How to uninstall Open Design on Mac

Open Design is a free, open-source, local-first design tool that drives coding agents, from open-design.ai and its GitHub project. Its bundle ID is io.open-design.desktop. The desktop app runs a local daemon that keeps your projects, database, settings and generated files in one data folder, and the project's contributor guide deliberately documents that folder only as "the daemon data root". In the test the app created ~/Library/Application Support/Open Design (about 21 MB after one launch), which is the folder the Homebrew cask also names. Treat it as your work: copy out any project you want before you remove it. A project you imported from a folder of your own lives in that folder, not here. This guide covers the Apple silicon disk image from the project's GitHub release and the Homebrew cask open-design.

Back up, quit and remove the app

  1. Export what you want to keep. Per the README, decks and designs export to HTML, PDF, PPTX, ZIP or Markdown, and the project files are real HTML and CSS. Copy anything you need from ~/Library/Application Support/Open Design too.
  2. If you connected a coding agent through Settings › MCP server or od mcp install, remove the Open Design entry from that agent's own MCP settings; the README says od mcp install <agent> --uninstall removes it. Removing the app does not edit those files.
  3. Quit Open Design with Command + Q. It runs a local daemon, and the test counted 13 processes for it and its helpers, which Mole's Status page groups into one Open Design row.
  4. Open Finder, go to Applications and drag Open Design to the Trash.

The app registered no login item or launch agent in the test.

Where the data lives

Press Shift + Command + G in Finder to open each path. Skip any path that is not on your Mac.

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/Open Design The app's data folder, 21.6 MB in the test; per the vendor's guide the daemon keeps projects, its database, app config, memory, MCP tokens and generated files under its data root Copy what you need first, then remove. Mole lists it for review and selects it by default.
~/Library/Preferences/io.open-design.desktop.plist Preferences Remove. Selected by default.
The folder getconf DARWIN_USER_CACHE_DIR prints, plus io.open-design.desktop and io.open-design.desktop.helper Mole's temporary cache rows, 0 and 0.9 MB in the test Remove. Selected by default.
Model provider API keys you pasted in Not located in the test Revoke them at the provider if you no longer want them valid.

Check the result

pgrep -il 'open design'
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Open Design" "$HOME/Library/Preferences/io.open-design.desktop.plist"
ls -d "$(getconf DARWIN_USER_CACHE_DIR)"io.open-design.desktop*
  • No output from pgrep means neither the app nor its daemon is running. A printed line is a process still alive; quit it, or restart the Mac once.
  • A path printed by ls still exists. No such file or directory means that path is gone. A surviving Open Design folder is expected if you kept your projects.

If you installed it with Homebrew

brew uninstall --cask open-design

The cask has no uninstall step beyond removing the app. Its zap list deletes ~/Library/Application Support/Open Design, the preferences file and the Recent Items file, so brew uninstall --cask --zap open-design deletes your projects with the folder and does not read Mole's checkboxes. Every zap path is inside ~/Library, but Mole adds --zap only when its whole removal scope passes its zap gate: an unchecked row, a path the scan never listed or a path another installed app claims keeps it off, and Mole then removes the rows you selected itself. Untick the data folder first if you want to keep it.

Account and subscription

Per the README, the desktop app works with your own coding agent, and OpenDesign Cloud is a separate service. If you used the cloud service or pasted provider keys, removing the app does not sign you out or revoke anything; do that on the service side. No sign-in was tested.

What Mole lists

Mole selects the app, the preferences file and both temporary cache rows. It lists ~/Library/Application Support/Open Design for review and selects it by default, so untick it to keep your projects. Before removing, Mole asks the app to quit. Mole does not edit your coding agents' MCP settings.

What this test covered

On November 9, 2026, the test downloaded the Open Design 0.27.0 disk image for Apple silicon from the project's GitHub release, whose checksum matched the Homebrew cask, copied the app to Applications without running brew install, launched it once, quit it and removed it with a source-built Mole with every review row ticked. Mole moved the app and 4 rows to the Trash, and nothing it attributed to Open Design was left on disk afterwards apart from a Recent Items entry that macOS owns. Status showed one Open Design row with 13 processes. Mole detected an Electron updater whose address is a placeholder, so it could not read a newer version, and no update was run. Creating projects, connecting a coding agent, model provider keys, sign-in, the Homebrew uninstall and Mole's notarized release build were not tested.