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  ║        ✏   S K E T C H B O A R D                     ║
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  ║        Draw  ·  Save  ·  Share  ·  Collaborate       ║
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A local-first whiteboard that lives on your machine.
No account. No cloud. No setup. Just draw.

Install & Run

Run instantly (no install needed)

npx sketchboard-app

Your browser opens automatically at http://localhost:4321.

Install globally (launch from anywhere, zero wait)

npm install -g sketchboard-app

Then just type:

sketchboard

Uninstall

npm uninstall -g sketchboard-app

Features

• Zero config — one command, instant whiteboard
• Saves to your machine — drawings stored as JSON files in ~/.sketchboard/
• My Drawings sidebar — browse, rename, load, and delete all your drawings
• Ctrl+S — save with unsaved-changes indicator in the toolbar
• Share links — generate a public read-only link for any drawing
• Live collaboration — real-time multi-user sessions via the excalidraw collab relay
• Full export — PNG, SVG, clipboard, or .excalidraw file
• Light & dark theme — auto-synced across the entire UI
• Offline-capable — works without internet once loaded
• Cross-platform — Windows, macOS, Linux

Live collaboration

Click Share → Live Collaboration to start a session. SketchBoard generates a room link that looks like this:

https://excalidraw.com/#room=<roomId>,<roomKey>

Send that link to anyone — they open it directly on excalidraw.com (no install, no account) and they appear in your room instantly.

How it works: your local backend proxies socket.io traffic to Excalidraw's public collaboration relay (oss-collab.excalidraw.com). Both you (on localhost) and your friend (on excalidraw.com) talk to the same relay, so real-time sync works across the two origins. Room keys are end-to-end encrypted — the relay only sees ciphertext.

Your drawings still stay local. Collaboration only syncs the live canvas; Ctrl+S and the sidebar still save to ~/.sketchboard/ on your machine.

Usage

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  ║          SketchBoard                  ║
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  ║  URL  :  http://localhost:4321        ║
  ║  Data :  ~/.sketchboard               ║
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Custom port

PORT=8888 npx sketchboard-app
# or with global install:
PORT=8888 sketchboard

Custom data directory

SKETCHBOARD_DATA=/path/to/my/drawings npx sketchboard-app

Environment variables

| Variable | Default | Description | |---|---|---| | PORT | 4321 | Port the server listens on | | SKETCHBOARD_DATA | ~/.sketchboard | Where drawings are stored |

Where your data lives

~/.sketchboard/
  drawings/
    <uuid>.json      ← one file per drawing (permanent)
  library.json       ← your saved shape library
  collab/            ← live collaboration room scenes
  collab-files/      ← collaboration image files

| OS | Path | |---|---| | Windows | C:\Users\<you>\.sketchboard\ | | macOS | /Users/<you>/.sketchboard/ | | Linux | /home/<you>/.sketchboard/ |

Plain JSON files — easy to back up, move, or sync with any tool.

Keyboard shortcuts

| Shortcut | Action | |---|---| | Ctrl+S / Cmd+S | Save current drawing | | Ctrl+Z | Undo | | Ctrl+Shift+Z | Redo | | V | Selection tool | | R | Rectangle | | E | Ellipse | | A | Arrow | | T | Text | | P | Pencil / freehand | | Delete | Delete selected |

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Fix | |---|---| | Port 4321 already in use | PORT=5678 npx sketchboard-app | | Browser does not open | Manually visit http://localhost:4321 | | Old version cached by npx | npx --yes sketchboard-app@latest | | EACCES error on Linux/Mac | sudo npm install -g sketchboard-app | | Drawings not saving | Check ~/.sketchboard/drawings/ is writable | | Friend can't see my drawing in collab | Both you and your friend need internet access — the collab relay at oss-collab.excalidraw.com is required for real-time sync |

Credits

Built on top of Excalidraw — the excellent open-source hand-drawn whiteboard (MIT licensed).
SketchBoard adds local persistence, drawing management, and the npm package layer.

License

MIT