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278 changes: 278 additions & 0 deletions optional-skills/creative/tldraw-offline/SKILL.md
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---
name: tldraw-offline
description: Drive and script tldraw offline canvases with an agent.
version: 1.0.0
author: Teknium + Hermes Agent
license: MIT
platforms: [linux, macos, windows]
metadata:
hermes:
tags: [tldraw, canvas, whiteboard, document-script, diagramming]
category: creative
related_skills: []
---

# tldraw offline Skill

Work with the tldraw offline desktop app (offline.tldraw.com): read the open
canvas, make edits, and write **document scripts** — JavaScript embedded in a
`.tldraw` file that runs on load and gives the file durable behavior. The app
runs a **local HTTP API** (default `localhost:7236`) that a coding agent drives
with plain `curl` from its terminal — this is exactly how the app's own homepage
demo (Codex editing a canvas live) works. The agent does NOT use computer-use /
GUI clicking, and does NOT hand-edit the `.tldraw` file directly. Keep tldraw
offline open while you work.

## When to Use

- The user has tldraw offline open and asks you to build or modify a canvas
(diagrams, wireframes, layouts).
- You want to add durable behavior to a drawing (reactive shapes, interactive
buttons, animation, connection logic) via an embedded document script.

Do NOT hand-place shapes to imitate a drawing — write the code that generates
them. Agents are far better at scripting the canvas than at drawing on it.

## Prerequisites

- **tldraw offline installed and running**, with a document open. Releases:
https://github.com/tldraw/tldraw-offline/releases/latest (macOS DMG, Windows
x64/Arm64, Linux `x86_64`/`arm64` AppImage or amd64/arm64 `.deb`).
- **Agent skills installed in the app**: `Develop → Install Agent Skills`. The
app writes its own tldraw skill into `~/.codex/skills/`, `~/.claude/skills/`,
`~/.cursor/skills/`, and `~/.gemini/skills/` — teaching that agent the `curl`
recipes below. (This Hermes skill mirrors that guidance for Hermes.)
- **The local control API.** On launch the app writes `server.json` to its config
dir (Linux `~/.config/tldraw/`, macOS `~/Library/Application Support/tldraw/`,
Windows `%APPDATA%\tldraw\`) with `port` (default `7236`), a bearer `token`,
`pid`, and `startedAt`. Every request except `GET /` needs
`Authorization: Bearer <token>`. A clean quit removes `server.json`; if it's
present but the port doesn't answer, the app quit uncleanly — treat as not
running.
- **Re-read port + token on EVERY shell call.** Each terminal call is a fresh
shell, so an `export`ed token does not persist — "export once and reuse" sends
an empty token and 401s. Read both inline at the top of each call:
`PORT=$(jq -r .port <server.json>); TOKEN=$(jq -r .token <server.json>)`.
- No account or network needed for local editing.

## How to Run

Two distinct workflows. Pick by whether the change must survive a reload.

**A. One-off canvas edits (`/exec`)** — layout, generating shapes, cleanup. This
is a live edit, not saved script:

```bash
BASE=http://localhost:7236
TOKEN=$(python3 -c "import json;print(json.load(open('$HOME/.config/tldraw/server.json'))['token'])")
# find the focused document id
DOC=$(curl -s "$BASE/api/search" -X POST -H 'content-type: application/json' \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-d '{"code":"return (await api.getFocusedDoc()).id"}' | python3 -c "import sys,json;print(json.load(sys.stdin)['result'])")
# run code with the live `editor` + `helpers` in scope
curl -s "$BASE/api/doc/$DOC/exec" -X POST -H 'content-type: application/json' \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-d '{"code":"const {createShapeId,toRichText}=await import(\"tldraw\"); editor.createShape({id:createShapeId(),type:\"geo\",x:0,y:0,props:{geo:\"rectangle\",w:200,h:100,color:\"blue\",fill:\"solid\",richText:toRichText(\"hello\")}}); return editor.getCurrentPageShapes().length"}'
```

**B. Durable behavior (`script/main.js`)** — reactive/interactive logic that must
survive reload. Edit the file on disk; the app's watcher applies it:

```bash
# get the live script file path for the doc
curl -s "$BASE/api/doc/$DOC/script-workspace" -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" # -> result.mainJsPath, result.isDefaultScript
# edit result.mainJsPath with read_file / patch / write_file (see scripts/main.js)
# then confirm the watcher applied it:
curl -s "$BASE/api/doc/$DOC/script-status" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"
```

The ready-to-adapt document script is `scripts/main.js`.

## Quick Reference

The document-script contract (verified against the app's bundled
`script-context.d.ts`):

```js
import { createShapeId, toRichText } from 'tldraw' // primitives: import, not globals

export default function ({ editor, helpers, signal }) {
editor.run(() => { // batch = one undo step
helpers.createShapeIfMissing({ // idempotent furniture
id: createShapeId('node-1'), type: 'geo', x: 0, y: 0,
props: { geo: 'rectangle', w: 200, h: 100, richText: toRichText('hi') },
})
})

const stop = editor.store.listen(() => { /* react */ }) // fires the tick AFTER a commit
signal.addEventListener('abort', () => stop()) // REQUIRED cleanup on rerun/close
}
```

- `ctx.editor` — the live `Editor` (`createShape`, `updateShape`, `deleteShapes`,
`getCurrentPageShapes`, `getShape`, `getBindingsFromShape`, `zoomToFit`,
`on('tick'|'event', fn)`, `run(fn, { history: 'ignore' })`).
- `ctx.helpers` — `createShapeIfMissing`, `createShapesIfMissing`,
`createArrowBetweenShapes(from, to, { arrowheadEnd })`, `translateShapes`,
`onShapeTranslate(id, fn, { signal })`, `richTextToPlainText`, `boxShapes`,
`getLints`.
- `ctx.signal` — `AbortSignal`; attach every listener/interval teardown to it.
- `config.js` (separate file) registers custom shape/tool/component utils and
runs before mount; `main.js` runs against the mounted editor and reruns on save.

## Interactive UI (clickable buttons that drive state)

Drawn shapes can behave like a real app — the thing a static whiteboard can't do.
Full example: `scripts/counter.js` (a number display + MINUS/RESET/PLUS buttons).

Verification boundary — read this before claiming interaction works or doesn't.
The app's OWN agent playbook says to verify a clickable-UI script with "one
simulated click and one state read" via `/exec` (`editor.dispatch` a pointer
event, await a tick, read the shape's state) — NOT by driving a real mouse. By
that standard the counter is verified: dispatched clicks stepped it
`0 → 1 → 2 → 1 → 0`. Two caveats worth writing down:
- **The script only runs once the app's file-watcher applies it.** On Linux that
watcher uses inotify; a host with an exhausted `fs.inotify.max_user_instances`
logs `inotify_add_watch ... No space left on device`, `script-status` shows
`state: "not-watching"` / `hasEntry: false`, and the script never executes.
This is a host limit, not a script bug — a normal desktop is unaffected.
- **Driving the canvas with computer-use needs FOREGROUND delivery, not
background.** cua-driver's default `background` delivery returns
`background_unavailable` against Electron's occluded renderer — but that is the
first rung, not a wall. cua-driver returns an `escalation: "foreground"` hint;
set `delivery_mode: "foreground"` (pair with `bring_to_front`) and its X11 XTest
path (`x11_xtest_fg`) clicks land — this dismisses the "Run Script" consent
dialog and clicks the canvas. Verified by the Cua team on this exact v1.11.0
AppImage (Linux/X11). Do NOT conclude "Electron rejects synthetic clicks" and
give up in background mode — climb to foreground. (The real product path is
still `/exec`, not clicks; this note is for computer-use-driven testing.)

The pattern:

```js
export default function ({ editor, helpers, signal }) {
// 1. Build buttons idempotently; tag each with meta so the handler finds them.
// Give buttons a visible label AND a meta.action.
// 2. Hit-test pointer_down in PAGE coordinates against the button bounds:
const inside = (b, p) => p.x >= b.x && p.x <= b.x + b.w && p.y >= b.y && p.y <= b.y + b.h
function onEvent(info) {
if (!info || info.name !== 'pointer_down') return
let p = null
try { if (info.point && editor.screenToPage) p = editor.screenToPage(info.point) } catch {}
p = p ?? editor.inputs?.currentPagePoint
if (!p) return
const hit = editor.getCurrentPageShapes().find(
(s) => s.meta?.ui === 'button' &&
inside({ x: s.x, y: s.y, w: s.props.w, h: s.props.h }, p)
)
if (hit) runAction(hit.meta.action) // mutate state; store it in a shape's meta
}
editor.on('event', onEvent)
signal.addEventListener('abort', () => editor.off('event', onEvent)) // REQUIRED
}
```

- Find buttons by `meta` (or visible label via `helpers.richTextToPlainText`),
not by hard-coded coordinates.
- **One script owns both build and read.** If the shapes are created by one code
path (with `meta.action: 'inc'`) and the handler reads another convention
(`meta.action === 'PLUS'`), clicks silently do nothing. Ship the buttons built
by the same script that handles them, or ship an empty canvas so the script
builds them fresh — never pre-bake mismatched shapes into the file's db.
- Keep app state in a shape's `meta` (e.g. `meta.count`) and render it as that
shape's `richText` label, so it survives save and is readable for verification.
- **Detach the listener on `signal` abort.** Skipping this is not cosmetic: on
the next save the old `onEvent` stays attached alongside the new one, so every
click fires twice and a counter jumps by 2 instead of 1.
- For continuous motion use `editor.on('tick', fn)`; for a moving anchor with
attached pieces use `helpers.onShapeTranslate(id, fn, { signal })`.

### Shipping a self-running scripted `.tldraw`

A `.tldraw` is a zip of `metadata.json` + `session.json` + `db.sqlite` + `assets/`
+ `script/` (only those entries are packable). For the script to auto-run without
the "This document contains a script → Run Script" consent dialog:

- `metadata.json` must carry a `script` manifest: `{ "sha256": "<digest>" }`, where
the digest is `sha256` over each sorted `script/` path as `` `${path}\0${sha256hex(bytes)}\n` ``.
A mismatch is rejected as tampered.
- Pre-trust the digest by adding it to `~/.tldraw/script-trust.json`
(`{ "trusted": ["<digest>"] }`, or `$TLDRAW_SCRIPT_TRUST`). The app skips consent
when `isScriptTrusted(digest)` is true.

## Procedure

1. Read the current token/port from `server.json`. Find the target doc with
`api.getFocusedDoc()` (or `api.getDocs()`); name it explicitly if several are
open.
2. For layout/generation, use `/exec`. For durable behavior, edit
`script/main.js` via `/script-workspace`.
3. Make scripts idempotent: create durable shapes with `helpers.createShapeIfMissing`
and stable `createShapeId('name')` ids. Scripts rerun on every load.
4. Keep script-owned writes out of the user's undo stack:
`editor.run(fn, { history: 'ignore' })` (or `helpers.translateShapes`, which
already does).
5. For reactivity, `editor.store.listen(cb)` and tear it down on `signal` abort.
For interaction, `editor.on('event', h)` (hit-test `pointer_down` in page
coords); for animation, `editor.on('tick', h)`.
6. For a single moving anchor + attached internals, prefer
`helpers.onShapeTranslate(anchorId, fn, { signal })` over a broad store
listener — a broad listener can turn your own writes into feedback loops.

## Shape props (validated against tldraw SDK v5 schema)

`editor.createShape` / `createShapeIfMissing` accept partial props (shape utils
fill defaults). When building **raw records** for a file snapshot, every prop
below is required (run `scripts/validate_shapes.mjs`):

| Shape | Required props |
|-------|----------------|
| `note` | `richText`, `color`, `labelColor`, `size`, `font`, `align`, `verticalAlign`, `growY`, `fontSizeAdjustment`, `url`, `scale`, `textLastEditedBy` |
| `text` | `richText`, `color`, `size`, `font`, `textAlign`, `w`, `scale`, `autoSize` |
| `frame` | `w`, `h`, `name`, `color` |
| `geo` | `geo`, `w`, `h`, `color`, `fill`, `richText` (+ dash/size/etc. defaulted) |

`richText` must be `toRichText('...')` — a bare string is rejected. `color` enum:
`black grey light-violet violet blue light-blue yellow orange green light-green
light-red red white`. `font` enum: `draw sans serif mono`.

## Pitfalls

- **`store.listen` fires on the tick AFTER a commit, not synchronously.** If you
write a shape and immediately read state expecting the listener to have run, it
hasn't. Verified live: an in-turn read shows 0 fires; after one `setTimeout`
tick it shows 1. Same reason the app notes `editor.dispatch` is async — await a
tick before verifying.
- **`ctx`, not globals.** The entry is `export default function ({ editor,
helpers, signal })`. There is no bare `editor` global in a document script.
`createShapeId` / `toRichText` / `Vec` come from `import ... from 'tldraw'`.
- **`richText`, not `text`.** Text/note/geo labels use `richText: toRichText(s)`.
- **Raw records need every prop; `createShape` does not.** In-app pass only the
props you care about; a hand-built `.tldraw` snapshot needs the full set (table).
- **Scripts rerun on every load — be idempotent.** Use `createShapeIfMissing`
with stable ids or you duplicate content and clobber user edits.
- **Clean up on `signal`.** `signal.addEventListener('abort', () => stop())` for
every `store.listen` / `editor.on` / `setInterval`; the signal fires before
rerun and on close.
- **Keep script writes out of undo:** `editor.run(fn, { history: 'ignore' })`.
- **`editor.on('tick')` pauses when the window is hidden** (it is a RAF loop);
`setInterval` keeps firing but Electron throttles it to ~1/s in the background.
- **The API needs the bearer token** from `server.json`; the port can be non-default
(`server.listen(0)` picks one) — always read the file, don't hardcode `7236`.
- **Only `tldraw` / `react` / `react-dom` import** — not a Node project.

## Verification

- **Shape schema (offline, no app):** `node scripts/validate_shapes.mjs` — builds
the real tldraw schema and validates note/text/frame. Passing prints `3/3`.
- **Live canvas edits:** after `/exec`, read back with `/api/search` →
`api.getShapes(docId)` (returns `{ page, viewport, shapes }`) and
`api.getBindings(docId)` (array). Confirm expected shapes/bindings exist. Grab
`api.getScreenshot(docId)` (returns `{ filePath, ... }`) and inspect the PNG/JPEG
with `vision_analyze`.
- **Durable script applied:** `GET /api/doc/:id/script-status`. Success is
`state: "applied"` (`currentDiskDigest === lastAppliedDigest === manifestSha256`,
`pendingApply === false`, `lastApplyError === null`). If it stays `"pending"`
after a short retry, report that instead of claiming success; `"error"` means
the apply failed — read `errorLogPath`.
114 changes: 114 additions & 0 deletions optional-skills/creative/tldraw-offline/scripts/counter.js
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// Interactive Counter — a tldraw offline document script.
//
// HOW TO RUN IT ON YOUR MACHINE:
// 1. Open tldraw offline, create or open a document.
// 2. Develop → Reveal Script… (creates script/main.js + a workspace folder)
// 3. Replace the contents of script/main.js with THIS file, and save.
// 4. The app reruns the script automatically. You'll see a "Counter" panel
// with MINUS / RESET / PLUS buttons — click them; the number updates live.
// 5. File → Save to persist the script into the .tldraw file. Now the file
// *is* a little app: reopen it anywhere and the buttons still work.
//
// This is the document-script contract (from the app's script-context.d.ts):
// export default function ({ editor, helpers, signal }) { ... }
// editor — the live tldraw Editor
// helpers — editor-bound conveniences (richTextToPlainText, etc.)
// signal — an AbortSignal fired before the script reruns / on close;
// register ALL cleanup on it so re-saving never leaks listeners.

import { createShapeId, toRichText } from 'tldraw'

export default function ({ editor, helpers, signal }) {
// Stable ids => idempotent: re-running reuses shapes instead of duplicating.
const IDS = {
title: createShapeId('counter-title'),
display: createShapeId('counter-display'),
dec: createShapeId('counter-btn-dec'),
reset: createShapeId('counter-btn-reset'),
inc: createShapeId('counter-btn-inc'),
}

// Create-if-missing helper (leaves user edits intact on rerun).
function ensure(partial) {
if (editor.getShape(partial.id)) return
editor.createShape(partial)
}

editor.run(() => {
ensure({
id: IDS.title, type: 'text', x: 40, y: 20,
props: { richText: toRichText('Counter'), size: 'xl', font: 'draw', color: 'black' },
})
ensure({
id: IDS.display, type: 'geo', x: 40, y: 80,
props: { geo: 'rectangle', w: 360, h: 160, color: 'black', fill: 'none', richText: toRichText('0'), size: 'xl' },
meta: { ui: 'display', count: 0 },
})
// Button labels are load-bearing — the click handler finds buttons by text.
ensure({
id: IDS.dec, type: 'geo', x: 40, y: 270,
props: { geo: 'rectangle', w: 100, h: 80, color: 'red', fill: 'solid', richText: toRichText('MINUS'), size: 'l' },
meta: { ui: 'button', action: 'MINUS' },
})
ensure({
id: IDS.reset, type: 'geo', x: 170, y: 270,
props: { geo: 'rectangle', w: 100, h: 80, color: 'grey', fill: 'solid', richText: toRichText('RESET'), size: 'l' },
meta: { ui: 'button', action: 'RESET' },
})
ensure({
id: IDS.inc, type: 'geo', x: 300, y: 270,
props: { geo: 'rectangle', w: 100, h: 80, color: 'green', fill: 'solid', richText: toRichText('PLUS'), size: 'l' },
meta: { ui: 'button', action: 'PLUS' },
})
})

const STEP = { MINUS: -1, PLUS: +1 }

function displayShape() {
return editor.getCurrentPageShapes().find((s) => s.meta && s.meta.ui === 'display')
}
function setCount(n) {
const d = displayShape()
editor.run(
() =>
editor.updateShape({
id: d.id, type: 'geo',
props: { richText: toRichText(String(n)) },
meta: { ...d.meta, count: n },
}),
{ history: 'ignore' } // keep script writes out of the user's undo stack
)
}
function runAction(label) {
const d = displayShape()
const cur = d.meta && typeof d.meta.count === 'number' ? d.meta.count : 0
if (label === 'RESET') setCount(0)
else if (label in STEP) setCount(cur + STEP[label])
}

function bounds(s) {
return { x: s.x, y: s.y, w: s.props.w ?? 0, h: s.props.h ?? 0 }
}
function inside(b, p) {
return p.x >= b.x && p.x <= b.x + b.w && p.y >= b.y && p.y <= b.y + b.h
}

function onEvent(info) {
if (!info || info.name !== 'pointer_down') return
let p = null
try {
if (info.point && editor.screenToPage) p = editor.screenToPage(info.point)
} catch {}
p = p ?? editor.inputs?.currentPagePoint
if (!p) return
const hit = editor
.getCurrentPageShapes()
.find((s) => s.meta && s.meta.ui === 'button' && inside(bounds(s), p))
if (hit) runAction(hit.meta.action)
}

editor.on('event', onEvent)
signal.addEventListener('abort', () => editor.off('event', onEvent)) // required cleanup

editor.zoomToFit({ animation: { duration: 200 } })
}
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