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What is Onlook?

Onlook is a Mac app for Visual Engineers: designers who shape their product in its real code. It runs your team’s real app on a canvas, and an AI agent changes the app’s code when you ask in a chat. When you’re happy with a change, Onlook sends it to your engineers as a pull request. See Welcome to Onlook.

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Who is Onlook for?

Visual Engineers, and designers on their way to becoming one: people who want to work in their product’s real code instead of a static mockup. Most work with engineers who review changes as pull requests on GitHub.

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What is a Visual Engineer?

A Visual Engineer designs and builds production software directly in code, using visual tools, AI agents, and engineering systems. Creative direction and implementation become one practice. Instead of handing a mockup to engineering, a Visual Engineer shapes the real product and ships the change as a pull request. More about Visual Engineering.

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Does Onlook work with my existing codebase?

Yes. Choose the folder on your Mac that holds your app’s code. Onlook makes its own copy, installs what the app needs, and the agent starts it with your project’s normal dev command. A clone of your team’s GitHub repository works best. See the Quickstart.

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Is Onlook free?

Yes. Onlook uses the Claude or ChatGPT plan you already pay for, and doesn’t charge for AI use. Claude also works with an Anthropic API key.

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How is Onlook different from AI prototyping tools?

Most AI prototyping tools start from a prompt and build a separate prototype. Onlook starts from your team’s existing code, components and styles. The agent changes that code, you see the result in your running app, and your engineers review it as a pull request. That’s the difference between vibe coding and Visual Engineering: the AI is directed, not trusted blindly.

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What kinds of apps does Onlook work with?

Apps that run on your Mac with a dev command, such as React, Next.js or Vite apps. Onlook installs dependencies with your project’s own package manager and starts the app the way your engineers do. Apps that only run inside a container can’t be shown on the canvas yet.

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Will Onlook change my files?

No. Onlook works on a separate copy of your code, on its own git branch. The folder you chose is never edited, moved or committed to. If Onlook can’t make a copy, it stops instead of working in your folder. See How Onlook keeps your code safe.

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Does my code go to Onlook’s servers?

No. Your project files never touch Onlook’s servers. To make a change, the agent sends the parts of your code it needs to Claude or ChatGPT, under your own account. Onlook receives usage events, linked to the email you sign in with. They never include your code, file paths, prompts, or repository or branch names. The full list of what leaves your Mac.

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Which AI does Onlook use?

Claude Code or ChatGPT. You pick one the first time you open Onlook and can change the default later in Settings. The agent runs on your Mac. See Connect your AI.

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How do my changes get to my engineers?

As a pull request on GitHub. The pill in Onlook’s top bar shows the next step, such as Create PR, and does it when you press it. If you work on your own, you can push your branch without a pull request. See Send your work to engineers.

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Does the agent ask before it does anything risky?

With Claude, the agent always asks before it pushes to GitHub, creates or merges a pull request, force-pushes, deletes a branch or does a hard reset. You approve or deny each one in the chat. See Permission modes.

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What do I need to run Onlook?

A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or newer), a Claude or ChatGPT account, and the tools your app needs to run, such as Node.js. If your Mac doesn’t have Apple’s developer tools, macOS offers to install them the first time Onlook needs git. Windows, Linux and Intel Macs aren’t supported yet. To hear when they are, join the waitlist for Windows, Linux or an Intel Mac. See Install Onlook.

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What are artifacts?

Pages you sketch on the canvas without changing your code, such as a landing page idea or a new screen. They’re kept on your Mac, outside your repository, and you can export them as HTML or PDF. When one is right, the agent can build it into your app. See Artifacts.

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How do I learn what to ask for?

In a project, click Tips in the lower-left corner, or press ⌘/. Tips shows example requests you can send to the chat, and every keyboard shortcut. See Tips.

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Is Onlook ready for production work?

Yes. Onlook runs locally, on your own setup: your code, your dev server, your git and your own AI account. The agent works on a copy of your code, and changes reach your codebase only when you send them, usually as a pull request your team reviews. Onlook is in beta, so things change quickly, and some features in the app are marked “Coming soon”. To tell us what worked and what broke, open a project, click Help and choose Send feedback.