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Drawy Documentation

Drawy is a collaborative drawing workspace. It gives you the full Excalidraw editor, plus the collaboration features: live cursors, shared canvases and version history. Realtime features run on Cloudflare Durable Objects via PartyServer.

Everything is saved as you draw, so you can close the tab and pick up exactly where you left off. A drawing is private by default. You can share it with one person or publish it as a read-only link.

Getting started

Section titled “Getting started”

  1. Create an account
    Pick a username and a password. There is no email address to enter and no confirmation link to click, so you are in straight away.

  2. Start a canvas
    Every new canvas gets a name, which you can rename later. Your drawings are grouped by the date you last touched them, so recent work is easy to find.

  3. Draw, share, invite
    Sketch on the canvas, pull in assets from your library, then share a link or invite a collaborator to work alongside you.

The canvas

Section titled “The canvas”

Drawy embeds the full Excalidraw editor on an infinite surface that pans and zooms the way you expect. You can draw with:

  • Rectangles and diamonds
  • Arrows
  • Text
  • Freehand strokes
  • Frames
  • Images

Autosave

Section titled “Autosave”

Changes are saved as you draw, and autosave is always on. There is no save button to remember. Close the tab, come back later, and the canvas is exactly where you left it.

Real-time collaboration

Section titled “Real-time collaboration”

Several people can work in the same canvas at once. Live cursors, selections and strokes appear as they happen, so you can point at a shape instead of describing it.

To start collaborating, open a canvas and either invite someone by username or share a link. See Sharing and access below for the options.

Sharing and access

Section titled “Sharing and access”

A new drawing is private. You choose how, and with whom, to share it.

Option Who can open it Good for
Private (default) Only you Work in progress
Invite by username A specific person you choose Working on a canvas together
Read-only link Anyone with the link, view only Publishing a finished drawing or asking for feedback

You can revoke access at any time. Revoking removes the other person’s or the link’s access without deleting the drawing.

Version history

Section titled “Version history”

While you work, Drawy keeps a snapshot of your canvas every minutes. If you want to go back, open the version history and roll back to an earlier snapshot with one click.

Libraries

Section titled “Libraries”

Libraries are reusable collections of shapes and assets you can drop into any drawing.

  • Public libraries: browse the public Excalidraw libraries and save the ones you use.
  • Personal library: build your own library of items and reuse them across canvases.

Import and export

Section titled “Import and export”

Nothing you draw is locked inside the app.

Action Formats
Export a canvas .excalidraw, PNG, SVG
Import into Drawy .excalidraw

Themes

Section titled “Themes”

Drawy offers six themes across light and dark mode. Your choice is remembered on the device you picked it on and is applied before the first paint, so the page never flashes the wrong theme while loading.

Architecture (for developers)

Section titled “Architecture (for developers)”

Drawy is open source and built on a small set of well-known projects.

Layer Technology Role
Canvas and editor Excalidraw Drawing surface, tools and element model
App shell and routing TanStack Start and Router Application framework and routes
API oRPC Typed API between client and server
Realtime PartyServer on Cloudflare Durable Objects Presence and Yjs sync for live collaboration
Storage Postgres through Drizzle ORM Persistent canvas storage
UI Astryx Component library and theming

How the pieces fit

Section titled “How the pieces fit”
  • The client renders the Excalidraw editor inside a TanStack Start app.
  • Calls for accounts, canvases, sharing and libraries go through typed oRPC procedures, so the client and server share the same types.
  • Live cursors, selections and strokes are synced in realtime using Yjs over PartyServer.
  • Canvases are persisted in Postgres, which is what makes autosave and version history possible.

FAQ

Section titled “FAQ”

Do I need an email address to sign up?

Section titled “Do I need an email address to sign up?”

No. You only choose a username and a password.

Will I lose my work if I close the tab?

Section titled “Will I lose my work if I close the tab?”

No. Changes are saved as you draw.

Who can see my drawings?

Section titled “Who can see my drawings?”

Only you, until you invite someone or publish a read-only link.

Can I stop sharing a drawing?

Section titled “Can I stop sharing a drawing?”

Yes. Revoke access whenever you like. The drawing itself is not deleted.

Can I get my drawings out of Drawy?

Section titled “Can I get my drawings out of Drawy?”

Yes. Export as .excalidraw, PNG or SVG, and import .excalidraw files back in.

Can I undo a big mistake after autosave has run?

Section titled “Can I undo a big mistake after autosave has run?”

Yes. Use version history to roll back to an earlier snapshot.

Help and contact

Section titled “Help and contact”