Settings and desktop preferences

Find the setting you need

Open Home → Settings. General contains everyday preferences; OpenDesign Labs contains experiments; About contains version, updates, and support tools. The labels and options below reflect the observed desktop 0.26.0 interface and may vary in a later version.

For model credentials, use AI connections. For image, video, and audio credentials, use Media providers. Changing General preferences does not configure those services.

Change the interface language

1. Open Settings → General and find Language.
2. Select the interface language you want. Check the updated labels in Settings and Home.
3. If generated content also needs a particular language, write that requirement in the project brief.

Interface language controls the client labels. It does not translate existing project files or guarantee the language of a generated result. If a particular label remains in another language, record the installed version and the label when reporting it.

Choose completion sounds

1. In General, set Completion sound to Active. Turning it on plays the selected success sound as a preview.
2. Choose a Success sound and a Failure sound. Clicking a sound option selects it and plays a sample.
3. Use Inactive when you want completion alerts to remain silent.

The success and failure selectors appear when completion sound is enabled. If the sample is silent, check the device volume, output device, and mute state before retrying. Sound selection and desktop-notification permission are independent settings.

Enable desktop notifications

1. In General, set Desktop notification to Active. If the operating system asks for permission, allow notifications for OpenDesign.
2. When permission is granted, use the test-notification control to send a test and check the displayed status.
3. If permission was denied, review OpenDesign in the operating system’s notification settings, then return and test again. Use Inactive to turn app completion notifications off.

An app preference cannot override blocked system permission. Focus or Do Not Disturb modes can also suppress banners. An unsupported environment may disable the control. A successful sound sample does not prove that notification permission is granted.

Show or change a pet

1. In General, open the Pets controls. Browse Built-in, Custom, or Community according to the source you want.
2. Use Adopt for the available pet you choose, then check its appearance in the app.
3. Use Show pet to control visibility. Hiding the pet does not require changing the project.

A pet is a desktop companion, not a project asset or a model setting. If a community or custom choice cannot load, check its availability and try a built-in option to distinguish an asset issue from the visibility setting.

Manage project locations

1. Open General → Project locations and review the default location.
2. Use Add folder to select an additional local folder through the system folder picker. Make sure it is accessible and that you are comfortable using it for project work.
3. Return to your project list or creation flow and confirm the intended location before continuing.

Project locations describe where the app looks for or works with local projects. Home’s Working directory gives a new task a folder to read and work in. Choosing a working directory does not automatically import its contents into Design Files. If you need a file in the project, use the project’s file workflow and check that it appears there.

If a folder is unavailable, check whether a removable drive is connected and whether the app has system access. Reopen the intended folder rather than creating a second copy of a project without checking the original.

Understand Design Jury where available

Some versions show Design Jury in General as an experimental design-scoring or review setting. Read the description in your installed version before changing it. Treat the score as one review signal: inspect readability, layout, and working interactions yourself. The setting is not a guarantee that a result is complete or correct.

Try Design Harness in Labs

1. Open Settings → OpenDesign Labs and read the Design Harness description.
2. Enable it if you want to try that generation strategy, then start a new generation to compare the result.
3. Disable it to restore the default strategy for subsequent generations.

This setting takes effect on the next generation. It does not redesign an existing artifact when toggled. To compare fairly, use a separate test project and a similar brief, then inspect the visible result and interactions rather than assuming an experiment must improve every task.

Check your version and updates

Open Settings → About. The observed installation reports Version 0.26.0, Channel stable, Runtime Packaged, Platform darwin, and Architecture arm64. These describe that Mac installation; your values may differ. Include your own values when reporting a problem.

1. Use Check again to request a fresh update check. Read the reported status before taking another action.
2. Open Release notes to see what changed and which version the notes describe.
3. If the update status says an update will install on a future launch, finish your work before restarting. It does not replace the currently running session in place.

Clear update cache is for troubleshooting cached update downloads or state. It is not a project-file cleanup action and is not a substitute for checking network access. Record the update error first; if the same error returns, send the version details and diagnostics to support.

Export diagnostics or revisit onboarding

1. To investigate a problem, open About → Export diagnostics and save the generated diagnostic file.
2. Add the version details, the steps that reproduced the problem, the time it occurred, and a screenshot of the error. Review the exported material before sharing it through a private support channel.
3. Use Reset onboarding when you want to revisit the introduction. It resets the onboarding experience; do not use it as a method for deleting projects, clearing credentials, or fixing billing.

For an account or generation failure, first follow Troubleshooting. Keep private keys and confidential project material out of public reports.