Deployment

Deploy FlowDrop in production with Docker, Node.js, or static hosting.

FlowDrop is a frontend library — how you deploy depends on your application architecture.

Bundle Size & Tree-Shaking

Import from the most specific module to minimize bundle size:

Module	Added size (approx.)
@flowdrop/flowdrop/core	~15KB (types & utils only)
@flowdrop/flowdrop/form	~40KB
@flowdrop/flowdrop/editor	~200KB (includes @xyflow/svelte)
@flowdrop/flowdrop/form/code	~300KB (CodeMirror)
@flowdrop/flowdrop/playground	~250KB (editor + chat)
@flowdrop/flowdrop (full)	~500KB+

Only import form/code and form/markdown if you actually need code/template editing.

CSS Import

Always import FlowDrop styles. Without this, the editor renders blank:

import '@flowdrop/flowdrop/styles';

Or in CSS:

@import '@flowdrop/flowdrop/styles';

Svelte / SvelteKit

FlowDrop is a Svelte 5 library, so it integrates natively:

<script>
  import { App } from '@flowdrop/flowdrop/editor';
  import '@flowdrop/flowdrop/styles';
</script>

<App endpointConfig={createEndpointConfig('/api/flowdrop')} showNavbar={true} />

For SvelteKit, ensure FlowDrop runs only on the client (it requires DOM):

<script>
  import { browser } from '$app/environment';
</script>

{#if browser}
  <App {endpointConfig} />
{/if}

React / Vue / Angular / Vanilla JS

Use the Mount API to embed FlowDrop in any container:

import { mountFlowDropApp } from '@flowdrop/flowdrop/editor';
import '@flowdrop/flowdrop/styles';

const app = await mountFlowDropApp(document.getElementById('editor'), {
  endpointConfig: createEndpointConfig('/api/flowdrop')
});

// Cleanup on page unmount
app.destroy();

React Example

import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
import { mountFlowDropApp } from '@flowdrop/flowdrop/editor';
import '@flowdrop/flowdrop/styles';

function FlowDropEditor({ apiUrl }) {
  const containerRef = useRef(null);
  const appRef = useRef(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    mountFlowDropApp(containerRef.current, {
      endpointConfig: createEndpointConfig(apiUrl)
    }).then((app) => {
      appRef.current = app;
    });

    return () => appRef.current?.destroy();
  }, [apiUrl]);

  return <div ref={containerRef} style={{ width: '100%', height: '100vh' }} />;
}

Docker

Package your frontend and backend together:

# Build frontend
FROM node:20 AS frontend
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
RUN npm install && npm run build

# Serve with backend
FROM node:20
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=frontend /app/dist ./public
COPY backend/ ./backend
RUN cd backend && npm install
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "backend/index.js"]

Configure the API base URL via environment variable:

const apiUrl = import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL || '/api/flowdrop';
const endpointConfig = createEndpointConfig(apiUrl);

Static Hosting

If your frontend is a static SPA (Vite, SvelteKit adapter-static, etc.):

1. Build your app: npm run build
2. Deploy the dist/ folder to any static host (Vercel, Netlify, S3, etc.)
3. Configure CORS on your backend to allow the static host’s origin

// Backend CORS configuration
app.use(
  cors({
    origin: ['https://your-app.vercel.app', 'http://localhost:5173'],
    methods: ['GET', 'POST', 'PUT', 'DELETE'],
    allowedHeaders: ['Content-Type', 'Authorization']
  })
);

Environment Variables

Common configuration to externalize:

Variable	Purpose	Example
VITE_API_URL	Backend API base URL	/api/flowdrop
VITE_AUTH_TOKEN	Static auth token (dev)	dev-token-123

const endpointConfig = createEndpointConfig(import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL || '/api/flowdrop');

Next Steps

• Framework Integration — framework-specific setup
• Authentication Patterns — secure your deployment
• Backend Implementation — build your API