Qt Group unveils Clate: A visual UI editor for embedded devices

During the Qt World Summit 2026, Qt Group launched Clate, a new visual editor specifically designed for creating user interfaces for embedded devices. This tool targets a wide range of applications, from industrial control panels and medical devices to consumer electronics, offering seamless export capabilities into the QML format.

• Visual canvas for designing shapes, layers, text, and gradients.
• Seamless integration with Qt Quick and QML project export.
• Integrated AI assistant powered by Claude Agent for automated UI generation.
• Beta version currently available for Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.

Advanced Design Features Clate provides a professional design environment where users can manage complex layers and graphic properties with precision. The editor allows designers to isolate specific layers in separate windows, enabling accurate visualization of how the interface will render using the Qt Quick engine. Upon export, Clate intelligently structures top-level layers into individual files, ensuring maximum compatibility with Qt 6.12 and above.

AI-Powered Workflow The platform includes an integrated AI assistant, leveraging the Claude Agent from Anthropic via the ACP protocol. This allows users to generate and modify interface elements using natural language prompts, significantly accelerating the design process. The system is flexible, allowing developers to plug in other AI tools via local MCP protocols, tailoring the workflow to their specific needs.

Roadmap and Availability While the beta version is already live and downloadable, the Qt Group has laid out an ambitious roadmap for 2027. A major update is planned for the spring of 2027, which will introduce an animation editor, robust design system tools, and real-time collaboration features. A final commercial release is expected in the summer of 2027.

Industry Impact For professional developers and teams working on embedded systems, Clate represents a bridge between high-fidelity design and technical implementation. By automating UI generation and simplifying the transition to QML, the tool reduces the technical overhead in product development cycles, making it easier for engineering teams to maintain high-quality visual standards across different hardware platforms.