EvoDeck

An AI-native collaborative canvas that turns conversation into an evolving, interactive workspace.

Description

EvoDeck is an AI-native collaborative canvas that turns conversation into an evolving, interactive workspace. Teams describe the workspace they need in plain language, refine individual widgets with @mentions, and scrub through a timeline that preserves important decisions.

Most work starts as a conversation, but traditional workspace tools make teams translate that conversation into rigid templates, dashboards, and documents by hand. EvoDeck removes that gap by generating the visual, interactive building blocks that fit the job—whether that means planning a launch, organising a research sprint, or running a weekly operating review.

Under the hood, EvoDeck combines generative UI, durable workspace revisions, real-time collaboration primitives, Trigger.dev background orchestration, and ClickHouse-backed live signals. The result is a workspace that grows with the conversation—not a chatbot next to a dashboard.

Tags

AI · Generative UI · Collaboration · Productivity · OpenUI · Next.js · Trigger.dev · ClickHouse · Postgres · Developer Tools

Why it matters

EvoDeck is not a chatbot next to a dashboard. It is a living canvas for planning, decision-making, and collaboration.

• Start with intent: turn a plain-language request into the right visual building blocks.
• Stay interactive: generated controls, charts, forms, tables, and checklists are real UI—not a screenshot of UI.
• Evolve precisely: every widget has an @name, so a focused request changes one thing without discarding the rest.
• Keep decision memory: each meaningful change becomes a revision on a scrubbable timeline.
• Ground the canvas: optional live data flows through Trigger.dev and ClickHouse instead of relying on invented facts.

Demo in four moves

1. Create a workspace and ask: “Create a launch command center with a checklist, content calendar, risks, and a decision flow.”
2. Interact with the generated workspace—check an item, open a control, or rearrange a card.
3. Update one widget directly: @content-plan add a launch-day social post and make the first item high priority.
4. Scrub the timeline to show that the workspace remembers how the idea evolved.

Architecture

Layer	What it does
Next.js + React	Delivers the collaborative, drag-and-drop workspace experience.
OpenUI	Translates AI intent into valid, interactive generative UI.
AI orchestration	Routes requests into safe workspace operations and targeted widget updates.
Postgres + Drizzle	Persists users, workspaces, collaborators, and revision history.
Trigger.dev + ClickHouse	Runs background syncs and stores live-event signals for data-backed visual desks.

Built with

Next.js React TypeScript OpenUI AI SDK Trigger.dev ClickHouse Postgres Drizzle ORM Zustand

Run locally

cp .env.example .env.local
# Add an AI provider key and update any optional Trigger.dev / ClickHouse values.
# Before deploying, set NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL to the public https URL for correct social-share links.

docker compose up -d          # Postgres on :5433
npm install
npm run db:migrate:sql
npm run db:seed               # optional: gives the demo a useful starting state
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000. To demonstrate background sync and live-data desks, start the Trigger.dev worker in a second terminal and initialize ClickHouse:

npm run clickhouse:init
npm run clickhouse:events
npm run trigger:dev

AI providers

Set AI_PROVIDER in .env.local, then restart the app:

Provider	Required environment	Notes
openai (default)	OPENAI_API_KEY	Also supports OpenRouter, LM Studio, or Ollama through OPENAI_BASE_URL.
gemini	GEMINI_API_KEY	Direct Google AI Studio option.
vertex	GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT, GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION, ADC or credentials	Set VERTEX_MODEL as needed.

Useful scripts

Command	Purpose
npm run dev	Run the EvoDeck app locally.
npm run trigger:dev	Start the local Trigger.dev worker.
npm run openui:generate	Refresh the committed server-safe OpenUI prompt and schema.
npm run clickhouse:init	Create the ClickHouse database.
npm run clickhouse:events	Create the ClickHouse event table.
npm run db:seed	Add a demo workspace.

Live data, when you need it

EvoDeck can use source-backed data rather than asking the model to guess.

Project assets

The visual kit is deliberately lightweight, editable, and ready for the README, a pitch deck, or the deployed app:

• EvoDeck mark
• EvoDeck wordmark
• Hero canvas artwork
• Architecture diagram
• Demo flow diagram