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CopilotKit <> Mastra AG-UI Canvas Starter

examples/canvas/mastra/README.md

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CopilotKit <> Mastra AG-UI Canvas Starter

This is a starter template for building AI-powered canvas applications using Mastra and CopilotKit. It provides a modern Next.js application with an integrated Mastra agent that manages a visual canvas of interactive cards with real-time AI synchronization.

<div align="center">

Watch the walkthrough video, click the image ⬆️

</div>

✨ Key Features

  • Visual Canvas Interface: Drag-free canvas displaying cards in a responsive grid layout
  • Four Card Types:
    • Project: Includes text fields, dropdown, date picker, and checklist
    • Entity: Features text fields, dropdown, and multi-select tags
    • Note: Simple rich text content area
    • Chart: Visual metrics with percentage-based bar charts
  • Real-time AI Sync: Bidirectional synchronization between the AI agent and UI canvas
  • Multi-step Planning: AI can create and execute plans with visual progress tracking
  • Human-in-the-Loop (HITL): Intelligent interrupts for clarification when needed
  • JSON View: Toggle between visual canvas and raw JSON state
  • Responsive Design: Optimized for both desktop (sidebar chat) and mobile (pop-up chat)
  • Mastra Integration: Built on Mastra's powerful agent framework with memory management

📌 Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18+
  • Any of the following package managers:
    • pnpm (recommended)
    • npm
    • yarn
    • bun

Note: This repository ignores lock files (package-lock.json, yarn.lock, pnpm-lock.yaml, bun.lock) to avoid conflicts between different package managers. Each developer should generate their own lock file using their preferred package manager. After that, make sure to delete it from the .gitignore.

✈️ Getting Started

  1. Add your OpenAI API key
bash
# You can use whatever model Mastra supports
echo "OPENAI_API_KEY=your-key-here" >> .env
  1. Install dependencies using your preferred package manager:
bash
# Using pnpm (recommended)
pnpm install

# Using npm
npm install

# Using yarn
yarn install

# Using bun
bun install
  1. Start the development server:
bash
# Using pnpm
pnpm dev

# Using npm
npm run dev

# Using yarn
yarn dev

# Using bun
bun run dev

This will start both the UI and agent servers concurrently.

🖼️ Getting Started with the Canvas

Once the application is running, you can:

  1. Create Cards: Use the "New Item" button or ask the AI to create cards

    • "Create a new project"
    • "Add an entity and a note"
    • "Create a chart with sample metrics"

  2. Edit Cards: Click on any field to edit directly, or ask the AI

    • "Set the project field1 to 'Q1 Planning'"
    • "Add a checklist item 'Review budget'"
    • "Update the chart metrics"

  3. Execute Plans: Give the AI multi-step instructions

    • "Create 3 projects with different priorities and add 2 checklist items to each"
    • The AI will create a plan and execute it step by step with visual progress

  4. View JSON: Toggle between visual canvas and JSON view using the button at the bottom

Available Scripts

The following scripts can also be run using your preferred package manager:

  • dev - Starts both UI and Mastra agent in development mode
  • dev:agent - Starts only the Mastra agent development server
  • dev:debug - Starts both with debug logging enabled (LOG_LEVEL=debug)
  • build - Builds the application for production
  • start - Starts the production server
  • lint - Runs ESLint for code linting

🏛️ Architecture Overview

mermaid
graph TB
    subgraph "Frontend (Next.js)"
        UI[Canvas UI
page.tsx]
        Actions[Frontend Actions
useCopilotAction]
        State[State Management
useCoAgent]
        Chat[CopilotChat]
    end

    subgraph "Integrated Backend"
            Runtime[CopilotKit Runtime
src/app/api/copilotkit/route.ts]
        Agent[Mastra Agent
src/mastra/agents/index.ts]
        Tools[TypeScript Tools
- setPlan
- updatePlanProgress
- completePlan]
        Schema[Zod Schema
AgentState]
        Model[LLM
GPT-4o-mini]
    end

    UI <--> State
    State <--> Runtime
    Chat <--> Runtime
    Actions --> Runtime
    Runtime <--> Agent
    Agent --> Tools
    Agent --> Schema
    Agent --> Model

    style UI fill:#e1f5fe
    style Agent fill:#fff3e0
    style Runtime fill:#f3e5f5

    click UI "https://github.com/CopilotKit/CopilotKit/blob/main/examples/canvas/mastra/src/app/page.tsx"
    click Runtime "https://github.com/CopilotKit/CopilotKit/blob/main/examples/canvas/mastra/src/app/api/copilotkit/route.ts"
    click Agent "https://github.com/CopilotKit/CopilotKit/blob/main/examples/canvas/mastra/src/mastra/agents/index.ts"
    click Tools "https://github.com/CopilotKit/CopilotKit/blob/main/examples/canvas/mastra/src/mastra/tools/index.ts"

Frontend (Next.js + CopilotKit)

The main UI component is in src/app/page.tsx. It includes:

  • Canvas Management: Visual grid of cards with create, read, update, delete operations
  • State Synchronization: Uses useCoAgent hook for real-time state sync with the agent
  • Frontend Actions: Exposed as tools to the AI agent via useCopilotAction
  • Plan Visualization: Shows multi-step plan execution with progress indicators

Backend (Mastra Agent)

The agent logic is in src/mastra/agents/index.ts. It features:

  • State Management: Zod schema matching the frontend AgentState
  • Memory Configuration: Disabled working memory to prevent stale cached state
  • Tool Integration: Planning tools (setPlan, updatePlanProgress, completePlan)
  • Model: Uses OpenAI's GPT-4o-mini by default (configurable)
  • Integrated Agent: No separate agent process required (runs within Next.js), but can be run separately using dev:agent

Card Field Schema

Each card type has specific fields defined consistently across frontend and agent:

  • Project: field1 (text), field2 (select), field3 (date), field4 (checklist)
  • Entity: field1 (text), field2 (select), field3 (tags), field3_options (available tags)
  • Note: field1 (textarea content)
  • Chart: field1 (array of metrics with label and value 0-100)

Data Flow

mermaid
sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant UI as Canvas UI
    participant CK as CopilotKit
    participant MA as Mastra Agent
    participant Tools

    User->>UI: Interact with canvas
    UI->>CK: Update state via useCoAgent
    CK->>MA: Process in same runtime
    MA->>MA: Process with GPT-4o-mini
    MA->>Tools: Execute TypeScript tools
    Tools-->>MA: Return results
    MA->>CK: Return updated state
    CK->>UI: Sync state changes
    UI->>User: Display updates

    Note over MA: Integrated in Next.js
    Note over UI,MA: Single process architecture

📚 Customization Guide

Adding New Card Types

  1. Define the data schema in src/lib/canvas/types.ts
  2. Add the card type to the CardType union
  3. Create rendering logic in src/components/canvas/CardRenderer.tsx
  4. Update the agent's instructions in src/mastra/agents/index.ts
  5. Add corresponding frontend actions in src/app/page.tsx

Modifying Existing Cards

  • Field definitions are in the agent's instructions
  • UI components are in CardRenderer.tsx
  • Frontend actions follow the pattern: set[Type]Field[Number]

Configuring the Agent

Styling

  • Global styles: src/app/globals.css
  • Component styles use Tailwind CSS with shadcn/ui components
  • Theme colors can be modified via CSS custom properties

📚 Documentation

Troubleshooting

Agent Connection Issues

If you see "I'm having trouble connecting to my tools", make sure:

  1. Your OpenAI API key is set correctly in .env
  2. The agent is properly registered in src/mastra/index.ts
  3. The server started successfully (check terminal output)

State Synchronization Issues

If the canvas and AI seem out of sync:

  1. Check the browser console for errors
  2. Ensure all frontend actions are properly registered
  3. Verify the agent's memory is configured to avoid caching (working memory disabled)

Debug Logging

To enable detailed logging:

bash
npm run dev:debug

This sets LOG_LEVEL=debug for more verbose output from Mastra.

Common Issues

  • "Agent not found": Check that 'sample_agent' is registered in src/mastra/index.ts
  • Tool execution errors: Ensure tool schemas in src/mastra/tools/index.ts match frontend expectations
  • TypeScript errors: Run npm run build to check for type issues

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and enhancement requests! This starter is designed to be easily extensible.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

[!IMPORTANT] Some features are still under active development and may not yet work as expected. If you encounter a problem using this template, please report an issue to this repository.