Platform Features

BoardAPI is an API-first platform for embeddable interactive whiteboards designed specifically for EdTech and SaaS integrations. Unlike standalone whiteboard tools (Miro, Figma), we provide a complete backend infrastructure with Custom Objects, real-time collaboration, and deep API access.

Overview

Our platform is built on top of Excalidraw's powerful canvas engine, enhanced with enterprise features that make it production-ready for B2B integrations. Whether you're building an online learning platform, a SaaS dashboard, or a collaborative tool, BoardAPI provides the infrastructure you need.

Why BoardAPI?

What Makes Us Unique	Value Proposition
API-First Architecture	Complete REST API and WebSocket access - the only whiteboard platform in CIS region with full programmatic control
Custom Objects SDK	Register your own interactive component types - not just drawing tools
Embeddable by Design	iframe integration with white-label support out of the box
Stateless Participants	No registration required - users join via link
EdTech Optimized	Student Zones, Presenter Modes, and Frame-based presentations built specifically for education

Core Features

Frames

Rectangular zones for presentations, slides, and spatial organization.

Frames divide your infinite canvas into logical sections with viewport control. Think PowerPoint slides meets Google Jamboard.

Key capabilities:

Sequential navigation for lesson presentations
Soft/hard viewport locks to control student navigation
Clone frames to create breakout rooms
Background colors and custom ordering

Use cases:

Step-by-step lessons with automatic student navigation
Exam mode with hard-locked work areas
Parallel group activities in cloned frames

Learn more about Frames →

Student Zones

Personal isolated areas for each participant with privacy controls.

⭐ Unique Feature - Not available in Miro, Figma, or other competitors. Student Zones provide per-participant workspace isolation specifically designed for EdTech.

Key capabilities:

Only zone owner can edit inside their zone
Three visibility modes: visible, hidden (exam), host_only (draft)
Automatic permission enforcement via WebSocket
Zone versioning to prevent race conditions

Use cases:

Online exams where students cannot see each other's work
Practice sessions with teacher monitoring all progress
Assessment comparison - view all student work side-by-side

Learn more about Student Zones →

Presenter Modes

Real-time viewport synchronization for presentations and monitoring.

Two complementary modes for classroom scenarios:

Follow Me Mode:

Teacher viewport broadcasts to all students (20 updates/sec)
Students auto-sync to teacher's scroll position and zoom
Optional breakaway for independent exploration

Spectate Mode:

Teacher observes individual student's viewport
Stealth mode option for unobtrusive monitoring
Shows which frame/zone student is currently in

Learn more about Presenter Modes →

Real-time Collaboration

WebSocket-based real-time synchronization for all participants.

Cursor tracking with participant names
Object updates broadcast instantly (60 updates/sec)
Conflict resolution with operational transforms
Presence indicators showing who's online

Performance:

Up to 250 concurrent participants (Business plan)
Sub-100ms latency for updates
Automatic reconnection handling
Offline mode with sync on reconnect

Custom Components SDK

Register your own interactive component types beyond basic drawing tools.

The Custom Objects system allows you to extend the whiteboard with domain-specific tools:

What you can build:

Vocabulary flashcards with audio pronunciation
Interactive quizzes with auto-grading
Timers that sync across all participants
Embedded videos with timestamp annotations
Chemistry molecule editors
Math equation solvers

SDK Features:

Full TypeScript support
Context API for board access (board.participants, board.frames)
Event system for communication
State management with persistence
iframe sandbox for security

View SDK Documentation →

File Uploads & Media

Upload images, PDFs, and media directly to the canvas.

Drag-and-drop file uploads
Image paste from clipboard
PDF rendering with page navigation
Image annotations and markup
CDN delivery for fast loading

Storage quotas:

Starter: 1 GB organization, 5 MB max file
Professional: 10 GB organization, 25 MB max file
Business: 100 GB organization, 100 MB max file
Enterprise: Custom storage and bandwidth

Export & Import

Multiple export formats for content preservation.

JSON: Complete board state with objects and metadata
Excalidraw format: Portable across Excalidraw ecosystem
PNG/SVG: High-resolution image exports
PDF (Professional+): Multi-page exports with frames
XLSX (Professional+): Data extraction from custom objects

Templates & Marketplace

Pre-built board templates and custom component catalog.

Templates:

Lesson plans (intro, practice, discussion structure)
Sprint planning boards (Agile ceremonies)
Brainstorming canvases (mind maps, SWOT)
Assessment templates (exams, worksheets)

Marketplace:

Community-contributed custom components
Verified publisher program
Private component registry (Business+)
Version management and updates

Developer Features

REST API

Complete CRUD operations for all board entities.

bash

# Create a board
POST /api/v1/boards
{
  "name": "Lesson 1: Introduction",
  "settings": { "enableFrames": true }
}

# Create frames for presentation
POST /api/v1/boards/{boardId}/frames
{
  "name": "Slide 1",
  "order": 0,
  "lock_mode": "soft"
}

# Create student zone
POST /api/v1/boards/{boardId}/frames
{
  "name": "Student 1 Zone",
  "assigned_participant_id": "part-uuid",
  "zone_visibility": "hidden"
}

Endpoints:

Boards: Create, read, update, archive, clone
Frames: CRUD, clone, bulk operations
Zones: Assignment, visibility control, bulk assign
Participants: List, metadata, role management
Components: Register types, manage instances

View API Reference →

WebSocket Events

Real-time bidirectional communication with fine-grained events.

javascript

// Listen for object changes
socket.on('objects:updated', (data) => {
  console.log(`Object ${data.id} modified by ${data.author}`);
});

// Broadcast frame navigation
socket.emit('frame:navigate', {
  frameId: 'frame-uuid',
  smooth: true
});

// Zone permission violations
socket.on('zone:violation', (data) => {
  console.log(`User tried to edit in ${data.zoneName}`);
});

Event categories:

Objects: Create, update, delete, batch operations
Frames: Navigate, lock, visibility changes
Zones: Assignments, violations, cache invalidation
Participants: Join, leave, location tracking
Presenter: Follow Me, spectate mode

View WebSocket API →

Webhooks

HTTP callbacks for external system integrations.

Configure webhooks to receive notifications about board events:

json

{
  "url": "https://your-lms.com/webhook",
  "events": ["board.created", "zone.completed", "export.ready"],
  "secret": "webhook-signing-key"
}

Available events:

Board lifecycle: created, archived, exported
Participant activity: joined, completed, submitted
Zone events: assigned, submission ready
Component events: interaction, state change

Webhook features:

HMAC signature verification
Automatic retry with exponential backoff
Event filtering and transformation
Batch delivery option

View Webhooks Documentation →

LMS Integration (Business+)

LTI 1.3 integration for seamless Learning Management System embedding.

Single sign-on (SSO) with roster sync
Grade passback for assignments
Deep linking for board embedding
Compliant with Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard

View LMS Integration Guide →

AI Features

AI Board Assistant

Intelligent lesson planning and content generation.

javascript

// Generate lesson structure
POST /api/v1/ai/generate-lesson
{
  "prompt": "Create a 30-min English lesson on Present Perfect with 3 practice activities",
  "frames": true,
  "customObjects": ["quiz", "flashcard", "timer"]
}

// Response:
{
  "frames": [
    { "name": "Introduction", "components": [...] },
    { "name": "Practice", "components": [...] },
    { "name": "Discussion", "components": [...] }
  ]
}

Capabilities:

Lesson structure generation
Custom object population (quizzes, flashcards)
Frame layout suggestions
Content adaptation to learning objectives

Quotas:

Starter: ❌ Not available
Professional: 50 requests/month
Business: 200 requests/month
Enterprise: 1000 requests/month

AI Content Analysis

Analyze student work and provide insights.

Participation metrics (time on task, object count)
Zone completion detection
Collaboration patterns (who worked together)
Content similarity detection (plagiarism check)

Feature Comparison by Plan

Feature	Starter	Professional	Business	Enterprise
Active Boards	10	100	500	Unlimited
Participants/Board	25	100	250	Unlimited
Real-time Collaboration	✅	✅	✅	✅
Frames	✅	✅	✅	✅
Student Zones	✅	✅	✅	✅
Presenter Modes	❌	✅	✅	✅
Custom Components	❌	✅ (10 types)	✅ (Unlimited)	✅ (Unlimited)
API Access	❌	✅ (10K calls/mo)	✅ (100K calls/mo)	Unlimited
Webhooks	❌	✅	✅	✅
White-label	❌	❌	✅	✅
SSO (SAML/OIDC)	❌	❌	✅	✅
LMS Integration (LTI)	❌	❌	✅	✅
Audit Logs	❌	❌	✅	✅
AI Generation	❌	50 req/mo	200 req/mo	1000 req/mo
Support	Community	Email (48h)	Priority (24h)	Phone (4h)
SLA	-	99.5%	99.9%	99.99%

Pricing:

Starter: $0/month (Free Forever)
Professional: $24/month ($20/mo billed annually)
Business: $79/month ($65/mo billed annually)
Enterprise: Starting at $299/month (annual contracts)

View detailed pricing →

Storage & Quotas

Storage Limits

Resource	Starter	Professional	Business	Enterprise
Organization Total	1 GB	10 GB	100 GB	Custom
Per Board	100 MB	1 GB	5 GB	Custom
Per Component	20 MB	100 MB	500 MB	Custom
Max File Size	5 MB	25 MB	100 MB	500 MB
CDN Bandwidth/mo	5 GB	50 GB	500 GB	Unlimited

API Limits

Operation	Starter	Professional	Business	Enterprise
API Calls/day	1,000	10,000	100,000	Unlimited
WebSocket Messages/day	10,000	100,000	1,000,000	Unlimited
Webhooks/day	-	1,000	10,000	Unlimited
Exports/month	10	100	Unlimited	Unlimited
File Uploads/day	50	500	5,000	Unlimited

View Quota API →

Security & Compliance

Authentication

JWT-based API authentication
API key management (create, rotate, revoke)
Stateless participant sessions (no registration required)
SSO integration (Business+): SAML 2.0, OIDC

Data Privacy

Organization-level data isolation
Per-board access control
Zone-based permission enforcement
Audit logs for all actions (Business+)

Compliance

GDPR compliant: Data residency, right to deletion, data portability
FERPA compliant (Education plan): Student data protection
SOC 2 Type II (Enterprise): Security audit certification
COPPA compliant: Parental consent workflow

Platform Architecture

Technology Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	Vue 3, Excalidraw, WebSocket
Backend	NestJS, PostgreSQL, Redis
Real-time	Socket.io, WebRTC (future)
Storage	S3-compatible object storage
CDN	CloudFlare, custom domains (Business+)

Performance Metrics

Real-time latency: < 100ms for object updates
API response time: < 200ms (P95)
WebSocket uptime: 99.9% (Business SLA)
Canvas rendering: 60 FPS for up to 1000 objects

Scalability

Horizontal scaling for WebSocket servers
Database connection pooling
Redis caching for read-heavy operations
CDN for static assets and exports

Getting Started

Quick Start

Create an account at app.boardapi.io/register
Get your API key from Developer Dashboard
Create your first board via API or UI
Embed in iframe or integrate via SDK

javascript

// Create a board
const response = await fetch('https://api.boardapi.io/api/v1/boards', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'X-API-Key': 'your-api-key',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: 'My First Board',
    settings: { enableFrames: true }
  })
});

const board = await response.json();
console.log('Board URL:', board.join_url);

View Quick Start Guide →

Integration Guides

iframe Embedding - Simplest integration method
SDK Integration - Custom components and deep control
LMS Integration - LTI 1.3 for Canvas, Moodle, etc.
White-label Setup - Custom domain and branding

Example Use Cases

EdTech Platform:

Embed boards in your LMS
Use Student Zones for assignments
Presenter Modes for live classes
Export student work as PDFs

SaaS Dashboard:

Collaborative planning boards
Custom components for your data
Webhooks to your backend
White-label with your brand

Consulting/Training:

Pre-built templates for workshops
Frame-based presentations
Breakout rooms for group work
Export results for reports

View all use cases →

Support & Resources

Documentation

API Reference - Complete REST API documentation
SDK Documentation - Custom components guide
WebSocket API - Real-time events reference
Integration Guides - Step-by-step tutorials

Community

Developer Discord - Get help from community
GitHub Examples - Sample integrations
Blog - Feature announcements and tutorials
Changelog - Latest updates

Support Channels

Community (Starter): Discord server, forum
Email (Professional): developers@boardapi.io, 48h response
Priority (Business): Dedicated Slack channel, 24h response
Phone (Enterprise): Direct line to engineering, 4h response

Roadmap

In Development

WebRTC peer-to-peer for ultra-low latency
Mobile SDK (iOS, Android)
Offline-first mode with sync
Advanced analytics dashboard
AI teaching assistant (chat interface)

Planned Features

Video/audio calls inside boards
3D object support (Three.js integration)
Blockchain-based certificate generation
Multi-language interface (Spanish, Russian, Chinese)
On-premise deployment option

View detailed roadmap →

Competitive Advantages

vs Miro

Feature	BoardAPI	Miro
Price (EdTech)	$24-79/mo	$500+/mo
Student Zones	✅ Unique	❌ No
Full API access	✅ Yes	⚠️ Limited
Embeddable	✅ iframe + SDK	⚠️ iframe only
Custom Objects	✅ Unlimited	❌ No

vs Figma/FigJam

Feature	BoardAPI	Figma
Target audience	EdTech/SaaS B2B	Design teams
API-first	✅ Yes	⚠️ Design API only
Stateless users	✅ Yes	❌ No (accounts required)
Presenter Modes	✅ Yes	❌ No
Education pricing	$24/mo	$45/editor

vs VK Boards / Yandex Concept

Feature	BoardAPI	VK/Yandex
API access	✅ Full	❌ No public API
Custom Objects	✅ Yes	❌ No
White-label	✅ Yes	❌ No
Target market	B2B integrations	B2C standalone

Next Steps

Quick Start Guide - Get up and running in 5 minutes
API Reference - Explore the REST API
SDK Overview - Build custom components
Contact Sales - Enterprise demo and pricing

Ready to build on BoardAPI? Create a free account →

Platform Features ​

Overview ​

Why BoardAPI? ​

Core Features ​

Frames ​

Student Zones ​

Presenter Modes ​

Real-time Collaboration ​

Custom Components SDK ​

File Uploads & Media ​

Export & Import ​

Templates & Marketplace ​

Developer Features ​

REST API ​

WebSocket Events ​

Webhooks ​

LMS Integration (Business+) ​

AI Features ​

AI Board Assistant ​

AI Content Analysis ​

Feature Comparison by Plan ​

Storage & Quotas ​

Storage Limits ​

API Limits ​

Security & Compliance ​

Authentication ​

Data Privacy ​

Compliance ​

Platform Architecture ​

Technology Stack ​

Performance Metrics ​

Scalability ​

Getting Started ​

Quick Start ​

Integration Guides ​

Example Use Cases ​

Support & Resources ​

Documentation ​

Community ​

Support Channels ​

Roadmap ​

In Development ​

Planned Features ​

Competitive Advantages ​

vs Miro ​

vs Figma/FigJam ​

vs VK Boards / Yandex Concept ​

Next Steps ​

Platform Features

Overview

Why BoardAPI?

Core Features

Frames

Student Zones

Presenter Modes

Real-time Collaboration

Custom Components SDK

File Uploads & Media

Export & Import

Templates & Marketplace

Developer Features

REST API

WebSocket Events

Webhooks

LMS Integration (Business+)

AI Features

AI Board Assistant

AI Content Analysis

Feature Comparison by Plan

Storage & Quotas

Storage Limits

API Limits

Security & Compliance

Authentication

Data Privacy

Compliance

Platform Architecture

Technology Stack

Performance Metrics

Scalability

Getting Started

Quick Start

Integration Guides

Example Use Cases

Support & Resources

Documentation

Community

Support Channels

Roadmap

In Development

Planned Features

Competitive Advantages

vs Miro

vs Figma/FigJam

vs VK Boards / Yandex Concept

Next Steps