tld serve

tld serve launches a complete tlDiagram web app right on your machine. Same editor that powers tldiagram.com, running locally with an embedded SQLite database.

tld serve

What you get

A full tlDiagram editor at http://127.0.0.1:8060. You can:

• Create and edit architecture diagrams visually
• Use all keyboard shortcuts (WASD navigation, C to add nodes, etc.)
• Export and import YAML workspace files
• Browse repositories indexed by tld index, including the map and live changes

Everything stays on your machine. No data leaves unless you point a command at the cloud with --target remote.

Modes

Background (default)

tld serve

Starts the server as a background process. Prints connection details and exits the terminal. The server keeps running.

────────────────────────────────────
  Mode             background
  PID              12345
  Server status    using existing local data
  Bind address     127.0.0.1:8060
  DB               ~/.local/share/tldiagram/tld.db
  Config path      ~/.config/tldiagram/tld.global.yaml
────────────────────────────────────
  tlDiagram available at:  http://127.0.0.1:8060
────────────────────────────────────
  Run 'tld stop' to shut down the server

If a server is already running, it tells you instead of starting a second one.

Host and port

# Custom port
tld serve --port 9090

# Bind to all interfaces (accessible from other machines)
tld serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8080

Defaults: 127.0.0.1:8060. Set permanently in your global config:

tld config set serve.port 9090

Or via environment variables: PORT=9090 or TLD_ADDR=:9090.

Data directory

The local server stores its SQLite database and logs in a data directory:

~/.local/share/tldiagram/
  tld.db       # SQLite database
  server.log   # Server logs
  tld.pid      # Process ID file

Override with --data-dir or TLD_DATA_DIR:

tld serve --data-dir /custom/path

Tip

Configure these in your global config to avoid passing flags every time:

What’s stored locally

The local server is fully self-contained:

• Diagrams: Stored in SQLite. Populated by the editor, CLI commands, and tld index
• Logs: Written to server.log in the data directory
• Config: Read from your global tld config file

When the server won’t start

If the port is already in use, change it:

tld serve --port 8061

If the data directory isn’t writable, check permissions or use a different path:

tld serve --data-dir /tmp/tld-test

Check the logs:

cat ~/.local/share/tldiagram/server.log