Building Denote in the open

Denote now has a blog.

The short version of what Denote is: a desktop app where designers structure the thinking behind a product. The objects, the screens, the rules that connect them. Denote writes all of it to plain files, and AI coding tools like Claude Code build straight from them. It has been in beta since July, and it moves quickly.

That pace is the reason for this blog. Release notes say what shipped, but they leave out the interesting part: why a feature exists, what got cut along the way, and what building a design tool with AI looks like from the inside. Those stories will live here.

Expect posts about new releases, the design decisions behind them, and the occasional detour into process. A designer who does not write production code is shipping a working app, and that is worth documenting honestly.

If you are trying the beta and something feels off, or there is a topic you want covered here, email me. Denote is built in the open. The conversation is part of the product.