Edit .excalidraw files locally in your browser. No cloud, no account.
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
- Bundles Excalidraw + React into a single JS file at build time
- Serves it from a local HTTP server — no CDN, no network needed
- Saves changes to disk on every edit (debounced)
- Creates new
.excalidrawfiles 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