Excalidraw

beginner

Virtual whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn diagrams.

Overview

Excalidraw is an open-source virtual whiteboard application that enables collaborative sketching of hand-drawn style diagrams directly in the browser. Originally created by Vjeux at Facebook, Excalidraw gained popularity for its unique ability to produce professional-looking diagrams with a natural, sketched aesthetic that feels more approachable than traditional rigid diagramming tools. The application supports real-time collaboration, making it ideal for remote teams conducting brainstorming sessions, system architecture discussions, or educational presentations. This Docker deployment runs the self-hosted version of Excalidraw, giving you complete control over your whiteboard data and eliminating dependency on external services. The containerized setup ensures consistent performance across different environments while maintaining the full feature set of the web application, including collaborative editing, extensive shape libraries, and multiple export formats. Unlike the cloud version, this deployment keeps all diagrams and collaboration data within your infrastructure. This configuration is perfect for organizations requiring data sovereignty, educational institutions needing reliable access without internet dependencies, and development teams wanting to integrate diagramming capabilities into their existing Docker infrastructure. The lightweight nature of Excalidraw makes it suitable for everything from personal home labs to enterprise deployments supporting hundreds of concurrent users.

Key Features

Hand-drawn aesthetic rendering engine that converts precise inputs into natural-looking sketched diagrams
Real-time collaborative editing with live cursor tracking and conflict resolution
Extensive built-in shape library including flowchart elements, arrows, geometric shapes, and freehand drawing tools
Multi-format export capabilities supporting PNG, SVG, and JSON with customizable resolution and transparency options
Infinite canvas with smooth pan and zoom functionality for large-scale diagram creation
Local file system integration for saving and loading diagram files without cloud dependencies
Keyboard shortcut support for rapid diagram creation and element manipulation
Layer management system with grouping, locking, and ordering controls for complex diagrams

Common Use Cases

1Software architecture brainstorming sessions where teams need to quickly sketch system designs and data flows
2Educational institutions conducting remote learning sessions with interactive whiteboard functionality
3Product management teams creating user journey maps and feature wireframes during sprint planning
4Engineering teams documenting network topologies and infrastructure designs with a more approachable visual style
5Design thinking workshops where participants need to collaborate on process flows and concept mapping
6Technical presentations where hand-drawn aesthetics make complex concepts more digestible to non-technical audiences
7Home lab documentation where enthusiasts want to map their server configurations and network setups

Prerequisites

Docker Engine 20.10 or higher with Docker Compose v2 support
Minimum 512MB RAM allocation for the container, 1GB recommended for multiple concurrent users
Port 3000 available on the host system for web interface access
Modern web browser with HTML5 Canvas and WebRTC support for full collaborative features
Basic understanding of web application deployment and reverse proxy configuration if using custom domains
Network connectivity between client browsers for real-time collaboration features to function properly

For development & testing. Review security settings, change default credentials, and test thoroughly before production use. See Terms

docker-compose.yml

1services: 
2  excalidraw: 
3    image: excalidraw/excalidraw:latest
4    container_name: excalidraw
5    restart: unless-stopped
6    ports: 
7      - "3000:80"

.env Template

.env

1# No configuration needed

Usage Notes

1Access at http://localhost:3000
2Hand-drawn style diagrams
3Export to PNG/SVG

Quick Start

terminal

1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  excalidraw:
5    image: excalidraw/excalidraw:latest
6    container_name: excalidraw
7    restart: unless-stopped
8    ports:
9      - "3000:80"
10EOF
11
12# 2. Create the .env file
13cat > .env << 'EOF'
14# No configuration needed
15EOF
16
17# 3. Start the services
18docker compose up -d
19
20# 4. View logs
21docker compose logs -f

One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

terminal

1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/excalidraw/run | bash

Troubleshooting

Canvas not rendering or appearing blank: Clear browser cache and ensure hardware acceleration is enabled in browser settings
Collaboration features not working between users: Verify WebRTC is not blocked by corporate firewalls and browsers have camera/microphone permissions
Export functions failing or producing corrupted files: Increase container memory allocation and check browser popup blockers
Slow performance with large diagrams: Reduce canvas zoom level and break complex diagrams into smaller components
Unable to save diagrams locally: Check browser download permissions and ensure sufficient local storage quota
Container fails to start on port 3000: Verify no other services are using the port and check Docker daemon logs for binding conflicts

Community Notes

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Download Recipe Kit

Get all files in a ready-to-deploy package

Includes docker-compose.yml, .env template, README, and license

Components

excalidraw

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