Sketch API
Sketch has no server-to-server REST API for its cloud Workspace. The developer surface is an in-app JavaScript plugin API on macOS, the documented .sketch JSON file format, and the sketchtool CLI. All are open, but everything depends on the desktop app; webhooks and OAuth do not exist.
Frequently asked questions
Sketch scores C on the API Report Card. Sketch has no server-to-server REST API for its cloud Workspace. The developer surface is an in-app JavaScript plugin API on macOS, the documented .sketch JSON file format, and the sketchtool CLI. All are open, but everything depends on the desktop app; webhooks and OAuth do not exist.
Sketch has an official API, but teams routinely hit its limits: gated access, partial coverage, or paid tiers. Most end up supplementing it with exports or an unofficial API layer like Supergood.
Sketch is a Mac-native vector graphics editor and UI/UX design platform launched by Dutch company Bohemian Coding (now Sketch B.V., based in The Hague, Netherlands) in September 2010.
Vertical: misc / horizontal creative tooling (not a Supergood vertical SaaS, not Legal, Healthcare, Real Estate, Compliance, Financial Services, Behavioral Health, Property Management, Fleet, or Insurance). Vector-based UI mockups and high-fidelity screen designs for mobile and web apps on macOS. Symbols, Libraries, and Smart Layout for reusable design-system components and tokens.
Medium-and-declining. At peak (2017–2018) Sketch was the #1 UI design tool with an estimated 1M+ active designers and was the default at most product-led tech companies.
Data that flows through Sketch on behalf of customers includes: Design files (.sketch / Workspace documents): vector artboards, symbols, libraries, prototypes, design tokens, embedded raster images, often pre-release product UI and confidential roadmap UX.
Sketch is ~16 years old (first released September 2010).
No public server-to-server REST API for the cloud Workspace, integrators must run inside the desktop app via the plugin SDK or operate on `.sketch` files server-side. Plugin SDK runs only inside Sketch on macOS, which means any integration depends on a designer having the app open on their Mac. Full sourced list under Sources below.
Common alternatives include Figma, Adobe XD, Framer, Penpot, InVision Studio, Affinity Designer. Graded alternatives appear under "More from the report card" below.
Grades measure one thing: can a customer's engineering team get their own data out programmatically? We check six things (whether a real API exists, how access is gated, data coverage, auth quality, docs and developer experience, and stability) and roll them into a letter grade. Grades get re-verified, and they only move on evidence.