◀ Excalidraw Automate How To

Adding objects

These functions will add objects to your drawing. The canvas is infinite, and it accepts negative and positive X and Y values. X values increase left to right, Y values increase top to bottom.

addRect(), addDiamond(), addEllipse()

addRect(topX:number, topY:number, width:number, height:number):string
addDiamond(topX:number, topY:number, width:number, height:number):string
addEllipse(topX:number, topY:number, width:number, height:number):string

Returns the id of the object. The id is required when connecting objects with lines. See later.

addText()

addText( 
  topX:number, 
  topY:number, 
  text:string, 
  formatting?:{
    wrapAt?:number, 
    width?:number, 
    height?:number,
    textAlign?:string, 
    box?: "box"|"blob"|"ellipse"|"diamond", 
    boxPadding?:number
  },
  id?:string
):string

Adds text to the drawing.

Formatting parameters are optional:

• If width and height are not specified, the function will calculate the width and height based on the fontFamily, the fontSize and the text provided.
• In case you want to position a text in the center compared to other elements on the drawing, you can provide a fixed height and width, and you can also specify textAlign and verticalAlign as described above. e.g.: {width:500, textAlign:"center"}
• If you want to add a box around the text, set {box:"box"|"blob"|"ellipse"|"diamond"}

Returns the id of the object. The id is required when connecting objects with lines. See later. If {box:} then returns the id of the enclosing box object.

addLine()

addLine(points: [[x:number,y:number]]):string

Adds a line following the points provided. Must include at least two points points.length >= 2. If more than 2 points are provided the interim points will be added as breakpoints. The line will break with angles if strokeSharpness is set to “sharp” and will be curvey if it is set to “round”.

Returns the id of the object.

addArrow()

addArrow(points: [[x:number,y:number]],formatting?:{startArrowHead?:string,endArrowHead?:string,startObjectId?:string,endObjectId?:string}):string ;

Adds an arrow following the points provided. Must include at least two points points.length >= 2. If more than 2 points are provided the interim points will be added as breakpoints. The line will break with angles if element style.strokeSharpness is set to “sharp” and will be curvey if it is set to “round”.

startArrowHead and endArrowHead specify the type of arrow head to use, as described above. Valid values are “none”, “arrow”, “dot”, and “bar”. e.g. {startArrowHead: "dot", endArrowHead: "arrow"}

startObjectId and endObjectId are the object id’s of connected objects. I recommend using connectObjects instead calling addArrow() for the purpose of connecting objects.

Returns the id of the object.

connectObjects()

declare type ConnectionPoint = "top"|"bottom"|"left"|"right";
connectObjects(objectA: string, connectionA: ConnectionPoint, objectB: string, connectionB: ConnectionPoint, formatting?:{numberOfPoints: number,startArrowHead:string,endArrowHead:string, padding: number}):void

Connects two objects with an arrow. Will do nothing if either of the two elements is of type line, arrow, or freedraw.

objectA and objectB are strings. These are the ids of the objects to connect. These IDs are returned by addRect(), addDiamond(), addEllipse() and addText() when creating those objects.

connectionA and connectionB specify where to connect on the object. Valid values are: “top”, “bottom”, “left”, and “right”.

numberOfPoints set the number of interim break points for the line. Default value is zero, meaning there will be no breakpoint in between the start and the end points of the arrow. When moving objects on the drawing, these breakpoints will influence how the line is rerouted by Excalidraw.

startArrowHead and endArrowHead work as described for addArrow() above.

addToGroup()

addToGroup(objectIds:[]):string

Groups objects listed in objectIds. Returns the id of the group.