Font family IDs were duplicated across 5 files (types.ts, setup.ts,
index.ts, SKILL.md, preferences.example.json) with inconsistent
mappings — Comic Shanns was 4 in some places but actually 8 in
Excalidraw source. This caused wrong fonts to render on canvas.
Fix: create src/font-families.json as the canonical font data, import
it in types.ts, and derive all other references from it. Static docs
now point to the JSON file instead of duplicating the mapping.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Add a preference system that lets users configure default font, roughness,
fontSize, and strokeWidth — with three scopes (session/folder/global).
Skill layer (Step 1 in SKILL.md):
- Reads .claude/excalidraw-preferences.json (folder) then
~/.claude/skills/excalidraw-skill/preferences.json (global)
- If neither exists, prompts user interactively on first use
- Session-only scope keeps preferences in-memory without saving
Server layer (index.ts):
- loadPreferences() reads the same files at startup
- Replaces hardcoded fontFamily ?? 1 with USER_PREFS.fontFamily
- Folder-level preferences override global; user values override both
Also ships preferences.example.json as a template (preferences.json
is gitignored).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The excalidraw-skill was not being auto-invoked when users prompted
Claude to draw diagrams, despite being installed. Claude would call
Excalidraw MCP tools directly, bypassing the skill's critical sizing
formulas and verification workflow — producing broken diagrams with
invisible arrows, truncated text, and overlapping elements. The root
cause is that Claude Code's skill system is advisory: when direct MCP
tools or built-in Bash instructions are available, Claude skips skill
consultation entirely.
🔧 Skill description rewrite:
- Lead with "MANDATORY prerequisite" to assert priority over raw MCP tools
- Add user-intent trigger keywords (draw, visualize, sketch, diagram)
- Name specific consequences of skipping the skill
- List common diagram types for semantic matching
🏗️ Setup/update auto-directives:
- Write marked CLAUDE.md sections during skill install and update
- Write Cursor .mdc rules with alwaysApply for Cursor users
- Use HTML comment markers for idempotent append-or-replace on updates
- Non-fatal directive writing — skill installs even if directive fails
🎯 Two-layer defense ensures reliable skill triggering: the description
catches semantic matching, while the CLAUDE.md directive provides an
authoritative instruction that Claude cannot deprioritize in favor of
raw tool access.
Excalidraw skill lacked guidance on building complex visual shapes from
basic primitives, leading to flat single-shape attempts for structures
like roofs and walls. Adds coordinate geometry foundations so agents
produce realistic illustrative diagrams alongside technical ones.
🔧 Core geometric principles:
- Compose complex shapes from many small primitives with tessellation
- Eliminate gaps using interleaving offset rows at half-width spacing
- Parametric positioning formulas for centering, circular, triangular, and isometric layouts
- Scale primitive dimensions proportionally to container size
📦 Technique catalog reference:
- Illustrative elements (roofs, walls, clouds, trees, fences, windows)
- Sugiyama-inspired flow diagram layout algorithm
- Zone-grid architecture diagram layout
- Isometric 2.5D projection formulas
- Repeating pattern formulas with brick-pattern offsets
🧹 Consolidate tenants/projects/search into single compact table to
keep SKILL.md under the 500-line skill guideline
Establish comprehensive quality infrastructure for a project that previously
had zero tests, enabling confident refactoring and community contributions
with automated guardrails. Port upstream enhancements for font normalization,
image element support, and arrow binding preservation.
🏗️ Testing infrastructure:
- Unit tests for SQLite persistence layer and element validation helpers
- Integration tests for REST API, WebSocket broadcast, and arrow binding
- E2E tests with Playwright for canvas rendering and real-time sync
- Vitest + Playwright configuration with proper isolation
👷 CI/CD pipeline:
- Auto-versioning from conventional commits on push to main
- Auto-publish to NPM and Docker Hub on GitHub release
- Matrix testing across Node 18/20/22 with pinned dependencies
- Docker health check with diagnostic logging on failure
- Preserve rollup status checks for branch protection gates
📦 Developer experience:
- Interactive setup wizard for first-time configuration
- Canvas clear confirmation and scene description tools
- Frontend helpers extracted for testability
🔧 Upstream feature ports:
- Font family normalization (string names to numeric IDs)
- Image element support with file management API
- Arrow binding preservation through server round-trips
- Vite config fix for font subsetting worker chunk names
- Idempotent database initialization for standalone Docker mode
🐛 Docker fixes:
- Set EXCALIDRAW_DB_PATH in both Dockerfiles to writable /app/data/
- Make initDb() idempotent and closeDb() reset-safe for test isolation
🎯 Provides the safety net needed for rapid iteration — every PR is
validated across 120 test cases before merge, and releases are fully
automated from commit to published package.
Co-authored-by: sanjibdevnathlabs <devnath.sanjib@gmail.com>
Replace in-memory storage with SQLite (WAL mode), add workspace-based
multi-tenancy with auto-detection via server.listRoots(), and embed the
canvas server into the MCP process for single-process operation.
🔧 Core enhancements:
- SQLite persistence with versioning, element history, and search
- Multi-tenancy: isolated canvases per workspace (SHA-256 tenant IDs)
- Embedded canvas lifecycle (single node process starts MCP + canvas)
- Auto-sync with 3s debounce and manual override toggle
- Configurable canvas port via CANVAS_PORT env var
- 6 new MCP tools (search, history, tenants, projects)
- Workspace switcher UI with dropdown search
- Sync normalization to prevent bound-text breakage on reload
🐳 Docker & CI improvements:
- BuildKit cache mounts for faster npm installs across builds
- Skip native compilation in frontend-builder stage (--ignore-scripts)
- Build only linux/amd64 on PRs, multi-arch on push to main
- Docker Hub registry with proper build tools for better-sqlite3
- CI and Docker status check gates (github/ci-status-check, github/docker-build-check)
📦 Package & publishing:
- Renamed to @sanjibdevnath/mcp-excalidraw-local (v3.0.0)
- Updated npm-publish workflow for scoped package
- Updated bin entry, keywords, and files list
📝 Documentation:
- README with UI screenshots, architecture diagram, and full feature docs
- Updated agent skill with 32-tool cheatsheet and workflow playbooks
- Fork attribution and upstream comparison table
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
* feat: enhance Excalidraw MCP with advanced canvas toolkit features
- Rename skill to `excalidraw-skill` with expanded playbook and cheatsheet.
- Add new MCP tools for iterative refinement: `describe_scene` and `get_canvas_screenshot`.
- Implement layout tools (`align_elements`, `distribute_elements`) and `duplicate_elements`.
- Add file I/O support for `.excalidraw` JSON and image export (PNG/SVG).
- Introduce named snapshots for canvas state management.
- Add server-side element CRUD and WebSocket handlers for real-time sync.
- Normalize `points` format for arrows and lines.
* docs: update README with v2.0 features and official MCP comparison
* feat: implement arrow binding and edge-to-edge routing
* fix: enhance security with path sanitization and improve export error handling
* feat: add viewport control, design guide, and excalidraw.com URL export
* feat: enhance excalidraw.com export with proper scene formatting and labels
