This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Milton Diaz
The Bolt Hackathon Challenge
The spark for #CanvasDesk came from a familiar place for many creators: the frustration of a blank page. Our modern productivity tools, while powerful, often force our non-linear, chaotic ideas into rigid, linear boxes. We spend more time formatting slides and documents than exploring the connections between our thoughts. I realized that what was missing wasn't just another note-taking app, but a true digital environment that mirrors the way we think—a boundless space for #brainstorming, planning, and creating.
The Vision: Big, Fluid Canvas
My vision was simple but ambitious: create a digital "corkboard" that was truly inmense, yet felt incredibly fast and responsive. The core philosophy was "performance first." The tool should be so fluid that it becomes invisible, allowing for a direct flow from thought to canvas. It needed to handle not just text, but images, files, to-do lists, and even code, becoming a single source of truth for any complex project.
Choosing the Tech Stack
To achieve this, I chose a modern, serverless-first stack. React with Vite for the frontend to ensure a blazing-fast development experience. TypeScript for end-to-end type safety, which proved invaluable later. For the canvas itself, React Konva offered the high-performance 2D rendering engine I needed. And for the entire backend, #Supabase was the clear choice, providing a PostgreSQL database, secure authentication, file storage, and real-time capabilities right out of the box.
The Spark: Frustration with Rigid Tools
Building this alone would take months. The #Bolt.New #Hackathon provided the perfect catalyst. The challenge was to leverage Bolt's AI development environment to accelerate this entire process. My goal was not just to build an app, but to test a new paradigm of development: human-AI collaboration. The journey began.
Next, in Part 2, I'll discuss the first (and toughest) hurdles: the architectural bugs that nearly halted the project, and how we solved them.
Try the pre release version here
ProductivityTools #InnovationInTech #WorkSmarter #StartupJourney
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Milton Diaz
Milton Diaz | Sciencx (2025-07-28T13:41:45+00:00) Building CanvasDesk: Why the World Needs a Better Digital Whiteboard (Part 1/4). Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/07/28/building-canvasdesk-why-the-world-needs-a-better-digital-whiteboard-part-1-4/
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