> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.magicpatterns.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# MagicOS vs. Designs

> Hand Magic Patterns a stream of related tasks in one conversation and let it run them as parallel sessions across one canvas.

With MagicOS, you manage one ongoing conversation and let MagicOS coordinate a stream of related work for you. You tell it what needs doing and it either updates the relevant thread or starts a thread for each task. Threads run in parallel, and you can check on them and steer them accordingly.

Without MagicOS, iterating on different designs means doing the coordinating yourself: you decide what each one works on, repeat the same background at the start of each, and check back to see which finished or needs an answer.

## When to use MagicOS

MagicOS is our recommended go-to unless you are just looking for a single page or quick prototype.

### When a single design fits better

* **One page or one idea.** A landing page, a single feature prototype, or something to show a stakeholder this afternoon.
* **You'd rather not work on a canvas.** A single design gives you one chat and one preview, the way Magic Patterns has always worked.
* **You need a design-only feature.** [Plan Mode](/docs/documentation/editor/plan-mode), [Controls](/docs/documentation/editor/controls), [forking](/docs/documentation/editor/forking), [merging](/docs/documentation/editor/merging-designs), and [inline comments](/docs/documentation/collaboration/inline-comments) are available on single designs. The team is working hard on bringing feature parity to MagicOS.

You can bring an existing design into a MagicOS later with **File → Import Existing Design**.

## How MagicOS relates to other features

* **Designs**: every design on a MagicOS canvas is a full interactive design. [Visual Edit](/docs/documentation/editor/how-to-prompt#select-mode-and-visual-edit) works on it the same way.
* **Design Systems**: ask MagicOS to create a design system from a design on the canvas, then use it anywhere. See [Design Systems](/docs/documentation/design-systems/overview).
* **Slide decks**: decks can live on a MagicOS canvas as their own files. See [Slide Decks](/docs/documentation/slide-decks/overview).
* **MCP server**: connect Claude, Cursor, or Codex so your coding agent can build from what's on the canvas. See [MCP server](/docs/documentation/features/mcp-server/overview).


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