1DesignTool is local-first by architecture, not by setting — your projects, previews, history and systems live in folders on your disk, and there is no account your work passes through. This page is the honest list of what does leave the machine, and when.
What stays local
- Projects — every project is a folder you picked, on your disk
- Previews — the preview server is local-only and default-deny
- History and versions — snapshots ride with the project folder
- Design systems — saved in the app's own store, on the machine
- Settings — agents, privacy toggles, license state, local
Deleting a project deletes its files — the folder is the truth, not a copy held somewhere else.
What leaves — agent runs
Every turn sends your brief plus the project context to your agent CLI — Claude Code, Codex, whichever you picked — which runs it against your own account. 1DesignTool is the pipe: the data goes from your project folder to your CLI's service, not through a server the app owns. What the agent does with the context follows that CLI's own privacy terms — the app neither adds to nor hides that exchange.
What leaves — licensing and updates
Two narrow calls:
- License — activating, validating or deactivating a key checks it against
Lemon Squeezy and
store.stoicsoft.com. The key and its device slots travel; nothing about the work does. - Updates — Settings → Updates checks GitHub for a newer build, and downloads it when you say so.
What leaves — asset fetches
When a design pulls a stock asset — a photo, an illustration — the app fetches it from Openverse, Wikimedia or unDraw, on demand per template. The fetch is the asset itself, not your project.
What leaves — optional analytics
The Privacy tab carries an analytics toggle — off by default after the first-run prompt. On, it sends anonymous product events (a run started, an export finished); off, nothing of the sort leaves. The toggle is reversible and the prompt at first launch is the same switch.
What never leaves
- Agent credentials — your CLI's sign-in lives on its side; the app never sees the key
- Project contents — except the context a turn needs to build from, sent only to your agent
- The MCP server — local-only by default; see Drive 1DesignTool from any agent
The preview server is default-deny
The preview the app serves is a local server with a default-deny file
allowlist — artifact scripts run with allow-same-origin, and file types get
served only when the classifier knows them. It's the mechanism that lets a
live preview exist without a local page reaching places it shouldn't.
Tip: The privacy tab is worth one look at first launch — the analytics toggle is the only setting that changes what leaves the machine, and it's honest about being off by default.