How to vibe codeSmartDraw

Prerequisites

• Node.jsfree

  Required runtime for modern TypeScript full-stack web development.

• GitHubfree

  Source code repository and deployment pipeline integration.

AI coding tools

• Claude Code

  Best-in-class agentic coding tool for scaffolding complex multi-file frontend canvas apps and algorithmic logic.

• Cursor

  Ideal for iterative UI refinement, inspecting canvas diffs, and tweaking vector rendering components.

Build guide

1. 01Project Scaffolding and Core Canvas Setup

   Initialize a Next.js project with Tailwind CSS, configure state management using Zustand for an infinite SVG canvas supporting smooth zoom, pan, and coordinate transformation matrices.

   Scramble a new Next.js 16 project with TypeScript and Tailwind CSS v4. Create an infinite canvas component that supports mouse drag panning, wheel zooming (bounded between 0.1x and 5x), and grid background rendering with dot patterns. Implement a Zustand store to keep track of camera offset, scale, selected shape IDs, and an array of vector shape objects (boxes, circles, text, lines) with x, y, width, height, fill, and stroke properties. Ensure smooth requestAnimationFrame rendering loops and clean touch/mouse event handling.

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2. 02Shape Creation, Dragging, and Resizing Handlers

   Build interactive shape manipulation tools allowing users to drop shapes onto the canvas, select them, drag them around, and resize them via corner handles.

   Build a toolbar and sidebar component offering shape tools (Rectangle, Ellipse, Rounded Box, Text Node). Implement mouse interaction logic so clicking a tool lets the user drop a shape onto the canvas. Add selection bounds to selected shapes with 8 resize handles (corners and edges) that update width, height, and position dynamically as the user drags them. Ensure proper coordinate transformation from screen space to world space accounting for canvas zoom and pan offsets.

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3. 03Connector Lines and Orthogonal Routing Engine

   Implement dynamic connector lines between shapes that snap to anchor points and route themselves orthogonally around shape bounding boxes.

   Implement a connection line tool that allows drawing arrows between shapes. When dragging from a shape's anchor point to another shape, compute an orthogonal routing path (Manhattan routing) that navigates around intermediate shape bounding boxes to avoid overlaps. Store connectors with sourceShapeId, targetShapeId, and computed waypoint arrays. Render them as clean SVG paths with arrowhead markers at endpoints.

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4. 04Intelligent Auto-Alignment and Spacing Engine

   Add auto-formatting layout heuristics that automatically space and align selected shapes or entire sub-trees into clean rows, columns, or hierarchical org charts.

   Create an auto-layout formatting toolbar action. When multiple shapes are selected, provide buttons to 'Distribute Horizontally', 'Distribute Vertically', 'Align Centers', and 'Auto-Format Tree'. Write layout helper algorithms in TypeScript that compute bounding boxes and reposition nodes neatly with uniform padding and spacing. For hierarchical graphs, implement a basic Reingold-Tilford or layered tree layout algorithm to organize nodes automatically from parent-child data arrays.

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5. 05Data-Driven Diagram Generation

   Build an import modal that accepts JSON data or CSV files and automatically builds rendered graph nodes and links on the canvas.

   Build a JSON/CSV data import modal dialog. Users can paste structured hierarchy data (e.g. employee records with reporting manager IDs, or cloud resource lists). Write a parsing engine that converts this data into canvas nodes and connectors, automatically running the tree layout algorithm from Step 4 to instantly generate a complete organizational chart or network diagram.

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6. 06Persistence, Export, and Multiplayer Collaboration

   Integrate Turso for saving diagrams, add SVG/PNG export capabilities, and wire up Liveblocks for realtime collaborative multi-user cursors.

   Set up Turso database schema using Drizzle ORM to store user diagrams with JSON columns containing canvas state (shapes, connectors). Implement 'Save', 'Load', and 'List Diagrams' API routes. Add an export function that serializes the canvas SVG into a downloadable PNG or SVG file. Finally, integrate Liveblocks SDK to broadcast live user cursor positions and collaborative shape selection states across active sessions.

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Cost vs paying for SmartDraw