Using Builder's GenUI with Your Design System | 6/12

What are best AI tools? Take the State of AI survey

Builder logo
builder.io
Contact SalesGo to App
Builder logo
builder.io

Blog

Home

Resources

Blog

Forum

Github

Login

Signup

×

Visual CMS

Drag-and-drop visual editor and headless CMS for any tech stack

Theme Studio for Shopify

Build and optimize your Shopify-hosted storefront, no coding required

Resources

Blog

Get StartedLogin

‹ Back to blog

AI

Build React and Material UI Apps using AI

June 4, 2025

Written By Matt Abrams

There’s a problem with today’s AI development tools. Vibe coding platforms are impressive and fun, but net-new code is useless when you already have a production codebase. Meanwhile, AI IDEs are powerful and interface with existing code, but they’re complex and developer-only.

Builder fills this gap. It's not another AI coding toy—it's an enterprise-grade development platform and visual canvas that plugs into your existing React and Material UI projects. It understands your code, respects your design decisions, and your whole team can use it, not just devs.

Builder: The AI-powered visual canvas

Builder is Git-backed, AI-powered, visually responsive, and capable of Figma-like design edits.

Connect existing React and Material UI repos

Connect any GitHub repo, including monorepo and multi-repo setups. Builder works from fresh branches (never Main), offers preview URLs, and creates AI-generated PRs.

Once your project loads, try writing a prompt like, "make the hero image full-width,” or "add a Users dashboard at the /users route.”

Use Material UI and your custom components

Builder adheres to your specific design systems and component libraries. Need all your code pinned to MUI v5.1? Should every new button use your team's custom <Button/>? Builder intelligently finds and matches your design system patterns.

Wire up all your APIs

Connecting APIs is easy with Builder. Its no-code nature empowers the non-developers on your team to build sophisticated solutions, too. Try a prompt like, “Fetch customer data from Supabase and render it as MUI grid."

Edit React components visually with pixel-perfect precision

You can't create truly pixel-perfect UIs with AI prompts alone. Need to subtly adjust a Card's elevation or push a Container five pixels to the left on mobile? Use Builder's visual controls, and it will update the code with the correct MUI props. It’s like an AI-first Figma replacement.

Leverage our rich Figma to React integration

Builder speaks fluent Figma. It can turn individual frames into components, merge multiple frames into complex layouts, or reference designs against existing elements. Builder also maps Figma components to their equivalent Material UI components, saving your devs hours of toil.

Drag and drop anything for extra context

Drop in files for extra context—documents, PDFs, and screenshots all work. You can also use the @ keyword to reference other files in your codebase. The AI will analyze your reference materials and suggest appropriate patterns.

Push code changes to Github using our agentic PR workflow

Builder both generates code and ships it back to your codebase. It makes intelligent PRs straight to GitHub. Even better, you can then tag @builderio-bot in your comments, and then the agent will handle feedback, make updates, and even fix build issues.

Built for whole team collaboration

Builder works for everyone and solves problems across your entire organization:

  • Designers can ensure design consistency, validate responsiveness, and eliminate the endless "that's not quite right" feedback cycles.
  • Developers can connect existing repos to a powerful AI agent and visual assistant, turbocharging their cycles and creating high-quality UIs without design support.
  • Product managers can create quick iterations, A/B test different layouts, and keep momentum on product improvements.
  • Design system teams can enforce consistency across large teams, onboard new developers, and ensure design system adoption succeeds at scale.

Getting Started with Builder and React + MUI apps

There are two ways to start developing React and Material UI apps with Builder. First, navigate to the sidebar menu inside your Builder account. Then choose the Projects menu (the icon looks like GitHub’s Octocat). Then you can either:

Connect your existing repository

Connect your GitHub repo to Builder and start editing visually right away. Give it a prompt, like "Create a new admin dashboard. Use our styling patterns and existing components..." Now, try tweaking the output in the visual canvas or pushing an AI-generated PR back to GitHub.

Start fresh with an idea

Don't have a project yet? No worries. Write a prompt like "Create a contact form with validation using react-hook-form and MUI best practices." Builder will generate everything from scratch using your specified framework, component library, and unique design language

Try Builder with your next project.

NEW Visual Copilot
3.0
What should we build?
Attach
GitHubConnect a repo

Share

Twitter / X
LinkedIn
Facebook
Share this blog
Copy icon
Twitter "X" icon
LinkedIn icon
Facebook icon

Generate high quality code that uses your components & design tokens.

Try it nowGet a demo

Design to Code Automation

A pragmatic guide for engineering leaders and development teams

Access Now

Continue Reading
Design to Code14 MIN
Design to Code with the Figma MCP Server
June 2, 2025
Design to Code7 MIN
Figma Sites: The built-in Figma to website tool
May 14, 2025
AI15 MIN
AI for grown-ups
May 15, 2025