Configuration

The Nodus constructor takes a single options object. Only a container is required to get started; everything else has sensible defaults.

import { Nodus } from '@kortexya/nodus';

const nodus = new Nodus({
  container: document.getElementById('graph'),
  // ...additional options
});

The container

container accepts either an HTMLElement or the id of one. The element must have a non-zero width and height — Nodus sizes its drawing surface to the container and observes it for resizes.

// By element
new Nodus({ container: document.getElementById('graph') });

// By id
new Nodus({ container: 'graph' });

You can run Nodus headless (without a container) to build and analyze a graph in memory, then attach a view later. Most rendering and camera calls require a container.

Choosing a renderer

Nodus picks a renderer automatically: the GPU renderer when WebGPU is available, and the Canvas 2D renderer otherwise. You can request one explicitly:

import { Nodus, isWebGpuSupported } from '@kortexya/nodus';

const nodus = new Nodus({
  container: 'graph',
  renderer: isWebGpuSupported() ? 'wasm' : 'canvas',
});

The available renderer names are 'wasm' (the Rust/wgpu GPU renderer) and 'canvas' (Canvas 2D). Requesting an unknown renderer throws an error listing the available ones. See The Rendering Pipeline for the full selection and fallback behaviour.

Runtime options

Options can also be read and updated after construction through the settings API:

const current = nodus.getOptions();
nodus.setOptions({ /* option overrides */ });

These control engine-wide behaviour (interaction defaults, rendering toggles, and similar). Visual appearance is controlled separately, through styling, not through constructor options.

Lifecycle

nodus.onReady((n) => {
  // Runs once the instance is fully initialized.
});

nodus.isDestroyed();   // false until destroyed
nodus.reset();         // clear graph + view state, keep the instance
nodus.destroy();       // tear down and release resources

Bundler setup for WebAssembly

The published bundle includes the compiled WebAssembly and its loader. Your bundler only needs to be able to serve .wasm files as assets.

• Vite / Astro / SvelteKit — works with the published bundle. When building the engine from source, add vite-plugin-wasm.
• webpack 5 — enable experiments.asyncWebAssembly.
• No bundler — import the ESM bundle directly from a static path, or use the <script> global build. See Installation.

Cross-origin isolation

Nodus runs heavy work (layout, hypergraph optimization) in a Web Worker by default and does not require cross-origin isolation (COOP/COEP) headers, so it embeds cleanly in most hosting setups.

Optional peer features

Some integrations are optional and only loaded if you use them — for example map backgrounds (Leaflet) and spreadsheet import/export. They are declared as optional dependencies, so a base install stays lean; install the relevant package only when you need that feature.