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Try Backroad live in your browser

The live editors throughout these docs run a real Backroad server inside your browser — no install, no signup. They're powered by the WebContainer API, which boots a Node.js runtime on the page itself. You'll find the same embedded sandbox on the component and fundamentals pages; this page is the open-ended playground. Tweak the code on the left, the right re-renders.

First run is slow, the rest are fast

The first run downloads and installs the dependency tree (~1 minute). Downloaded packages are then cached in your browser and shared across every sandbox on the site, so later runs — here or on any other docs page — install offline (no re-downloading) and start much faster.

What works in the sandbox​

  • The full @backroad/backroad runtime (Express + Socket.IO).
  • Almost every built-in component (br.write, br.button, br.textInput, br.checkbox, charts, tables, …).
  • File uploads (in-memory).
  • Markdown rendering, themes, layout primitives.

What doesn't work in the sandbox​

  • Native deps: better-sqlite3, sharp, etc. — the WebContainer runtime can't compile native modules. If you want to demo auth, use better-auth's memory adapter instead of SQLite.
  • Local file persistence — the sandbox VM resets on reload.
  • OAuth callbacks — the sandbox runs on a temporary URL that external providers can't reach.

For everything else, see Getting started to install the package locally.