 | 9,658 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260916.f72c601 | 2026-09-16 | f72c601 | 8,969 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (14831 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
different-ai/openwork · 24,407 stars · license a license file GitHub does not identify · pushed 2026-11-05 · branch dev
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_qhuon5qraabixvi2 GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=different-ai/openwork/DESIGN.md GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/a1ca84426143e2bb528295653fa4f70d7ae7a05355fb81fdf0878f931a26f45c
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: what DESIGN.md is and how agents use it · which agent file does what.
More from different-ai/openwork
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