tldraw/README.md

@tldraw/tldraw

This package contains the tldraw editor as a React component named <TLDraw>. You can use this package to embed the editor in any React application.

🎨 Want to build your own tldraw-ish app instead? Try @tldraw/core.

💕 Love this library? Consider becoming a sponsor.

Installation

Use your package manager of choice to install @tldraw/tldraw and its peer dependencies.

yarn add @tldraw/tldraw
# or
npm i @tldraw/tldraw

Usage

Import the TLDraw React component and use it in your app.

import { TLDraw } from '@tldraw/tldraw'

function App() {
  return <TLDraw />
}

Persisting the State

You can use the id to persist the state in a user's browser storage.

import { TLDraw } from '@tldraw/tldraw'

function App() {
  return <TLDraw id="myState" />
}

Controlling the Component through Props

You can control the TLDraw component through its props.

import { TLDraw, TLDrawDocument } from '@tldraw/tldraw'

function App() {
  const myDocument: TLDrawDocument = {}

  return <TLDraw document={document} />
}

Controlling the Component through the TLDrawState API

You can also control the TLDraw component imperatively through the TLDrawState API.

import { TLDraw, TLDrawState } from '@tldraw/tldraw'

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

  return <TLDraw onMount={handleMount} />
}

Internally, the TLDraw component's user interface uses this API to make changes to the component's state. See the TLDrawState section for more on this API.

Responding to Changes

You can respond to changes and user actions using the onChange callback.

import { TLDraw, TLDrawState } from '@tldraw/tldraw'

function App() {
  const handleChange = React.useCallback((state: TLDrawState, reason: string) => {}, [])

  return <TLDraw onMount={handleMount} />
}

Internally, the TLDraw component's user interface uses this API to make changes to the component's state. See the TLDrawState section for more on this API.

Documentation

TLDraw

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

Prop	Type	Description
id	string	An id under which to persist the component's state.
document	TLDrawDocument	An initial TLDrawDocument object.
currentPageId	string	A current page id, referencing the TLDrawDocument 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.
onMount	Function	Called when the editor first mounts, receiving the current TLDrawState.
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 TLDrawState updates for any reason.
onUserChange	Function	Called when the user's "presence" information changes.
onUndo	Function	Called when the TLDrawState updates after an undo.
onRedo	Function	Called when the TLDrawState 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} />
}

TLDrawDocument

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

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

import { TLDrawDocument, TLDrawState } from '@tldraw/tldraw'

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

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

Tip: TLDraw is built on @tldraw/core. The pages and pageStates in TLDraw are objects containing TLPage and TLPageState objects from the core library. For more about these types, check out the @tldraw/core documentation.

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	TLDrawHandle{}	(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.

TLDrawState API

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

import { TLDraw, TLDrawState } from '@tldraw/tldraw'

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

  return <TLDraw onMount={handleMount} />
}

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

/packages/tldraw/docs/classes/TLDrawState.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.

Local Development

From the root folder:

• Run yarn to install dependencies.

• Run yarn start to start the development server for the package and for the example.

• Open localhost:5420 to view the example project.

Note: The multiplayer examples and endpoints currently require an API key from Liveblocks, however the storage services that are used in TLDraw are currently in alpha and (as of November 2021) not accessible to the general public. You won't be able to authenticate and run these parts of the project.

Other scripts:

• Run yarn test to execute unit tests via Jest.

• Run yarn docs to build the docs via ts-doc.

Example

See the example folder for examples of how to use the <TLDraw/> component.

Community

Support

Need help? Please open an issue for support.

Discussion

Want to connect with other devs? Visit the Discord channel.

License

This project is licensed under MIT.

If you're using the library in a commercial product, please consider becoming a sponsor.

Author

• @steveruizok