Google Stitch's DESIGN.md, explainedGoogle Stitch 的 DESIGN.md,讲明白
Stitch is Google Labs' AI design tool, and design.md is its memory: a plain markdown file that stores your palette, fonts, and styling rules so every screen the AI generates matches the last one. Google has since released DESIGN.md as an open spec — which turned a Stitch feature into a format the whole AI-tools ecosystem can read.Stitch 是 Google Labs 的 AI 设计工具,design.md 是它的记忆:一个普通 markdown 文件,存下你的色板、字体和样式规则,让 AI 生成的每一屏都跟上一屏对得上。Google 后来把 DESIGN.md 作为开放规范发布——一个 Stitch 的功能,由此变成了整个 AI 工具生态都能读的格式。
What design.md does inside Stitchdesign.md 在 Stitch 里做什么
Stitch generates UI designs from prompts. Without a persistent design system, every generation is a fresh roll of the dice: the third screen drifts from the first, the palette wobbles, the type scale wanders. Stitch's answer is design.md — a file that records the design system once, which the tool then reads before generating anything new.Stitch 根据 prompt 生成 UI 设计。没有持久的设计系统时,每次生成都是重新掷骰子:第三屏偏离第一屏,色板晃动,字阶乱走。Stitch 的答案就是 design.md——一个把设计系统记录一次的文件,工具在生成任何新东西之前都先读它。
Because the file persists across sessions, consistency stops depending on how well you re-describe your style each time. The system of record is the file, not the prompt history. Change the file, and every subsequent generation follows.因为这个文件跨会话存在,一致性就不再取决于你每次把风格重新描述得多好。记录系统是这个文件,不是 prompt 历史。改文件,后续每次生成都会跟上。
Why Google open-sourced the formatGoogle 为什么把格式开源
In 2026 Google Labs released DESIGN.md as an open spec: a published format for describing a visual identity to coding agents, with the spec and tooling available publicly rather than locked inside Stitch. The stated idea is a persistent, structured understanding of a design system that any agent can share.2026 年,Google Labs 把 DESIGN.md 作为开放规范发布:一个向编码 agent 描述视觉识别的公开格式,规范与工具都公开可用,而不是锁在 Stitch 里面。官方的说法是:给设计系统一个持久、结构化的理解,任何 agent 都能共享。
The move makes sense from both directions. For users, a design system encoded once should not be hostage to one tool — the same file should work in whatever AI ships next quarter. For the format, openness is what turns a feature into a standard: the more tools read DESIGN.md, the more valuable every DESIGN.md becomes.从两个方向看这步棋都合理。对用户,编码过一次的设计系统不该被单一工具绑架——同一个文件应该在下个季度冒出来的任何 AI 里照样能用。对格式,开放才能让一个功能变成一个标准:读 DESIGN.md 的工具越多,每一份 DESIGN.md 就越值钱。
The practical consequence: the format's structure — machine-readable design tokens up top, human-readable rationale below, in one markdown file — is now public convention, and an ecosystem of readers, writers, and libraries has grown around it.实际的结果是:这个格式的结构——机器可读的设计 token 在上,给人读的设计理据在下,合成一个 markdown 文件——如今已是公开约定,围绕它长出了读取方、写作方和内容库的生态。
Using the same file beyond Stitch同一个文件,在 Stitch 之外用
Because the file is plain markdown, nothing about it is Stitch-specific. Coding agents like Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex read a DESIGN.md from your project root the same way they read a README — and apply it when they generate UI. Chat assistants can take the file pasted into a conversation. Agent pipelines can fetch it programmatically.因为文件就是普通 markdown,它没有任何 Stitch 专属的部分。Claude Code、Cursor、Codex 这类编码 agent 从项目根目录读 DESIGN.md,跟读 README 一个方式——生成 UI 时照着套用。聊天助手可以接收贴进对话的文件。agent 流水线可以编程拉取。
The workflow is the same everywhere: the file states the design system; the agent reads it before building; the output matches the spec instead of the model's average taste. Which tool renders the screens is an implementation detail — the design system lives in the file.在哪儿工作流都一样:文件写明设计系统;agent 动手前先读;产出对齐规范,而不是对齐模型的平均品味。至于哪个工具来渲染页面,只是实现细节——设计系统住在文件里。
That portability is the real payoff of the open spec. Encode a style once and it follows you across tools, instead of being re-prompted from scratch in each one.这种可移植性才是开放规范真正的回报。风格编码一次,就跟着你跨工具走,而不是在每个工具里从头再 prompt 一遍。
Where Curio fits: the library layerCurio 在哪一层:内容库这一层
Stitch and the open spec answer the format question: how should a design system be written down for a machine? They deliberately do not answer the content question: where do the styles themselves come from? Out of the box, a DESIGN.md is an empty vessel — you still have to fill it with a design system you own or can articulate.Stitch 和开放规范回答的是格式问题:设计系统该怎么写下来给机器读?它们刻意不回答内容问题:风格本身从哪来?开箱状态下,DESIGN.md 是个空容器——你仍然得往里填一套你拥有、或者你能讲清楚的设计系统。
That is the layer Curio occupies. It is a curated library of real design styles — movements, brands, cultural traditions — each researched and encoded as a complete, ready-to-use DESIGN.md-style spec. You browse a style; your AI applies it over MCP, a share link, or a download. The format tells the machine how to read a design system. A library gives you design systems worth reading.Curio 占的就是这一层。它是一座精选的真实设计风格库——流派、品牌、文化传统——每一种都经过调研,编码成一份完整、开箱即用的 DESIGN.md 式规范。你挑风格;你的 AI 通过 MCP、分享链接或下载套用它。格式告诉机器怎么读设计系统;库给你值得一读的设计系统。
FAQ常见问题
Do I need a design.md to use Stitch?用 Stitch 必须有 design.md 吗?
Stitch generates designs either way, but without the file every generation starts from scratch stylistically. The design.md is what makes results consistent across screens and sessions — it is the difference between a tool that draws and a tool that follows your design system.没有它 Stitch 也能生成设计,但每次生成在风格上都是从零开始。design.md 正是让结果跨屏幕、跨会话保持一致的东西——这是「会画图的工具」和「遵守你设计系统的工具」之间的差别。
Does a DESIGN.md written for Stitch work in other tools?为 Stitch 写的 DESIGN.md 在别的工具里能用吗?
Yes — that is the point of the open spec. The file is plain markdown with structured tokens, so any agent that can read text can follow it: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, chat assistants, or your own pipeline. No exporter, no conversion step.能——开放规范的意义就在这儿。文件是带结构化 token 的普通 markdown,任何能读文本的 agent 都能遵守它:Claude Code、Cursor、Codex、聊天助手,或你自己的流水线。不需要导出器,不需要转换步骤。
Is Curio a competitor to Stitch?Curio 是 Stitch 的竞品吗?
No — they sit on different layers and combine naturally. Stitch (and the open spec) define how a design system is written for machines; Curio is a library of ready-made design systems in that same convention. Use Stitch or any agent as the tool, and Curio as the place the style comes from.不是——它们在不同的层,天然可以搭配。Stitch(和开放规范)定义设计系统怎么写给机器;Curio 是同一约定下的现成设计系统库。工具用 Stitch 或任何 agent,风格从 Curio 来。
Where do I find the open DESIGN.md spec?开放的 DESIGN.md 规范在哪能找到?
Google Labs publishes the spec and companion tooling publicly — search for the google-labs-code design.md repository on GitHub, or Google's announcement of the open-source release. The format itself is simple enough that reading one well-formed file teaches you most of it.Google Labs 公开发布了规范与配套工具——在 GitHub 搜 google-labs-code 的 design.md 仓库,或搜 Google 的开源发布公告。这个格式本身足够简单,认真读一份合格的文件就能学会大半。