Excalidraw Complete simplifies the deployment of Excalidraw, bringing an all-in-one solution to self-hosting this versatile virtual whiteboard. Designed for ease of setup and use, Excalidraw Complete integrates essential features into a single Go binary. This solution encompasses:
- The intuitive Excalidraw frontend UI for seamless user experience.
- An integrated data layer ensuring fast and efficient data handling based on different data providers.
- A socket.io implementation to enable real-time collaboration among users.
The project goal is to alleviate the setup complexities traditionally associated with self-hosting Excalidraw, especially in scenarios requiring data persistence and collaborative functionalities.
To get started, download the latest release binary:
# Visit https://github.com/PatWie/excalidraw-complete/releases/ for the download URL
wget <binary-download-url>
chmod +x excalidraw-complete
./excalidraw-complete
Once launched, Excalidraw Complete is accessible at localhost:3002
, ready for
drawing and collaboration.
Excalidraw Complete adapts to your preferences with customizable storage solutions, adjustable via the STORAGE_TYPE
environment variable:
- Filesystem: Opt for
STORAGE_TYPE=filesystem
and defineLOCAL_STORAGE_PATH
to use a local directory. - SQLite: Select
STORAGE_TYPE=sqlite
withDATA_SOURCE_NAME
for local SQLite storage, including the option for:memory:
for ephemeral data. - AWS S3: Choose
STORAGE_TYPE=s3
and specifyS3_BUCKET_NAME
to leverage S3 bucket storage, ideal for cloud-based solutions.
These flexible configurations ensure Excalidraw Complete fits seamlessly into your existing setup, whether on-premise or in the cloud.
Interested in contributing or customizing? Build Excalidraw Complete from source with these steps:
# Clone and prepare the Excalidraw frontend
git clone https://github.com/PatWie/excalidraw-complete.git --recursive
cd ./excalidraw-complete/excalidraw
# git checkout tags/v0.17.3
# Fix docker build (fix already implemented upstream)
# git remote add jcobol https://github.com/jcobol/excalidraw
# git fetch jcobol
# git checkout 7582_fix_docker_build
# Adjust URLs inside of frontend.patch if you want to use a reverse proxy
git apply ../frontend.patch
cd ../
git checkout dev
docker build -t exalidraw-ui-build excalidraw -f ui-build.Dockerfile
docker run -v ${PWD}/:/pwd/ -it exalidraw-ui-build cp -r /frontend /pwd
(Optional) Replace localhost:3002
inside of main.go
with your domain name if you want to use a reverse proxy
(Optional) Replace "ssl=!0", "ssl=0"
with "ssl=!0", "ssl=1"
if you want to use HTTPS
(Optional) Replace "ssl:!0", "ssl:0"
with "ssl:!0", "ssl:1"
if you want to use HTTPS
Compile the Go application:
go build -o excalidraw-complete main.go
Declare environment variables if you want any (see section above)
Example: STORAGE_TYPE=sqlite DATA_SOURCE_NAME=/tmp/excalidb.sqlite
Start the server:
go run main.go --listen=":3002"
STORAGE_TYPE=sqlite DATA_SOURCE_NAME=test.db go run main.go --loglevel debug --listen=":3002"
STORAGE_TYPE=filesystem LOCAL_STORAGE_PATH=/tmp/excalidraw/ go run main.go --loglevel debug --listen=":3002"
Excalidraw Complete is now running on your machine, ready to bring your collaborative whiteboard ideas to life.
Excalidraw is a fantastic tool, but self-hosting it can be tricky. I welcome your contributions to improve Excalidraw Complete — be it through adding new features, improving existing ones, or bug reports.