Free ceramic glaze calculator, recipe manager, and UMF analyzer.
100% open source. Self-hosted. No paywalls.
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OpenGlaze is open-source glaze chemistry software for potters, ceramic artists, studios, educators, and production ceramicists. It combines a ceramic glaze calculator, UMF analysis, CTE estimation, recipe management, self-hosting, and optional AI glaze consulting.
AI discovery: llms.txt provides a compact project summary for AI assistants and search crawlers.
Best-fit searches: ceramic glaze calculator, UMF calculator, glaze chemistry software, open source pottery app, self-hosted glaze recipe manager, CTE glaze calculator, Glazy alternative, ceramic recipe optimizer.
OpenGlaze is a free, open-source ceramic glaze management system for potters, ceramic artists, and studios. It combines a UMF calculator, CTE analysis engine, computational recipe optimizer, and AI-powered glaze consulting — all in one self-hosted application.
- Enter a glaze recipe such as feldspar/silica/whiting/kaolin.
- OpenGlaze calculates UMF, oxide roles, SiO₂:Al₂O₃ ratio, and estimated CTE.
- If the glaze fit looks risky, the optimizer suggests material adjustments for the next test tile.
- You still fire a real test tile — but you waste less clay, material, and kiln space getting there.
Popular starting points: Ceramic glaze calculator · UMF calculator · CTE calculator · Glazy companion · Self-hosted glaze software
Built by potters, for potters. Your glaze recipes stay on your infrastructure. No subscriptions. No feature gates. MIT licensed.
Why OpenGlaze?
- 🏠 Own your data — Self-host on your own server. Recipes never leave your studio.
- 🔓 Truly open — MIT licensed, no proprietary lock-in, full source code available
- 🧮 Computational chemistry — UMF calculator, CTE prediction, and recipe optimizer using stoichiometric analysis — not guesswork
- 🧠 AI-powered — Kama assistant understands glaze chemistry and answers technical questions
- 🎨 Studio-ready — Multi-user collaboration, role-based access, shared glaze libraries
- ☕ Free forever — No paywalls, no subscriptions, no feature gates. Voluntary support only.
OpenGlaze is a ceramic glaze calculator and recipe management tool designed for anyone working with glazes:
- Hobby potters who want to understand their glazes at the molecular level
- Studio ceramicists managing dozens of recipes and test firings
- Educators teaching glaze chemistry with transparent, reproducible tools
- Production potters optimizing recipes for consistency and cost
At its core, OpenGlaze automates the chemistry that ceramicists have historically done by hand or with spreadsheets: calculating Unity Molecular Formula (UMF), estimating thermal expansion coefficient (CTE), and suggesting material adjustments to achieve target properties.
| Tool | What It Does | How OpenGlaze Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Glazy | Recipe database & community | Export from Glazy → analyze & optimize in OpenGlaze |
| DigitalFire | Ceramic chemistry education & reference | Deep educational content; OpenGlaze is the practical calculator |
| INSIGHT | Desktop glaze calculation software | Similar chemistry engine; OpenGlaze is web-based, open-source, and self-hosted |
| HyperGlaze | Recipe database | Import recipes into OpenGlaze for UMF analysis |
OpenGlaze is not a replacement for these tools — it complements them. Many users maintain their recipe libraries in Glazy and use OpenGlaze for computational analysis and optimization.
The default Docker path is a single-user, self-hosted SQLite install with persistent Docker volumes. It does not require PostgreSQL or Ory Kratos.
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/KyaniteLabs/openglaze.git
cd openglaze
# Copy environment file and set a real SECRET_KEY before public use
cp .env.example .env
# Start OpenGlaze
docker compose up -d
# Access at http://localhost:8768
curl http://localhost:8768/health# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Set up database and seed with community glazes
python seed_data.py
# Run
python server.pyOpen http://localhost:8768 in your browser. (Docker default; manual install defaults to 8767.)
OpenGlaze also ships agent-friendly local surfaces:
python -m openglaze_cli brief
python -m openglaze_cli umf --recipe "Custer Feldspar 45, Silica 25, Whiting 18, EPK 12" --cone 10
python -m openglaze_cli batch --recipe "Custer Feldspar 45, Silica 25, Whiting 18, EPK 12" --size 500
python -m openglaze_mcp- CLI:
python -m openglaze_cliexposes project brief, UMF, batch scaling, and substitutions. - MCP:
python -m openglaze_mcpstarts a stdio MCP server with glaze recipe tools for agent hosts. - Skill:
skills/openglaze/SKILL.mdguides compatible agents on when to use the CLI or MCP server and how to keep glaze-safety claims bounded.
Example MCP config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"openglaze": {
"command": "python",
"args": ["-m", "openglaze_mcp"]
}
}
}
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- 🧮 Recipe Optimizer — Computational glaze recipe optimizer suggesting exact material adjustments to hit target CTE, surface, or durability without physical testing
- 📸 Photo Documentation — Gallery view across multiple firings
- 🔥 Firing Logs — Atmosphere, cone, and schedule tracking
- 🧮 Layering Tracker — Document and predict base/top combinations
- 💾 Import/Export — JSON/CSV export in the legacy dashboard; Glazy/INSIGHT import is a roadmap integration
- 📊 Progress views — Track experiments and prediction activity where auth is enabled
- 📱 PWA — Install as an app on mobile/desktop
- ⌨️ Command Palette — Quick navigation with ⌘K
- 🔐 Auth — simple local auth for studio features; Ory/Kratos support is experimental
These pages are built to answer the exact questions potters and AI answer engines ask:
| Search intent | OpenGlaze page |
|---|---|
| Ceramic glaze calculator | https://openglaze.kyanitelabs.tech/ceramic-glaze-calculator.html |
| UMF calculator for ceramics | https://openglaze.kyanitelabs.tech/umf-calculator.html |
| Glaze recipe calculator | https://openglaze.kyanitelabs.tech/glaze-recipe-calculator.html |
| Glaze CTE calculator | https://openglaze.kyanitelabs.tech/cte-glaze-calculator.html |
| Glazy alternative / companion | https://openglaze.kyanitelabs.tech/glazy-alternative.html |
| DigitalFire companion | https://openglaze.kyanitelabs.tech/digitalfire-companion.html |
| Open-source pottery software | https://openglaze.kyanitelabs.tech/open-source-pottery-software.html |
| Self-hosted glaze software | https://openglaze.kyanitelabs.tech/self-hosted-glaze-software.html |
AI crawlers and answer engines can use docs/llms.txt, docs/llms-full.txt, and docs/ai.txt for canonical project facts.
| Component | Technology | License |
|---|---|---|
| Backend | Flask 3.x (Python) | MIT |
| Frontend | Vanilla JS SPA | MIT |
| Database | SQLite | Public Domain |
| Auth | Simple local tokens; Ory hooks experimental | Apache 2.0 |
| AI | Ollama (local) / Anthropic Claude (cloud) | — |
| Import/Export | JSON/CSV export in legacy dashboard; broader Glazy/INSIGHT import is roadmap | MIT |
| Chemistry | Custom UMF Engine | MIT |
| Container | Docker + Compose | — |
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Client Layer │
│ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │
│ │ Browser │ │ PWA App │ │ API Clients│ │
│ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ │
└────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
┌────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Flask Application │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ Glazes │ │Chemistry │ │ AI │ │ Templates│ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ Studios │ │ Auth │ │Analytics │ │ Uploads │ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ │
└────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
┌────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Data Layer │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────┐ │
│ │SQLite │ │Ory │ │Ceramics Foundation Data │ │
│ │ │ │Kratos │ │(Materials, Recipes, etc.)│ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
| Document | Description |
|---|---|
| Installation | Docker and manual setup guides |
| Configuration | Environment variables and settings |
| API Reference | REST API endpoints and examples |
| Architecture | System design and data flow |
| User Guide | End-user feature walkthrough |
| Development | Contributing and local dev setup |
| Self-Hosting | Production deployment guide |
| Support | Voluntary support for the project |
| Changelog | Version history and release notes |
OpenGlaze is designed for self-hosting. All components are open source.
- 1 CPU core
- 1 GB RAM
- 10 GB storage
- Docker & Docker Compose
| Platform | Cost | Difficulty | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| VPS (Hetzner, DO, Linode) | $5-20/mo | Medium | Full control |
| Render / Railway / Fly.io | $7-25/mo | Easy | Managed platforms |
| Raspberry Pi / Bare Metal | $0 | Hard | Offline/local use |
See docs/self-hosting.md for detailed deployment instructions for each platform.
OpenGlaze is free and open source. If it saves you materials, time, or a failed kiln load, consider starring the repo or contributing a recipe.
No pressure — the tool is yours either way.
Glaze templates live in core/templates/ and templates/. To add your own:
- Create a YAML file following the
community-glazes.yamlformat - Add glaze entries with
name,cone,atmosphere,base_type,recipe, etc. - Update
seed_data.pyto load your template, or import via the API
No code changes required — everything is data-driven.
The ceramics-foundation/ directory contains canonical ceramic reference data:
- 30+ materials with oxide analyses and aliases
- 19 oxides with molecular weights, roles, and safety ratings
- Firing schedules for cone 06 through 10
- UMF target ranges and surface prediction thresholds
- Layering rules and material substitutions
- Studio recipes in YAML format
All data is versioned, sourced, and cited. See ceramics-foundation/ for the full dataset.
Pre-built glaze collections:
- Cone 10 Reduction (Community) — 28 traditional reduction glazes
- Cone 6 Oxidation (Community) — 12 electric kiln glazes
- Cone 6 Reduction (Community) — 4 gas kiln reduction glazes
See templates/ and ceramics-foundation/recipes/.
# Run the full test suite
pytest tests/ -v
# Run with coverage
pytest tests/ --cov=. --cov-report=htmlThe test suite covers:
- Kama AI context injection and streaming
- Chemistry context retrieval and UMF calculation
- Recipe optimizer (target CTE, surface, alkali, running risk)
- Flask route imports and response formats
- System prompt generation and database schema
We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
Quick start:
# Fork and clone
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/openglaze.git
cd openglaze
# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Run tests
pytest tests/
# Make changes and submit a PRSee SECURITY.md for our security policy and vulnerability reporting process.
Questions, bug reports, and feature requests:
- GitHub Discussions — Community help
- GitHub Issues — Bug reports and feature requests
- Code: MIT License — Free to use, modify, distribute
- Templates: CC-BY-4.0 — Free with attribution
- Documentation: CC-BY-4.0
- The ceramics community for sharing knowledge and recipes
- Contributors who have helped build OpenGlaze
- Ceramic Arts Network for glaze chemistry references
- Digitalfire for oxide data and UMF methodology
Built with ❤️ for the ceramics community
GitHub • Discussions • Website
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→ More at kyanitelabs.tech
