Hi Ben thanks for posting in the community!

I am not sure if I fully understand your question and you referring to accessing specific shape libraries when you create a new document? If that is the case you can add the desired shapes you want to easily access in your new documents into one custom shape library so that you only need to add one shape library when creating a new document. Our Shape Libraries article can walk you through the process of setting up a custom shape library.

As another option you could create a Custom Template with shape libraries and default styles set. If you go with this option you would create new documents from that template rather than following the regular process for creating a new document and then you would already have the custom shape library and everything ready for all your new documents. If you are interested in this option please check out our Work With Templates article.

There is not currently another way (using an API or browser script) to customize the shapes that appear in your default documents. That being said we're always looking for ways to improve Lucidchart and your feedback is the best way for us to do that. Would you mind adding your idea to our feature request form? 

If I have misunderstood your question please follow up below with some additional details and I will be happy to take a closer look. Thanks!

Thanks for your quick reply!  I'll see if I can explain my issue more clearly:

When I start a new sheet using Lucid Chart by clicking the big "+New" -> LucidChart Document button I want to create a "container" object - AKA a graphical object that holds other graphical objects within.   Essentially I want a large box or other shape that can be repositioned on the screen AND carry along anything else that is "inside" - ie graphically positioned over the top of it - when it moves.

Unfortunately there is nothing to choose from in my new document that allows this kind of behavior that I need in every new project.  Lucidchart does have additional shapes that can be enabled and one such option is "containers".  These shapes are exactly what I need!  So every time I start lucidchart first I am directed away from the work I want to do to add the new shape group.

The obvious solution would be to make these shapes "default" (usually enabled) along with the other normal shapes such as "Flowchart" "Shapes" and "Standard"

I saw the templates option - but that doesn't sound like a very good solution because I think it actually requires the same amount of work as manually adding the ''container' shape set to every new document - 5 mouse button clicks spread between menus and different screens in both cases.

Also it looks like there are several scripting options available for scripting the needed 5 clicks to get to a new lucidchart document - although I would understand if lucidchart doesn't explicitly endorse or support these technologies. ;)

To restate my original ask: What I need is to have "container" shapes available in normal new lucidchart documents.

Hi Ben thanks for following up and clarifying what you are looking to do! My apologies for the misunderstanding the first time.

My recommendation would definitely be going the Custom Template route. I have prepared a screen recording to show what the process of creating a new document from your template (after creating that once) will be. If you use the template frequently and it remains in your "Recent Documents" on the Home page of your Lucidchart account it is simply two clicks: a click on the "More" options from your custom template and then clicking on the "New from Template" which is the top option of the More drop down menu. 

If the template is not used quite as frequently to keep a limited number of needed clicks and to not need to dig through all your documents under My Documents I would recommend starring the template. That way the only additional click on your Home Page would be selecting "Starred Items" at the top of the home page before following the same process as outlined above.

If you do not want to go this route you are definitely welcome to look into other options. You are correct however that we do not support any API or scripting options for creating new Lucidchart documents.

Hope this helps!

Hi! Updating this thread with exciting news - we've recently launched Lucid for Developers a community space dedicated to supporting and connecting our users working with the Lucid API and our most technical features.

In this section the developers actually building Lucid’s APIs will be available to answer your most technical questions just like this one. Furthermore here we plan to announce new endpoints tools and guides to help you have the best possible experience developing on Lucid’s APIs. You can browse existing posts connect with other users with similar questions and goals and ask questions of your own by creating a new post or leaving a comment. Thank you and we're excited to hear from you!