Paper

What is Paper?

Paper is a connected canvas designed for teams building software alongside AI agents. Unlike traditional design tools that staticize layouts, Paper is built on web standards (HTML/CSS), allowing a continuous loop between the visual design space and the actual codebase.

Key Features

• Agent-Connected Canvas: Connect any IDE (VS Code, Cursor, Zed) or CLI agent (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot) to the canvas via Paper MCP. Agents can read from and write directly to the design layers.
• Design-to-Code Sync: Because the canvas uses HTML/CSS, designs can be exported as clean code, and agents can sync design tokens, styles, and components back and forth.
• Real Data Integration: Instead of using "Lorem Ipsum," you can pull real content from APIs (e.g., Spotify, Notion) or databases directly into your mockups.
• Automated Workflows: Use agents to handle repetitive "boilerplate" tasks like creating responsive mobile variants or consistency checks.
• Paper Desktop: A dedicated macOS application that unlocks a workflow connecting visual work with local repos and apps.

Use Cases

• Rapid Prototyping with Real Data: Fetching live API data to see how a UI looks with actual content (e.g., a real music playlist).
• Responsive Design Generation: Asking an agent to automatically generate mobile or compact versions of a desktop screen.
• Code-Design Synchronization: Updating a UI component on the canvas and having an AI agent automatically update the corresponding React/Tailwind code in your repository.
• Collaborative Handoff: Reducing "lost in translation" issues by having the design and the production code speak the same language (HTML/CSS).

FAQ (Inferred from Content)

• What platforms is it available on? There is a Paper Web version and a Paper Desktop app specifically for macOS.
• Does it work with AI agents? Yes, it is explicitly built for "shipping with agents" and supports various tools like Claude Code, Copilot, and Windsurf.
• Is it open to the public? It is currently in Open Alpha.
• How does it handle layouts? It uses a "connected canvas" approach where layouts are built on web foundations, making them inherently ready for code implementation.