# SystemDesignBoard

> A free, keyboard-first system design whiteboard built for software engineers preparing for live architecture interviews.

## What it does

SystemDesignBoard is a browser-based diagramming tool that lets engineers rapidly sketch system architecture diagrams. It is purpose-built for system design interviews at top tech companies.

## Key features

- **Nodes**: Service boxes, database cylinders, boundary containers (VPC, AZ, K8s Cluster, etc.), and free-text annotations
- **Connectors**: Smart edges with animated flow modes — sync (request/response), async (message queue), stream (continuous pipeline)
- **Cloud providers**: Per-node badges for AWS, GCP, Azure, and bare metal with provider-specific service subtypes (EC2, Lambda, RDS, GKE, Cloud Run, Firestore, etc.)
- **Trade-off logging**: CAP theorem, consistency level, scaling strategy badges per component
- **Diagram-as-Code**: Text syntax `[Node A] -> [Node B x3]` auto-generates a laid-out diagram
- **Export**: PNG at 2× resolution and animated GIF showing traffic flow
- **Scratchpad**: Side panel for markdown notes, scale estimates (DAU, RPS, storage math)
- **Interview timer**: Built-in stopwatch with visual arc indicator
- **Themes**: Dark, light, and auto (system preference)
- **Google Sign-In**: Optional authentication to identify sessions

## Who it is for

Software engineers practicing or conducting system design interviews. Useful at companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft.

## URL

https://systemdesignboard.com/

## Source

Open source. Built with React, TypeScript, Vite, Zustand, and @xyflow/react (ReactFlow).