A visual, non-linear chat interface where conversations are nodes on an infinite canvas
Project description
Canvas Chat
A visual, non-linear chat interface where conversations are nodes on an infinite canvas. Explore topics by branching, merging, and navigating your discussions as a directed acyclic graph (DAG).
Quick Start
Run Canvas Chat instantly with no installation:
uvx canvas-chat
Your browser will open automatically to the local server.
Features
- Infinite Canvas: Pan, zoom, and navigate your conversations visually
- Branching Conversations: Reply to any message to create a new branch
- Highlight & Branch: Select text within any node to create a highlight excerpt node
- Multi-Select & Merge: Select multiple nodes to combine context
- Context Visualization: See which messages are included in your context
- Auto-Layout: Automatically arrange nodes in a clean left-to-right hierarchy
- Matrix Evaluation: Use
/matrix <context>to create cross-product evaluation tables - Web Research: Use
/research <topic>to generate research reports via Exa - Web Search: Use
/search <query>to search the web via Exa - Multiple LLM Providers: Support for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Groq, and local models via Ollama
- Local-First: All data stored in your browser (IndexedDB)
- Export/Import: Save sessions as
.canvaschatfiles
Configuration
Click the ⚙️ Settings button to add your API keys:
- OpenAI: Get from https://platform.openai.com/api-keys
- Anthropic: Get from https://console.anthropic.com/
- Google AI: Get from https://aistudio.google.com/
- Groq: Get from https://console.groq.com/
- Exa (for search/research): Get from https://exa.ai/
Keys are stored locally in your browser's localStorage.
Usage
- Start chatting: Type a message and press Enter
- Reply to a node: Click the ↩️ Reply button or click a node then type
- Branch from text: Select text within a node, then click 🌿 Branch to create a highlight node
- Multi-select: Cmd/Ctrl+Click multiple nodes to respond to all at once
- Auto-layout: Click 🔀 to automatically arrange all nodes
- Search the web: Type
/search <query>to search via Exa - Research a topic: Type
/research <topic>to generate a research report - Create a matrix: Select one or more context nodes, type
/matrix <context>to create an evaluation table - Navigate: Drag the handle (⋮⋮) to move nodes, scroll to zoom, double-click canvas to fit content
- Export: Click 💾 to save your session as a
.canvaschatfile
Development
For contributors or local development:
Prerequisites
- Python 3.11+
- Pixi (recommended) or uv
Setup
git clone https://github.com/ericmjl/canvas-chat.git
cd canvas-chat
pixi install
Running
pixi run dev
Open your browser to the URL shown (usually http://127.0.0.1:7865).
Tech Stack
- Backend: FastAPI
- Frontend: HTMX + vanilla JavaScript + CSS
- LLM: LiteLLM (multi-provider support)
- Storage: IndexedDB (browser-local)
License
MIT
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