why is there no cloud hosted version?

[mindplay-dk]

Since there is no desktop version for Linux, I tried running OD locally.

I tried running it under Node 24, which didn't work - when trying to sign in, I just get some kind of error about a missing dependency. I couldn't find any documentation explaining what that was.

So I tried running it under docker compose, which worked even less - when I click the sign-in button, I just get a generic "something went wrong" message, and back to the landing page.

I'm a developer, and I couldn't get this to run in half an hour.

I'm sure you don't expect end users to actually use either of these options, but as a Linux user, I'm not really left with any other options.

Mainly this makes me wonder: why is there no cloud hosted version?

I just wanted to try it. I don't want to spend time just trying to make it run.

And I mean, you sell a subscription?

But I still have to set it up and maintain it and run it locally?

Your product looks interesting.

But there are no good options for Linux users right now, and that's a shame.

[cloudbr34k84]

i got it working using docker on my proxmox server if that helps

[roian6]

I dug into the sign-in path because the two failures you described look more specific than a generic Docker setup problem.

Open Design Cloud sign-in currently depends on a local companion CLI: the UI calls /api/integrations/vela/login, and the daemon then launches vela login. The current self-hosted Dockerfile does not bundle that vela binary. When it cannot be resolved, the daemon returns vela binary not found; install vela or configure VELA_BIN.

That makes your Node “missing dependency” message and Docker sign-in failure consistent with a real packaging gap, although your original logs would be needed to prove they are the exact same failure.

The Docker version of this is now tracked in #5700. PR #5950 attempts to bundle the CLI, but it is still open and has requested changes because the default read-only Compose setup also needs a writable Vela home/config location. Installing the executable alone would not make login credentials persist correctly. In other words, Docker can start the Open Design web app today, but Open Design Cloud sign-in is not yet a turnkey self-hosted path.

The current stable release also publishes macOS and Windows desktop assets, but no Linux desktop binary, so the source/Docker path is the practical Linux route today.

On the “cloud hosted” part: the public Open Design Cloud offering is currently the hosted model/wallet service, not a fully hosted browser workspace. A complete hosted SaaS — and how it would relate to the subscription — is a product-roadmap question only the maintainers can answer.

I would not want to send you through another unverified manual workaround. The concrete technical tracking links are #5700 and #5950; it would be useful for a maintainer to clarify the intended Linux support matrix and whether the Cloud sign-in path is expected to be supported in the published container.

[rm-rf-etc]

I haven't encountered the setup troubles, I had some AI do the setup for me and it didn't work on the first shot but it did after a couple debugging passes. You can see the relevant lines in my docker file if you search for 'open-design':
https://github.com/CoderyOSS/Codery/blob/master/examples/Dockerfile.sandbox

I didn't realize that OD is only for desktop use, even though it serves a web UI with no complaints. That to me kind of blows my mind. Pretty frustrating that a web server-based system isn't designed to run on a web server. 💩🚽

[mindplay-dk]

I had some AI do the setup for me and it didn't work on the first shot but it did after a couple debugging passes.

This is what I would call "setup troubles".

Individual end users should require an agent to troubleshoot every individual install.

Well documented software does not ship with 3-4 different options for "things you can try" that might get the software running - you should have one setup flow for end users, and one ideal setup flow for developers.