Primitiv by AI-by-design
The design contract layer for your agents.
About Primitiv
From the project's README at github.com/AI-by-design/primitiv. Lightly cleaned for readability; for the full source see the upstream repo.
Primitiv sits above your design sources, Figma, codebase, Storybook, token files, scans them, reconciles conflicts between them, and exposes a single machine-readable contract via MCP. Any agent that connects gets one authoritative answer before it builds. Your code never leaves your machine. Quick start
writes a to your project root, so Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Windsurf, and any other MCP-compatible tool pick up the server without manual config.
If your project is on GitHub, also installs , a workflow that runs on every PR and push. Pair it with branch protection on your default branch and the merge is blocked when an agent ships UI that breaks the contract.
From here, every agent that builds UI calls first and gets your resolved design contract back. The problem
Health score breakdown
6-dimension composite. See methodology for formula and weights.
Adoption signals
Real-world usage data, pulled from each registry. The bigger the numbers, the more battle-tested the project.
| Signal | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 14 | github.com/AI-by-design/primitiv |
| GitHub forks | 1 | github.com/AI-by-design/primitiv |
| NPM downloads (last month) | 1.1k | primitiv |
Release & maintenance
Is this project actively maintained, or about to die? Check the recency of last commit and last release.
| Project age | 0.1 years | since Mar 2026 |
| Last commit | 3 days ago | May 4, 2026 |
| Releases shipped | 8 | last: 17 days ago |
Self-hosting cost across providers
Detected requirements: 4GB RAM, 40GB disk minimum. Cheapest plan per provider that meets the requirement.
| Provider | Plan | Specs | Monthly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hetzner | CAX11 | 2c · 4GB · 40GB | $4.13 USD | Deploy → |
| vultr | VC2 | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $5 USD | Deploy → |
| linode | Nanode 1GB | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $5.12 USD | Deploy → |
| digitalocean | Basic Regular 1GB | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $6 USD | Deploy → |
What people say on Hacker News
- An agent OS built as narrow workers on iii primitives
- A C/C++ checklist challenge turns registry data into a kernel write primitive
- Show HN: Pathetic – Java pathfinding: 10k concurrent paths in ~7ms
- Show HN: Airbyte Agents – context for agents across multiple data sources
- SQL access to crypto market data, not just JSON
Replaces these paid SaaS
Primitiv is one of the open-source alternatives to:
Ready to self-host Primitiv?
Spin up a hetzner CAX11 (4GB RAM, 40GB disk) for $4.13/mo and follow the project's official install docs.
Data last refreshed May 7, 2026.
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