tldraw/guides/documentation.md

Documentation

Introduction

This file contains the documentation for the <Tldraw> component as well as the data model that the component accepts.

In addition to the docs written below, this project also includes generated documentation. To view the generated docs:

1. Run yarn docs from the root folder
2. Open the file at:

/packages/tldraw/docs/classes/TldrawApp.html

tldraw

The Tldraw React component is the tldraw editor exported as a standalone component. You can control the editor through props, or through the TldrawApp's imperative API. All props are optional.

Prop	Type	Description
id	string	An id under which to persist the component's state.
document	TDDocument	An initial TDDocument object.
currentPageId	string	A current page id, referencing the TDDocument object provided via the document prop.
autofocus	boolean	Whether the editor should immediately receive focus. Defaults to true.
showMenu	boolean	Whether to show the menu.
showPages	boolean	Whether to show the pages menu.
showStyles	boolean	Whether to show the styles menu.
showTools	boolean	Whether to show the tools.
showUI	boolean	Whether to show any UI other than the canvas.
showSponsorLink	boolean	Whether to show a sponsor link.
onMount	Function	Called when the editor first mounts, receiving the current TldrawApp.
onPatch	Function	Called when the state is updated via a patch.
onCommand	Function	Called when the state is updated via a command.
onPersist	Function	Called when the state is persisted after an action.
onChange	Function	Called when the TldrawApp updates for any reason.
onUserChange	Function	Called when the user's "presence" information changes.
onUndo	Function	Called when the TldrawApp updates after an undo.
onRedo	Function	Called when the TldrawApp updates after a redo.
onSignIn	Function	Called when the user selects Sign In from the menu.
onSignOut	Function	Called when the user selects Sign Out from the menu.
onNewProject	Function	Called when the user when the user creates a new project through the menu or through a keyboard shortcut.
onSaveProject	Function	Called when the user saves a project through the menu or through a keyboard shortcut.
onSaveProjectAs	Function	Called when the user saves a project as a new project through the menu or through a keyboard shortcut.
onOpenProject	Function	Called when the user opens new project through the menu or through a keyboard shortcut.

Note

: For help with the file-related callbacks, see useFileSystem.

useFileSystem

You can use the useFileSystem hook to get prepared callbacks for onNewProject, onOpenProject, onSaveProject, and onSaveProjectAs. These callbacks allow a user to save files via the FileSystem API.

import { Tldraw, useFileSystem } from '@tldraw/tldraw'

function App() {
  const fileSystemEvents = useFileSystem()

  return <Tldraw {...fileSystemEvents} />
}

TDDocument

You can initialize or control the <Tldraw> component via its document property. A TDDocument is an object with three properties:

• id - A unique ID for this document
• pages - A table of TDPage objects
• pageStates - A table of TLPageState objects
• version - The document's version, used internally for migrations.

import { TDDocument, TldrawApp } from '@tldraw/tldraw'

const myDocument: TDDocument = {
  id: 'doc',
  version: TldrawApp.version,
  pages: {
    page1: {
      id: 'page1',
      shapes: {},
      bindings: {},
    },
  },
  pageStates: {
    page1: {
      id: 'page1',
      selectedIds: [],
      currentParentId: 'page1',
      camera: {
        point: [0, 0],
        zoom: 1,
      },
    },
  },
  assets: {},
}

function App() {
  return <Tldraw document={myDocument} />
}

Tip: The pages and pageStates in tldraw are objects containing TLPage and TLPageState objects from the @tldraw/core library.

Tip: The assets in tldraw is a table of TDAssets (images and videos).

Important: In the pages object, each TLPage object must be keyed under its id property. Likewise, each TLPageState object must be keyed under its id. In addition, each TLPageState object must have an id that matches its corresponding page.

Shapes

Your TLPage objects may include shapes: objects that fit one of the TldrawShape interfaces listed below. All TldrawShapes extends a common interface:

Property	Type	Description
id	string	A unique ID for the shape.
name	string	The shape's name.
type	string	The shape's type.
parentId	string	The ID of the shape's parent (a shape or its page).
childIndex	number	The shape's order within its parent's children, indexed from 1.
point	number[]	The [x, y] position of the shape.
rotation	number[]	(optional) The shape's rotation in radians.
children	string[]	(optional) The shape's child shape ids.
handles	TDHandle{}	(optional) A table of TLHandle objects.
isLocked	boolean	(optional) True if the shape is locked.
isHidden	boolean	(optional) True if the shape is hidden.
isEditing	boolean	(optional) True if the shape is currently editing.
isGenerated	boolean	(optional) True if the shape is generated.
isAspectRatioLocked	boolean	(optional) True if the shape's aspect ratio is locked.

Important: In order for re-ordering to work, a shape's childIndex values must start from 1, not 0. The page or parent shape's "bottom-most" child should have a childIndex of 1.

The ShapeStyle object is a common style API for all shapes.

Property	Type	Description
size	SizeStyle	The size of the shape's stroke.
dash	DashStyle	The style of the shape's stroke.
color	ColorStyle	The shape's color.
isFilled	boolean	(optional) True if the shape is filled.

DrawShape

A hand-drawn line.

Property	Type	Description
points	number[][]	An array of points as [x, y, pressure].

RectangleShape

A rectangular shape.

Property	Type	Description
size	number[]	The [width, height] of the rectangle.

EllipseShape

An elliptical shape.

Property	Type	Description
radius	number[]	The [x, y] radius of the ellipse.

ArrowShape

An arrow that can connect shapes.

Property	Type	Description
handles	object	An object with three TLHandle properties: start, end, and bend.
decorations	object	An object with two properties start, end, and bend.

TextShape

A line of text.

Property	Type	Description
text	string	The shape's text content.

StickyShape

A sticky note.

Property	Type	Description
text	string	The shape's text content.

Bindings

A binding is a connection from one shape and to another shape. At the moment, only arrows may be bound "from". Most shapes may be bound "to", except other ArrowShape and DrawShapes.

Property	Type	Description
id	string	The binding's own unique ID.
fromId	string	The id of the ArrowShape that the binding is bound to.
toId	string	The id of the other shape that the binding is bound to.
handleId	start or end	The connected arrow handle.
distance	number	The distance from the bound point.
point	number[]	A normalized point representing the bound point.

TldrawApp API

You can change the tldraw component's state through an imperative API called TldrawApp. To access this API, use the onMount callback, or any of the component's callback props, like onPersist.

import { Tldraw, TldrawApp } from '@tldraw/tldraw'

function App() {
  const handleMount = React.useCallback((app: TldrawApp) => {
    app.selectAll()
  }, [])

  return <Tldraw onMount={handleMount} />
}

To view the full documentation of the TldrawApp API, generate the project's documentation by running yarn docs from the root folder, then open the file at:

/packages/tldraw/docs/classes/TldrawApp.html

Here are some useful methods:

• loadDocument
• select
• selectAll
• selectNone
• delete
• deleteAll
• deletePage
• changePage
• cut
• copy
• paste
• copyJson
• copySvg
• undo
• redo
• zoomIn
• zoomOut
• zoomToContent
• zoomToSelection
• zoomToFit
• zoomTo
• resetZoom
• setCamera
• resetCamera
• align
• distribute
• stretch
• nudge
• duplicate
• flipHorizontal
• flipVertical
• rotate
• style
• group
• ungroup
• createShapes
• updateShapes
• updateDocument
• updateUsers
• removeUser
• setSetting
• selectTool
• cancel

Check the generated docs, source or the TypeScript types for more on these and other methods.