Controlling the editor

This example creates and updates shapes, selects and rotates them, and zooms the camera.

import {
	DefaultColorStyle,
	Editor,
	TLGeoShape,
	TLShapePartial,
	Tldraw,
	toRichText,
	createShapeId,
	useEditor,
} from 'tldraw'
import 'tldraw/tldraw.css'
import { useEffect } from 'react'

// There's a guide at the bottom of this file!

//[1]
export default function APIExample() {
	const handleMount = (editor: Editor) => {
		// Create a shape id
		const id = createShapeId('hello')

		// Create a shape
		editor.createShapes<TLGeoShape>([
			{
				id,
				type: 'geo',
				x: 128 + Math.random() * 500,
				y: 128 + Math.random() * 500,
				props: {
					geo: 'rectangle',
					w: 100,
					h: 100,
					dash: 'draw',
					color: 'blue',
					size: 'm',
				},
			},
		])

		// Get the created shape
		const shape = editor.getShape<TLGeoShape>(id)!

		const shapeUpdate: TLShapePartial<TLGeoShape> = {
			id,
			type: 'geo',
			props: {
				h: shape.props.h * 3,
				richText: toRichText('hello world!'),
			},
		}

		// Update the shape
		editor.updateShapes([shapeUpdate])

		// Select the shape
		editor.select(id)

		// Rotate the shape around its center
		editor.rotateShapesBy([id], Math.PI / 8)

		// Clear the selection
		editor.selectNone()

		// Zoom the camera to fit both shapes
		editor.zoomToFit()
	}

	return (
		<div className="tldraw__editor">
			<Tldraw persistenceKey="api-example" onMount={handleMount}>
				<InsideOfEditorContext />
			</Tldraw>
		</div>
	)
}

//[2]
const InsideOfEditorContext = () => {
	const editor = useEditor()

	useEffect(() => {
		let i = 0

		const interval = setInterval(() => {
			const selection = [...editor.getSelectedShapeIds()]
			editor.selectAll()
			editor.setStyleForSelectedShapes(DefaultColorStyle, i % 2 ? 'blue' : 'light-blue')
			editor.setStyleForNextShapes(DefaultColorStyle, i % 2 ? 'blue' : 'light-blue')
			editor.setSelectedShapes(selection)
			i++
		}, 1000)

		return () => {
			clearInterval(interval)
		}
	}, [editor])

	return null
}

/* 
Introduction: 

This example shows how to use the tldraw editor instance to make changes 
to the canvas. The editor instance is tldraw's "god object". You can use 
the app to do just about everything that's possible in tldraw. Internally, 
the canvas component and all shapes, tools, and UI components use this instance 
to send events, observe changes, and perform actions. 

There are two main ways to use the editor:

[1] 
The tldraw component shares its editor instance via its onMount callback prop.
When you define a function for the onMount callback, it receives the editor 
instance as an argument. You can use this to manipulate the canvas.


[2]
Another (sneakier) way to access the current app is through React context.
The Tldraw component provides the context, so you can add children to
the component and access the app through the useEditor hook. This is cool.

*/
Is this page helpful?
Prev
UI events
Next
Lock camera zoom