Claude Design After 14 December: What to Do Now

Design is one area of our delivery where we lean fully into AI, and Claude Design has been a large part of that. Design systems in particular have worked well for us, because they let our business analysts and engineers design on-brand screens from the first draft. So when Anthropic announced that the standalone version would close, we moved early.

This post sets out what is changing, what moves and what does not, a checklist for the move, and how we now recommend running a design system in Claude. The product details come from Anthropic’s help centre at the time of writing; menu names in particular may change, so check the linked articles before you start.

What is changing on 14 December?

The standalone site at claude.ai/design closes on 14 December 2026. Anthropic’s article on moving from standalone Claude Design to Claude says that after that date it becomes read-only, and you cannot start new projects there.

Claude Design itself is not going away. It now lives inside Claude, and new designs, design systems, and slide decks are saved as artifacts. Anthropic lists it as available on Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, and Enterprise plans.

Where does Claude Design live now?

Anthropic’s getting started guide lists several ways in:

• In a conversation: Claude builds the design beside the chat, and you refine it there.
• In the Artifacts tab: start an artifact from the Design template.
• In Claude Code: the /design command drafts a design as a canvas of editable artboards, and Claude can then implement the option you pick. Anthropic’s Claude Code artifacts documentation says it needs Claude Code v2.1.265 or later.
• On mobile: you can request and view a design, with sharing changes made on the web or desktop.

For Team and Enterprise plans, all of this sits under Organization settings > Artifacts. Anthropic’s admin guide says the Design and Slides templates are on by default. The Design systems setting is on by default for Team plans, and off for Enterprise plans until an Owner turns it on.

What moves into Claude, and what does not?

Not everything makes the journey, so it is worth knowing the gaps before you start.

What moves into Claude

Figure 1

Standalone Claude Designclaude.ai/design

ClaudeSaved as artifacts

Design systemsOne move for the organisation

Design systemsKeep owners and sharing

ProjectsMoved by each owner

ProjectsSaved as artifacts

TemplatesWith Move everything

TemplatesOwners only

Chats and commentsCannot move

Stay behindDeleted after closure

Public linksStandalone links

Stop workingShare new links

Starter-theme and empty systemsNot eligible

Not movedRebuild if needed

Standalone becomes read-only on 14 December 2026

What moves

• Design systems. One move covers every design system in your organisation, and each keeps its owner and sharing settings. If the owner has left, the organisation’s Primary Owner takes over.
• Projects. Each project is moved by its owner, one at a time. Anthropic says this option is rolling out gradually to paid plans, so you may not see it yet.
• Everything at once. An Owner or the Primary Owner can move everything, including templates and design systems.

What does not move

• Chats and comments. These stay in the standalone version until it closes, and are then deleted under Anthropic’s retention practices.
• Empty design systems, and design systems created from a built-in starter theme, even if you edited them.
• Edits made after the move. Changes to a design system in the standalone version after it has moved do not carry over.
• Public links. Links to standalone projects stop working when it closes.

What should you do before 14 December?

Anthropic’s article includes recommended steps. Combined with what we learned from our own move, this is the checklist we would follow:

1. Check your settings. On Team and Enterprise plans, make sure Artifacts and the Design systems template are turned on for your organisation.
2. Move your design systems. Start from the banner on the Artifacts page in Claude. Ask owners to fix anything listed as not moved.
3. Move or download your projects. Move the ones you still use. For the rest, download a project archive: open the project, choose Share, then Project HTML.
4. Save chats and comments you need. They will not move.
5. Check your retention period. If your organisation’s retention policy covers artifacts, a moved design system or project can be permanently deleted if nobody opens it within that period. Opening or editing it restarts the clock.
6. Update shared links. Replace any public links to standalone projects with links to the new artifacts.
7. Re-check your designs. Designs and decks keep their own copy of the design system they were made with, so ask Claude to update any that should follow the latest version.

Who is affected by the restrictions?

Some organisations cannot move everything, and regulated teams should check these before they plan the move:

• Zero data retention (ZDR): these organisations cannot turn on artifacts, so they cannot move anything. Anthropic advises downloading projects before the standalone version closes.
• HIPAA-ready configuration: these organisations cannot move projects at present.
• Customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK): projects can be moved one at a time, but not in bulk, and design systems cannot be moved yet.
• Data residency: Anthropic’s admin guide states that Claude Design does not currently support data residency requirements.

If any of these apply to you, check the current position in Anthropic’s articles before relying on Claude Design for client or regulated work.

How should you run a design system in Claude now?

The move is a good moment to tidy up how a design system is set up, not just to copy it across. Anthropic’s tutorial on setting up a design system in Claude and its design system setup article point to a clear way of working.

Build it from code where you can

If your colours, type, and components already exist in code, sync the design system from the repository. In Claude you can use Sync from GitHub, and in Claude Code you can run /design-sync, which reads your tokens and components directly. When you sync again later, changed values update and new ones are added, while your usage notes, fonts, and assets stay. Claude asks before removing a token the code no longer defines.

Add real examples, not just specs

For brand input that does not live in code, upload logos, fonts, palettes, and token files. Anthropic’s advice is to include real examples, such as finished screens or decks, because they show how the brand feels better than a palette on its own. Our guide to AI-friendly brand guidelines lists what to ask a brand agency for.

Write usage notes and keep the overview short

Claude reads a component’s usage note before it builds with that component, so notes such as ‘use this button style in toolbars only’ pay off. Claude also reads the whole overview every time it uses the design system, so keep it short and move detail into separate files.

Set one organisation default, and select only what you need

There is one default design system per organisation. Only an Owner can share a design system with everyone and set it as the default. When a task needs more than one system, select only the ones it needs, because Claude reads every design system you select along with the request.

Keep tokens where Claude Code can find them

For work in Claude Code, Anthropic’s documentation says Claude looks for an existing design system in your project before choosing its own styles. Recording your tokens in the project’s CLAUDE.md or a theme file is enough, and Claude treats them as higher priority than its own choices.

Our guide to design systems, UX patterns, and Storybook covers how much of a design system a product needs in the first place.

How have we approached the move?

We are on the Claude Team plan, and we have already moved our design systems into Claude. Nothing significant failed to move or caught us out.

We did more than move them, though. We restructured our design system around Claude’s design system structure, because we see it as the primary system for our design work from here on. We build design systems both by syncing from code and from uploaded brand files, depending on what a client already has. As part of the move, we are also adopting /design in Claude Code, so design and build happen in the same place.

It fits how we already work. Our business analysts and engineers design with AI at every stage, and with good brand input we do not need a separate designer. Our guide to UX design for custom software explains that process, and our guide on where AI helps in UX design and where people decide covers what people still own.

If you would like help moving your own design systems, or setting one up around a product you are building, book a consultation.