About Carbon Design System
Carbon is IBM's open source design system for enterprise products. It combines working code, design resources, guidelines and a community of contributors in one system.
What it does
The system includes building blocks for foundations, components, patterns and data visualisation. Teams can use the code in their own apps and the design files as a reference. A Carbon MCP connects AI tools to components, tokens, icons and guidance, so generated screens can follow the same standards. The site also covers guidance for chat, agent and automation experiences.
Key features
- Foundations, components and patterns
- Data visualisation guidance
- Carbon MCP for AI tools
- Design and code resources in one place
- Open source under Apache-2.0
Who it's for
Teams that build enterprise web products and want a tested, documented set of components will find it useful. Designers and developers who need consistent patterns for complex business apps are the main audience.
Pricing and good to know
Carbon is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence, and the code is on GitHub. Anyone can use it without a licence fee. The project is built with community contributions, and questions can be sent to the team by email. Adopting the whole system takes time, so many teams start with a few components.
Highlights
- Foundations, components and patterns
- Data visualisation guidance
- Carbon MCP for AI-assisted screens
- Design and code resources together
- Contribution guides for the community
