Moebius²

Moebius²

Moebius² is the modern realisation of an ANSI Editor, with true colour support; for MacOS, Linux and Windows. The major feature that differentiates it from PabloDraw is the 'half-block' brush which allows editing in a style closer to Photoshop than a text editor, although you can still use the function and cursor keys to draw with, and you should find that most of the text editing features from PabloDraw are carried over to this editor. The editor is still a work in progress, but anyone who wants to try using it is also encouraged to log feature requests and bugs on the project's GitHub page.

Download packages

Packaged binaries are available through Github Releases or from the direct links below:

• MacOS
• Windows Installer
• Windows Portable
• Linux AppImage

Installation & building

git clone git@github.com:christiansacks/moebius.git
npm install
npm start

Moebius² packages can be built easily with [https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder electron-builder]. Note that a build for MacOS must be made on MacOS.

npm run-script build-mac
npm run-script build-win
npm run-script build-linux

Moebius² Server

Moebius² features collaboration by multiple users on the same canvas through a server instance. Users connect to a server which allows them to draw and chat. The server will also create hourly backups.

To start a server:

git clone git@github.com:christiansacks/moebius.git
npm install
node ./server.js

This will start a server with default settings. In this case a password will not be set and any value entered in the Moebius² client will be accepted by the server. The server runs by default on port 8000. Moebius² clients can modify the port by entering the server as hostname:port.

The following parameters can be set:

Parameter	Description
--file=filename.ans	Load an initial ANSI file after the server starts
--pass=password	Set a server password which clients need to provide to log on
--server_port=8000	Set the server port (default: 8000)
--web and --web_port=80	Run the webserver for external viewing (default port: 80). Enables live preview of the canvas and SAUCE information in a browser at http://hostname.tld:web_port
--path=pathname	Set a path for this server; users and web viewers connect to hostname.tld/path
--quiet=true/false	Suppress console output after the server has started
--discord=url	Mirror server joins and chat activity via a Discord Webhook

Running the server with Docker

If you'd rather not install Node.js on your host, a Docker image is provided.

Prerequisites: Docker Engine with the Compose plugin (included in Docker Desktop).

1. Create a data directory alongside the repo — this is where your .mob or .ans file lives and persists across container restarts:

mkdir data

2. Configure by creating a .env file (all values are optional — defaults are shown):

MOEBIUS_PASS=yourpassword       # leave blank for open access
MOEBIUS_FILENAME=server.mob     # file to serve (created automatically if missing)
MOEBIUS_PORT=8000               # WebSocket port
MOEBIUS_COLUMNS=80              # canvas width  (new files only)
MOEBIUS_ROWS=25                 # canvas height (new files only)
DATA_DIR=./data                 # path to your data directory

3. Build and start:

docker compose up -d --build

The first run builds the image; subsequent starts are instant. To follow logs:

docker compose logs -f

4. Connect from Moebius² via Network → Connect to Server and enter yourhost:8000.

To stop:

docker compose down

Acknowledgements

• Uses modified Google's Material Icons — https://material.io/icons/
• Contains ANSI art by Alpha King (Blocktronics), Filth (Blocktronics) and burps (FUEL)
• Included fonts:
  • Topaz originally appeared in Amiga Workbench, courtesy of Commodore Int.
  • P0t-NOoDLE appears courtesy of Leo 'Nudel' Davidson
  • mO'sOul appears courtesy of Desoto/Mo'Soul

License

Copyright 2022 Andy Herbert and 2026 Christian Sacks

Licensed under the Apache License, version 2.0.

Links

• Moebius homepage: https://blocktronics.github.io/moebius/
• SAUCE specification: http://www.acid.org/info/sauce/sauce.htm
• How-to's
  • Moebius² Animations
  • Moebius² TheDraw Fonts
  • Moebius² Layers