# pad.ws - whiteboard as an IDE 🎨 [![Pad.ws Canvas IDE](docs/canvas_ide.png)](https://pad.ws) [pad.ws](https://pad.ws) is a whiteboard app that acts as a dev environment in your browser ## ✨ Features * 🎨 **Interactive Whiteboard** - Draw, sketch and visualize your ideas with Excalidraw * 💻 **Fully fledged IDE** - Access terminals and VS Code directly within the whiteboard * ☁️ **Browser friendly** - Access your dev env from any device * 🔄 **Seamless Workflow** - Switch between visual ideation and coding * 🛠️ **Use your own tools** - Access your VM from your desktop client (VS Code & Cursor supported) This uses [Excalidraw](https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw) for the whiteboard interface while [Coder](https://github.com/coder/coder) powers the cloud development environments. ## Try it online 🌐 Visit [pad.ws](https://pad.ws) for an official managed instance. During this beta, we offer free ubuntu dev environments without any setup ## Self-Hosting 🛠️ ⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTICE: This repository is in early development stage. The setup provided in `docker-compose.yml` is for development and testing purposes only. This simplified example lets you host pad on `localhost` but is not safe for real-life use without further configurations ⚠️ ### ✅ Prerequisites * **Linux Host** (This was tested on Ubuntu only) * **Docker & Docker Compose:** Ensure you have both installed. [Install Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/) / [Install Docker Compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/) ### 1️⃣ .env * Copy and review the default values ```bash cp .env.template .env ``` ### 2️⃣ PostgreSQL 🐘 > Ensure persistence for the whole deployment (canvases and configs) * Run the PostgreSQL container using the provided configuration (e.g., in your `docker-compose.yml`) ```bash docker compose up -d postgres ``` ### 3️⃣ Redis 🔄 > In-memory data store for caching and session management with password authentication * Run the Redis container with password authentication ```bash docker compose up -d redis ``` * The Redis password is configured in your `.env` file using the `REDIS_PASSWORD` variable ### 4️⃣ Keycloak 🔑 > OIDC provider for access and user management (within coder and pad app) * Run the Keycloak container ```bash docker compose up -d keycloak ``` * Access the Keycloak admin console http://localhost:8080 * **Create a Realm:** Name it appropriately (e.g., `pad-ws`) * **Create a Client:** * Give it a `Client ID` (e.g., `pad-ws-client`) * Enable **Client Authentication** * Add * to the valid redirect urls * You can leave other settings as default for now * **Get Credentials:** * Navigate to `Clients` -> `[Your Client ID]` -> `Credentials` tab * Note the **Client secret**. * Update your environment variables file (`.env`) with: ```dotenv OIDC_REALM=your_oidc_realm OIDC_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret ``` * **Create a User:** * Navigate to `Users` -> `Create user` * Fill in the details * **Important:** Tick `Email verified` * Go to the `Credentials` tab for the new user and set a password * **Create an Audience:** * Navigate to `Clients` -> `[Your Client ID]` -> `Client Scopes` * Click on the dedicated scope of your Client (`[clientid]-dedicated`) * Click on `Configure a new mapper` * Then click on `Audience` * Ensure `Included Client Audience` matches your `Client ID` * Ensure `Add to access token` is On ### 5️⃣ Coder 🧑‍💻 * **Find Docker Group ID:** You'll need this to grant necessary permissions ```bash getent group docker | cut -d: -f3 ``` * Update your `.env` file with the `DOCKER_GROUP_ID`: ```dotenv DOCKER_GROUP_ID=your_docker_group_id ``` * Run the Coder container. ```bash docker compose up -d coder ``` * **Access Coder UI:** Open [localhost:7080](http://localhost:7080) in your browser * **First Login:** Create an administrator user (e.g., `admin`) * **Create a Template:** * Use the "Start from template" option. * Choose a base image (e.g., `docker-containers` or a simple Ubuntu). Configure it as needed * **Generate API Key:** * Click your profile picture (top right) -> `Account` -> `API Keys` * Generate a new token * Update your `.env` ```dotenv CODER_API_KEY=your_coder_api_key ``` * **Get Template ID:** * Visit `http://localhost:7080/api/v2/templates` in your browser (or use `curl`) * Find the `id` of the template you created * Update your `.env` ```dotenv CODER_TEMPLATE_ID=your_coder_template_id # Example: 85fb21ba-085b-47a6-9f4d-94ea979aaba9 ``` * **Get Default Organization ID:** * Visit `http://localhost:7080/api/v2/organizations` in your browser (or use `curl`) * Find the `id` of your organization (usually the default one) * Update your `.env`: ```dotenv CODER_DEFAULT_ORGANIZATION=your_organization_id # Example: 70f6af06-ef3a-4b4c-a663-c03c9ee423bb ``` * **If you use a custom name for your workspace:** * You need to provide the name as `CODER_WORKSPACE_NAME` in your `.env`. Otherwise, it will assume your workspace name is the default we chose: `ubuntu`. ### 6️⃣ Pad App 📝 > The fastAPI app that both serves the build frontend and the backend API to interface with Coder * **Run the Application:** * Ensure all environment variables in your `.env` file are correctly set * Run the `pad` application container ```bash docker compose up -d pad ``` 🎉 **Congratulations!** You should now be able to access and login to your self-hosted pad at [localhost:8000](http://localhost:8000) 🚧 *Did you have any issue while following this guide?* *Please [let us know](https://github.com/pad-ws/pad.ws/issues) so we can improve the onboarding flow* ## 🚀 Project Growth [![Star History Chart](https://api.star-history.com/svg?repos=pad-ws/pad.ws&type=Date)](https://star-history.com/#pad-ws/pad.ws&Date)