Introduction
Welcome to Buildocs UI Engine documentation. This guide will help you understand the platform and get started with integration.
What is Buildocs UI Engine?
Buildocs UI Engine is a form framework for modern web applications and SaaS products. It combines a visual form designer with a powerful runtime API, allowing you to build dynamic, interactive forms that respond to your business logic. You can render forms in your application using the Buildocs UI Engine SDK for full control, or embed them via iframe for quick integration with any technology stack.
Buildocs UI Engine is not just a drag-and-drop form builder. It's a framework that gives developers complete control over form behavior at runtime - manipulate fields, communicate with your backend, trigger file downloads, open modal forms, and more. Design forms visually, then control them programmatically. These capabilities are available when rendering forms using the Buildocs UI Engine SDK.
Architecture Overview
Buildocs UI Engine follows a design-once, render-anywhere approach:
How It Works
- Create - Forms are created and configured in the Buildocs UI Engine SaaS
- Integrate - Install the npm package in your application
- Render - Forms are rendered natively inside your frontend (e.g. React)
- Process - Submission data is handled entirely by your application
This architecture ensures that Buildocs UI Engine integrates naturally into existing systems without introducing external hosting, iframes, or vendor-controlled backends.
Key Characteristics
These features are available when using the Buildocs UI Engine SDK.
✅ Visual form designer - Drag-and-drop form building
✅ Runtime Form API - Programmatic control over form behavior
✅ Backend communication - onChange handlers trigger API calls
✅ Dynamic forms - Show/hide widgets, validate, prefill data
✅ File operations - Upload, download, and preview files (PDF viewer)
✅ Modal forms - Open forms in dialogs from buttons or table actions
✅ Advanced theming - Project-level theme configuration
✅ Full data ownership - You control all data and workflows
The Form API
What makes Buildocs UI Engine a framework is the Form API. While you design forms visually, your application controls them at runtime:
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Widget Control | Show, hide, enable, disable any form element |
| Data Manipulation | Prefill forms, set field values, read form state |
| Validation | Custom validation, field highlighting, error messages |
| File Handling | Upload files, trigger downloads, preview PDFs |
| Modal Forms | Open forms in dialogs on button clicks or table actions |
| Backend Integration | widget actions call your API, backend responds with form commands |
Your backend can send commands that the form executes automatically - change values, show/hide sections, trigger downloads, and more. This enables server-driven form behavior without frontend deployments.
Data Flow and Control
Buildocs UI Engine does not impose a predefined submission pipeline. When using the SDK, your application is responsible for all data handling.
Your Application Handles:
- 📥 Receiving form data
- ✅ Performing validation or transformation
- 💾 Persisting data to databases or external services
- ⚡ Triggering business logic or workflows
See SDK Configuration and Iframe Configuration for detailed setup instructions.
This makes Buildocs UI Engine suitable for applications with strict requirements around security, compliance, and custom backend logic.
Intended Use Cases
Buildocs UI Engine is designed for:
| Use Case | Description |
|---|---|
| 🏢 SaaS Platforms | Embedded, configurable forms for your users |
| 👥 Multi-tenant Apps | Shared form definitions across tenants |
| 🎯 Centralized Management | Manage forms centrally, execute locally |
| 🔒 Data Sovereignty | Full control over form data and workflows |
Next Steps
📚 Explore Documentation Learn about all features and capabilities
💻 View Code Examples See practical implementation examples
🔧 API Reference Detailed API documentation
Join our community or contact support for assistance with integration.