| name | draw-io |
| description | draw.io diagram creation, editing, and review. Use for .drawio XML editing, PNG conversion, layout adjustment, and AWS icon usage. |
draw.io Diagram Skill
1. Basic Rules
- Edit only
.drawio files
- Do not directly edit
.drawio.png files
- Use auto-generated
.drawio.png by pre-commit hook in slides
2. Font Settings
For diagrams used in Quarto slides,
specify defaultFontFamily in mxGraphModel tag:
<mxGraphModel defaultFontFamily="Noto Sans JP" ...>
Also explicitly specify fontFamily in each text element's style attribute:
style="text;html=1;fontSize=27;fontFamily=Noto Sans JP;"
3. Conversion Commands
mise exec -- pre-commit run --all-files
mise exec -- pre-commit run convert-drawio-to-png --files assets/my-diagram.drawio
drawio -x -f png -s 2 -t -o assets/diagram1.drawio.png assets/diagram1.drawio
Internal command used:
drawio -x -f png -s 2 -t -o output.drawio.png input.drawio
| Option | Description |
|---|
-x | Export mode |
-f png | PNG format output |
-s 2 | 2x scale (high resolution) |
-t | Transparent background |
-o | Output file path |
4. Layout Adjustment
4.1. Coordinate Adjustment Steps
- Open
.drawio file in text editor (plain XML format)
- Find
mxCell for element to adjust (search by value attribute for text)
- Adjust coordinates in
mxGeometry tag
x: Position from left
y: Position from top
width: Width
height: Height
- Run conversion and verify
4.2. Coordinate Calculation
- Element center coordinate =
y + (height / 2)
- To align multiple elements, calculate and match center coordinates
5. Design Principles
5.1. Basic Principles
- Clarity: Create simple, visually clean diagrams
- Consistency: Unify colors, fonts, icon sizes, line thickness
- Accuracy: Do not sacrifice accuracy for simplification
5.2. Element Rules
- Label all elements
- Use arrows to indicate direction
(prefer 2 unidirectional arrows over bidirectional)
- Use latest official icons
- Add legend to explain custom symbols
5.3. Accessibility
- Ensure sufficient color contrast
- Use patterns in addition to colors
5.4. Progressive Disclosure
Separate complex systems into staged diagrams:
| Diagram Type | Purpose |
|---|
| Context Diagram | System overview from external perspective |
| System Diagram | Main components and relationships |
| Component Diagram | Technical details and integration points |
| Deployment Diagram | Infrastructure configuration |
| Data Flow Diagram | Data flow and transformation |
| Sequence Diagram | Time-series interactions |
5.5. Metadata
Include title, description, last updated, author, and version in diagrams.
6. Best Practices
6.1. Background Color
- Remove
background="#ffffff"
- Transparent background adapts to various themes
6.2. Font Size
- Use 1.5x standard font size (around 18px) for PDF readability
6.3. Japanese Text Width
- Allow 30-40px per character
- Insufficient width causes unintended line breaks
<mxGeometry x="140" y="60" width="400" height="40" />
6.4. Arrow Placement
- Always place arrows at back (position in XML right after Title)
- Position arrows to avoid overlapping with labels
- Keep arrow start/end at least 20px from label bottom edge
<mxCell id="title" value="..." .../>
<mxCell id="arrow1" style="edgeStyle=..." .../>
<mxCell id="box1" .../>
6.5. Arrow Connection to Text Labels
For text elements, exitX/exitY don't work, so use explicit coordinates:
<mxCell id="arrow" style="..." edge="1" parent="1">
<mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry">
<mxPoint x="1279" y="500" as="sourcePoint"/>
<mxPoint x="119" y="500" as="targetPoint"/>
<Array as="points">
<mxPoint x="1279" y="560"/>
<mxPoint x="119" y="560"/>
</Array>
</mxGeometry>
</mxCell>
6.6. edgeLabel Offset Adjustment
Adjust offset attribute to distance arrow labels from arrows:
<mxPoint x="0" y="-40" as="offset"/>
<mxPoint x="0" y="40" as="offset"/>
6.7. Remove Unnecessary Elements
- Remove decorative icons irrelevant to context
- Example: If ECR exists, separate Docker icon is unnecessary
6.8. Labels and Headings
- Service name only: 1 line
- Service name + supplementary info: 2 lines with line break
- Redundant notation (e.g., ECR Container Registry): shorten to 1 line
- Use
<br> tag for line breaks
6.9. Background Frame and Internal Element Placement
When placing elements inside background frames (grouping boxes),
ensure sufficient margin.
- YOU MUST: Internal elements must have at least 30px margin from frame boundary
- YOU MUST: Account for rounded corners (
rounded=1) and stroke width
- YOU MUST: Always visually verify PNG output for overflow
Coordinate calculation verification:
Background frame: y=20, height=400 -> range is y=20-420
Internal element top: frame y + 30 or more (e.g., y=50)
Internal element bottom: frame y + height - 30 or less (e.g., up to y=390)
Bad example (may overflow):
<mxCell id="bg" style="rounded=1;strokeWidth=3;...">
<mxGeometry x="500" y="20" width="560" height="400" />
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="label" value="Title" style="text;...">
<mxGeometry x="510" y="30" width="540" height="35" />
</mxCell>
Good example (sufficient margin):
<mxCell id="bg" style="rounded=1;strokeWidth=3;...">
<mxGeometry x="500" y="20" width="560" height="430" />
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="label" value="Title" style="text;...">
<mxGeometry x="510" y="50" width="540" height="35" />
</mxCell>
7. Reference
- Layout guidelines are included above.
- AWS icon reference assets are not bundled. Use the project's existing icon
assets or an installed icon search tool if available.
8. Checklist
9. Image Display in reveal.js Slides
Add auto-stretch: false to YAML header:
---
title: "Your Presentation"
format:
revealjs:
auto-stretch: false
---
This ensures correct image display on mobile devices.