Canvas AI - Visual AI Agent Orchestrator

Visual terminal multiplexer for AI agents on an infinite 2D canvas

⚠️ Security Warning

Educational project - use at your own risk. Claude AI can execute bash commands, read/write files, and spawn processes with your user permissions. No sandboxing. Use in a dedicated test directory only, not with sensitive data. You're responsible for API costs. See FEATURES.md - Security for details.

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🎯 What This Is

Canvas AI is an Electron desktop app that demonstrates:

• Managing multiple AI agent instances
• Visual organization on an infinite 2D canvas
• Real-time command execution and output streaming
• Drag, resize, and interact with each agent independently

canvas-ai.mp4

🚀 Quick Start

Build from Source

Requirements: Node.js 18+, macOS 11+, Xcode Command Line Tools

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/samueljklee/canvas-ai.git
cd canvas-ai
npm install

# Rebuild native modules (required!)
npm run rebuild

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

On first launch, enter your Anthropic API key in the onboarding wizard.

📦 Build/packaging details: docs/BUILD.md

Database Location & Reset

Canvas AI stores all data (widgets, messages, settings) in a SQLite database at:

~/Library/Application Support/canvas-ai/database.db

To reset the app and clear all data:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/canvas-ai/

The app will recreate the database on next launch and show the onboarding wizard.

Download Pre-Built App (Coming Soon)

1. Go to Releases
2. Download .dmg for your Mac (Apple Silicon or Intel)
3. Open DMG, drag to Applications
4. Launch and enter your Anthropic API key

🎮 How to Use

Basic workflow:

1. Create a widget (Cmd+N or "New Widget" button)
2. Chat with Claude AI
3. Let Claude execute commands, create files, spawn more widgets
4. Organize on infinite canvas (drag, resize, zoom)

Quick tips:

• Click header to cycle widget states (minimized → compact → expanded)
• Right-click for context menu
• Use Cmd+, for Settings

📖 For complete usage guide, see FEATURES.md

📚 Documentation:

• FEATURES.md - Complete guide to all capabilities and workflows
• COMPONENTS.md - Developer guide to understanding and extending components
• ARCHITECTURE.md - Technical architecture deep dive
• docs/BUILD.md - Build and packaging instructions
• docs/TESTING-STRATEGY.md - Testing guide

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