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Run Your First Extraction

CLI Quickstart2 min

Overview

In under 2 minutes you will turn any public website into a complete set of design tokens: colors, typography, spacing, borders, and more. All you need is Node.js and a terminal.

There's also a visual UINew

After running an extraction, open it in your browser as a visual design system — no terminal needed to explore the results.

1.Prerequisites

You need two things before running Dembrandt.

  • Node.js — a free runtime that lets your computer run CLI tools like Dembrandt. Download it here (click the big green button, install like any app). If you've used npm before, you already have it.
  • A terminal — just a text window where you type commands.
    Mac: ⌘ Space → type Terminal → EnterWindows: ⊞ Win → type cmd → Enter

2.Install

Open your terminal, paste the line below, and press Enter. You only need to do this once.

Terminal
npm i -g dembrandt

Takes about 30 seconds. You'll see some text scroll by — that's normal.

3.Run it

Pick any public website — a competitor, a brand you admire, or your own. Pass its address as the argument:

Terminal
dembrandt stripe.com

Dembrandt opens the site in a headless browser, reads every computed style, and prints the full design system in your terminal. Usually takes 10–30 seconds.

stripe.comlinear.appvercel.comairbnb.comgithub.com

4.Output

The terminal prints a structured design system — colors, typography, spacing, borders, and shadows:

~ terminal
$ dembrandt stripe.com
✓ Extracted design system from stripe.com
✓ Colors: 24 found
#635BFF#0A2540#FFFFFF#00D4FF#7A73FF#F6F9FC
✓ Typography: 8 styles
• Heading: 48px / 36px / 24px
• Body: 16px / 14px / 12px
✓ Spacing: 12 tokens
4px • 8px • 12px • 16px • 24px • 32px • 48px...
✓ Shadows: 5 found
• 0 4px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.1)
• 0 12px 24px rgba(0,0,0,0.15)
✓ Border radius: 4 values
4px • 8px • 12px • 16px

5.Flags

Add any of these to the end of your command:

--save-outputSave results as a JSON file on your computer
--brand-guideGenerate a brand guide PDF from any URL in 10 seconds
--pages 5Analyze 5 pages and merge results into one unified output
--dark-modeExtract the dark-mode design tokens (if the site has them)
--browser=firefoxUse Firefox instead — helps with Cloudflare-protected sites
--dtcgExport tokens in W3C Design Tokens format
--slowMore reliable extraction for JavaScript-heavy SPAs

6.AI Agent Integration (MCP)

Use Dembrandt as a tool inside Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or any MCP-compatible editor. Your agent calls it automatically when you ask.

Terminal
claude mcp add --transport stdio dembrandt -- npx -y dembrandt-mcp

Or add to your project's .mcp.json:

{
"mcpServers": {
"dembrandt": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "dembrandt-mcp"]
}
}
}

7 tools available:

get_design_tokensget_color_paletteget_typographyget_component_stylesget_surfacesget_spacingget_brand_identity

Questions? Open a GitHub Discussion. The community is friendly.