excalidraw

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Excalidraw - Work in Progress

Installation

Run this command in your terminal to add the MCP server to Claude Code.

Run in terminal:

Command

claude mcp add --transport stdio i-tozer-excalidraw-mcp node dist/index.js \
  --env PORT="optional (defaults to server's internal configuration if not set)" \
  --env DATA_DIR="path to storage directory for drawings (optional)"

How to use

This MCP server provides a REST-like API for managing Excalidraw drawings. It supports creating, reading, updating, and deleting drawings, as well as exporting them to SVG, PNG, and JSON formats. The server uses a simple file-based storage system to persist drawings locally, making it suitable for lightweight development and testing scenarios. Available drawing operations include create_drawing, get_drawing, update_drawing, delete_drawing, and list_drawings, while export operations include export_to_svg, export_to_png, and export_to_json. Start the server using npm start and interact with the exposed tools to manage your Excalidraw assets programmatically.

How to install

Prerequisites:

Node.js (≥14) and npm installed on your system
Git for cloning repositories

Step-by-step installation:

Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/yourusername/excalidraw-mcp.git cd excalidraw-mcp
Install dependencies npm install
Build the project npm run build
Run the server npm start

Notes:

The build step compiles TypeScript sources to JavaScript (commonly into a dist/ folder).
The start script runs the server (as configured in package.json), typically launching the compiled entry point (dist/index.js).

Additional notes

The server uses a simple file-based storage under a configured data directory. If DATA_DIR is not set, a default location is used by the server.
For production deployments, consider configuring PORT, DATA_DIR, and any necessary host binding in environment variables.
If you modify code, re-run npm run build before starting the server to ensure compiled output is up to date.
Ensure proper permissions on the storage directory to avoid write errors.
When exporting drawings, check that the Excalidraw JSON payload is valid and includes all necessary metadata for successful export.

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