JSON Canvas Spec
by tobr on 3/30/2026, 9:38:38 AM
https://jsoncanvas.org/spec/1.0/
Comments
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4/2/2026, 7:46:49 PM
by: whycombinetor
Previously posted in 2022 as Obsidian Canvas before being open sourced in 2024 <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34066824">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34066824</a>
4/2/2026, 7:50:54 PM
by: bryanrasmussen
It would be useful to have examples of data and the representation this would result in.<p>Although you can go to <a href="https://jsoncanvas.org/" rel="nofollow">https://jsoncanvas.org/</a> itself and see an example rendering, you cannot see the exact data that created it - I think, although you can sort of guess since the element names are stuff like node.<p>I sort of doubt this is the best data structure for representing this kind of thing. Maybe I'm wrong though but I would think I would go for something like <a href="https://github.com/jsongraph/json-graph-specification" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/jsongraph/json-graph-specification</a> which strikes me as closer to graphml which I have some experience with, and maybe give it ability to embed videos etc. (which for all I know someone already has)<p>This is all an initial feeling though, like hmm, no I think it's wrong, and maybe I am just not seeing why this would be better than another solution.
4/2/2026, 6:35:03 PM
by: obsidianbases1
I've used canvas quite a bit since it was release in Obsidian. It's good, not great, but the simplicity of the file type opens up a lot of opportunities to build on top of it.
4/2/2026, 7:47:52 PM
by: Garlef
I'm not sure about this:<p>An "infinite" canvas without some notion of recursion such as viewports feels incomplete.
4/2/2026, 7:36:27 PM
by: makeitrain
Looks cool. I recently hit some limits with mermaid and this seems a little more flexible.
4/2/2026, 6:28:31 PM
by: MoonWalk
Are pixels really the best way to encode position at this point?
4/2/2026, 6:53:27 PM