Open a local server, load Excalidraw in your browser, auto-save to disk. Works fully offline.

Install

npm i -g excalidraw-edit

or with Nix:

nix run github:wh1le/excalidraw-edit -- drawing

Usage

excalidraw-edit architecture           # creates architecture.excalidraw
excalidraw-edit diagram.excalidraw     # opens existing file
excalidraw-edit --theme dark sketch    # dark mode
excalidraw-edit --port 3000 notes      # custom port

Options

| Flag | Description | Default | | --------------------- | --------------------------- | -------- | | -p, --port <port> | Port to listen on | 6417 | | -t, --theme <theme> | dark / light / system | system | | --no-open | Don't open browser | | | -V, --version | Print version | | | -h, --help | Show help | |

How it works

1. Bundles Excalidraw + React into a single JS file at build time
2. Serves it from a local HTTP server — no CDN, no network needed
3. Saves changes to disk on every edit (debounced)
4. Creates new .excalidraw files on the fly

Development

make install   # pnpm install + build
make test      # run tests
make lint      # prettier + eslint

Known issues

• Firefox: text clipping while typing (reproduces on excalidraw.com)

Acknowledgements

• Excalidraw — the drawing tool this wraps
• go-grip — CLI approach inspiration

License

MIT