Yes, BareMinimum is completely free to use with no signup or credit card required. Open the app in your browser and start generating ASCII wireframes immediately. All export formats — plain text, Markdown, PNG, and React code — are included at no cost. There is a daily generation cap to keep the service sustainable, but it is generous enough for most design workflows. Whether you are sketching a quick login form or mapping out an entire dashboard, you will not hit a paywall.

What is an ASCII wireframe?

An ASCII wireframe is a text-based UI mockup built with Unicode box-drawing characters (─, │, ┌, ┐, └, ┘) and standard keyboard symbols. Unlike image-based wireframes, ASCII wireframes are lightweight, version-control friendly, and can be diffed in pull requests just like code. They are also natively readable by AI coding tools — language models parse structured text far more accurately than screenshots. This makes ASCII wireframes ideal for rapid prototyping workflows where the design goes straight from sketch to AI-generated code.

Can I export wireframes to React code?

Yes. BareMinimum exports wireframes as production-ready shadcn/ui React components with a single click. The generated code uses Tailwind CSS and follows modern React patterns, so you can drop it directly into a Next.js or Vite project. You can also export as plain text, Markdown, or PNG depending on your workflow. For programmatic access, the REST API provides a dedicated generation endpoint that returns structured wireframe data you can integrate into your own toolchain.

Does it work with AI coding tools?

Yes, ASCII wireframes are purpose-built for AI coding workflows. You can paste wireframes directly into Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Lovable, Bolt, or v0 as context, and the AI will generate working UI code that matches your layout. Text-based wireframes outperform screenshots as AI context because language models can parse the exact structure, spacing, and component hierarchy without relying on vision models. The one-click AI Handoff feature sends your wireframe directly to supported tools.

API Documentation | Bare Minimum

─── API OVERVIEW ───

The Bare Minimum REST API lets you programmatically generate ASCII wireframes and analyze UI screenshots.

Base URL: https://api.bareminimum.design/api

─── RESPONSE FORMAT ───

Success Response

{
  "ascii": "
      ┌─────────────────┐
      │   Login Form    │
      └─────────────────┘
    "
}

Error Response

{
  "error": "rate_limit_exceeded",
  "message": "Rate limit exceeded. Retry after 60 seconds.",
  "status": 429,
  "request_id": "req_abc123",
  "details": { "retry_after": 60 }
}

Error Codes

Code	Status	Description
`rate_limit_exceeded`	429	Too many requests
`content_policy_violation`	400	Input blocked by content filter
`validation_error`	422	Invalid request parameters

Response Headers

Header	Description
`X-Request-Id`	Unique request ID for debugging
`X-RateLimit-Limit`	Requests allowed per minute
`X-RateLimit-Remaining`	Requests remaining
`X-RateLimit-Reset`	Unix timestamp when limit resets
`Retry-After`	Seconds to wait (on 429 responses)

─── ENDPOINTS ───

Generate Wireframe

Generate an ASCII wireframe from a text description.

POST /agents/chat

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
message	string	Yes	Description of the UI to generate (max 10,000 chars)
aspect_preset	string	No	"desktop" (default) or "mobile"
image_data	string	No	Base64-encoded reference image (max 2MB)
image_media_type	string	No	MIME type (required with image_data)
reference_ascii	string	No	Existing ASCII to refine/modify

# Request Body

{
  "message": "A login form with email and password fields",
  "aspect_preset": "desktop",
  "image_data": null,
  "image_media_type": null,
  "reference_ascii": null
}

# Response

{
  "ascii": "
      ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
      │           LOGIN                      │
      ├──────────────────────────────────────┤
      │                                      │
      │  Email:    [____________________]    │
      │                                      │
      │  Password: [____________________]    │
      │                                      │
      │           [ Sign In ]                │
      │                                      │
      └──────────────────────────────────────┘
    ",
  "spec": null,
  "clarification_needed": false,
  "clarification_options": null,
  "resolved_target": null
}

Generate Variants

Generate multiple wireframe variants with different styles.

POST /agents/variants

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
message	string	Yes	Description of the UI
count	integer	No	Number of variants (1-5, default 3)
aspect_preset	string	No	"desktop" or "mobile"
image_data	string	No	Base64-encoded reference image
image_media_type	string	No	MIME type (required with image_data)

# Request Body

{
  "message": "A dashboard with analytics charts",
  "count": 3,
  "aspect_preset": "desktop"
}

# Response

{
  "variants": [
    { "ascii": "
      ┌─── DASHBOARD ───┐
      │ ...
    ", "spec": null },
    { "ascii": "
      ╔═══ DASHBOARD ═══╗
      ║ ...
    ", "spec": null },
    { "ascii": "
      ┏━━━ DASHBOARD ━━━┓
      ┃ ...
    ", "spec": null }
  ],
  "failures": []
}

Analyze UI

Analyze a UI screenshot for layout and visual hierarchy improvements.

POST /agents/analyze

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
image_data	string	Yes	Base64-encoded image
image_media_type	string	Yes	MIME type (e.g. "image/png")

# Request Body

{
  "image_data": "base64...",
  "image_media_type": "image/png"
}

# Response

{
  "analysis": {
    "summary": "The layout has good structure but could improve visual hierarchy.",
    "issues": [
      {
        "id": "issue_1",
        "category": "visual_hierarchy",
        "severity": "medium",
        "title": "Weak call-to-action",
        "description": "The primary button doesn't stand out enough.",
        "ascii_before": "[ Get Started ]",
        "ascii_after": "[ ▶ GET STARTED ]"
      }
    ],
    "strengths": ["Good use of whitespace", "Consistent typography"]
  }
}

Generate Component Spec

Convert an ASCII wireframe into a structured ComponentSpec used for live preview rendering.

POST /agents/spec

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
ascii	string	Yes	ASCII wireframe to convert (max 50,000 chars)

# Request Body

{
  "ascii": "
      ┌─────────┐
      │ [Save]  │
      └─────────┘
    "
}

# Response

{
  "spec": { "...": "ComponentSpec tree" }
}

─── RATE LIMITS ───

When rate limits are exceeded, you'll receive a 429 response with a Retry-After header.

Endpoint	Free Tier	Pro Tier
`/agents/chat`	30/min	120/min
`/agents/variants`	15/min	60/min
`/agents/analyze`	15/min	60/min
`/agents/spec`	30/min	120/min

Idempotency-Key

The Idempotency-Key header is optional. It is allowed through CORS preflight so browser clients that send it defensively will not be blocked, but the server does not currently deduplicate or replay responses — duplicate POSTs execute independently. Do not rely on server-side idempotency at this time.

─── CODE EXAMPLES ───

import requests

BASE_URL = "https://api.bareminimum.design/api"

def generate_wireframe(message: str, aspect: str = "desktop") -> str:
    response = requests.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/agents/chat",
        json={"message": message, "aspect_preset": aspect},
    )
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.json()["ascii"]

# Usage
ascii_art = generate_wireframe("A settings page with toggles")
print(ascii_art)