Repolode
Submit
yctimlin

yctimlin/mcp_excalidraw

MCP server, CLI and agent skill that give AI coding agents a live Excalidraw canvas to draw, screenshot, edit and export diagrams.

View on GitHubWebsite
Stars
2,625
Forks
295
Open issues
42
Last commit
8 days ago

What is it?

mcp-excalidraw-server lets AI agents create and edit Excalidraw diagrams programmatically on a live local canvas. An agent can add, query, update and delete individual elements, arrange them with align, distribute and group operations, and check its own work through a text scene description or a rendered screenshot.

The project offers three ways to drive the same canvas: an agent skill with a CLI (recommended for coding agents), an MCP stdio server with 26 tools for MCP clients such as Claude Desktop, Cursor and Codex CLI, and a plain REST API. The canvas server starts automatically when a drawing command runs, and core drawing needs no API keys or accounts.

Diagrams can be exported as .excalidraw files for committing alongside code, or as .excalidraw.md files for Obsidian vaults. Screenshots and PNG/SVG exports render headlessly on Node, while Mermaid conversion and viewport control still require an open browser tab.

Key features

  • 01Element-level create, read, update and delete on a live Excalidraw canvas.
  • 02Headless screenshots and PNG/SVG export, so agents can inspect their own diagrams.
  • 03Layout tools for align, distribute, group, lock and duplicate.
  • 04Named snapshots and restore for rolling back a scene.
  • 05Mermaid-to-canvas conversion and encrypted share links to excalidraw.com.
  • 06Works through a CLI, an MCP server or a REST API.

Use cases

  • Having a coding agent draw architecture diagrams and flowcharts for a codebase.
  • Exporting .excalidraw diagrams into a repository so they are versioned with the code.
  • Generating and maintaining diagrams inside an Obsidian vault.
  • Rendering committed .excalidraw files to PNG in CI without running a browser.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Start the canvas server with npx

    npx -y mcp-excalidraw-server start
  2. 2

    Draw a test diagram with the CLI

    npx -y mcp-excalidraw-server describe
  3. 3

    Install the agent skill into your skills directory

    npx -y mcp-excalidraw-server install-skill --dir <skills-root>

Things to know

  • Mermaid conversion requires an open browser tab on the canvas.
  • The canvas page loads Excalidraw fonts from the esm.sh CDN.

In collections

Open-source AI agent frameworks & appsMCP serversCLI & terminal toolsDiagrams, charts & animated visualizations

Topics

#mcp#excalidraw#diagrams#ai-agent#cli#whiteboard#typescript

FAQ

What is mcp_excalidraw?
MCP server, CLI and agent skill that give AI coding agents a live Excalidraw canvas to draw, screenshot, edit and export diagrams. mcp-excalidraw-server lets AI agents create and edit Excalidraw diagrams programmatically on a live local canvas. An agent can add, query, update and delete individual elements, arrange them with align, distribute and group operations, and check its own work through a text scene description or a rendered screenshot.
Is mcp_excalidraw free to use? What license does it have?
mcp_excalidraw is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is mcp_excalidraw still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to mcp_excalidraw was on Oct 30, 2026.
What can I use mcp_excalidraw for?
Having a coding agent draw architecture diagrams and flowcharts for a codebase. Exporting .excalidraw diagrams into a repository so they are versioned with the code. Generating and maintaining diagrams inside an Obsidian vault. Rendering committed .excalidraw files to PNG in CI without running a browser.
How do I install mcp_excalidraw?
Start the canvas server with npx: npx -y mcp-excalidraw-server start Draw a test diagram with the CLI: npx -y mcp-excalidraw-server describe Install the agent skill into your skills directory: npx -y mcp-excalidraw-server install-skill --dir <skills-root>
Where can I get mcp_excalidraw?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/yctimlin/mcp_excalidraw

Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.

Related projects