ai-agent

System Design Primer

Name: System Design Primer
Author: donnemartin

Learn how to design large-scale systems. Prep for the system design interview. Includes Anki flashcards.

359,846 stars57,461 forksPythonUpdated 3/20/2026100% free · open source

What it does

The system-design-primer tool helps startup founders learn how to design large-scale systems and prepare for system design interviews using a comprehensive guide and Anki flashcards.

Install / run

git clone https://github.com/donnemartin/system-design-primer.git

When to use it

•When preparing for a system design interview to improve chances of acing it
•When designing a large-scale system and needing guidance on best practices
•When looking to learn about system design principles and trade-offs

Quick start

1Navigate to the cloned repository using the command `cd system-design-primer`
2Open the `README.md` file to access the table of contents and start learning
3Use the command `anki` to open the Anki flashcards and start practicing
4Review the `tables` directory for examples of system design tables and trade-offs
5Explore the `exercises` directory for hands-on practice designing large-scale systems

Ready-to-paste prompt

Open the `README.md` file and click on the 'System Design Primer' link to access the online version of the book

Heads up: Make sure you have Anki installed on your system, as the primer includes Anki flashcards, and you can install it from the official Anki website if you haven't already

Saves to your device

Topics

design

design-patterns

design-system

development

interview

interview-practice

interview-questions

programming

python

system

web

web-application

webapp

How System Design Primer works

Codeflow

Free to inspect

System Design Primer is a small Python project (~750 lines across 27 code files). Setup is light: install the runtime, run one command. Last commit 5 months ago, Other license, no tests found.

Size

Small codebase

~750 lines · 27 code files · 6 min skim

Setup

Light setup

Install the runtime, run one command.

Runs on

Python

No API keys detected

Python 98%Shell 2%

Where to start reading