aws-diagram

name	aws-diagram
description	Generate AWS architecture diagrams in draw.io format following the awslabs official style. Supports PNG/SVG export via draw.io CLI and automated 6-point quality validation. Use when the user asks to create, update, or export an AWS architecture diagram.
license	Apache-2.0

AWS Architecture Diagram Generator

Generate professional AWS architecture diagrams in draw.io XML format, following the awslabs/agent-plugins official style specification.

Capabilities

• Generate .drawio files with proper AWS service icons (mxgraph.aws4.*)
• Export to PNG/SVG/PDF via draw.io CLI
• Run automated 6-point quality validation
• Support light/dark mode adaptive colors

Usage

/aws-diagram <description of the architecture>

Examples:

/aws-diagram A serverless API with Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, and S3
/aws-diagram Three-tier web app with ALB, ECS Fargate, Aurora, and ElastiCache
/aws-diagram ML pipeline with SageMaker Training, Model Registry, and S3

Output

The skill produces:

1. architecture.drawio - Editable draw.io XML file
2. architecture.png - Exported PNG image (if draw.io CLI is installed)
3. Quality check report (6/6 must pass)

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Requirements

Ask the user (or infer from context):

• Which AWS services are involved?
• What is the data flow between them?
• Are there external actors (users, on-premises, third-party)?
• Any specific grouping (VPC, subnets, regions)?

Step 2: Generate draw.io XML

Write the .drawio file following the format specification below.

Step 3: Validate

Run the quality check script:

python3 skills/aws-diagram/scripts/validate_drawio.py <file.drawio>

All 6 checks must pass before delivery.

Step 4: Export PNG

# Install draw.io CLI (one-time)
wget https://github.com/jgraph/drawio-desktop/releases/download/v26.2.2/drawio-amd64-26.2.2.deb -O /tmp/drawio.deb
sudo dpkg -i /tmp/drawio.deb && sudo apt-get install -f -y

# Export
xvfb-run drawio --export --format png --border 10 --output output.png input.drawio

---

Quality Check Rules (6 Points)

Every generated diagram MUST pass all 6 checks:

#	Rule	What to Check
1	AWS Cloud boundary	mxgraph.aws4.group_aws_cloud group present; external actors (Users) positioned outside; all AWS services positioned inside
2	No crossing lines	All edges use orthogonalEdgeStyle; query edges and registration edges exit at different Y positions; registration edges route around services via explicit waypoints (>= 3 waypoints)
3	Clear hierarchy	Elements follow left-to-right (or top-to-bottom) flow with increasing x (or y) coordinates
4	Color-coded edges	Different edge types use distinct visual styles: solid for synchronous, dashed for async/optional, open-arrow for data flow
5	All API calls labeled	Every edge representing an API call has a label with the method name
6	No emojis	No emoji characters in any diagram element values

---

Draw.io XML Format Specification

XML Structure

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mxfile>
  <diagram name="Architecture" id="arch">
    <mxGraphModel dx="2200" dy="900" grid="0" guides="1" tooltips="1"
      connect="1" arrows="1" fold="1" page="0" pageScale="1"
      pageWidth="2100" pageHeight="900">
      <root>
        <mxCell id="0" />
        <mxCell id="1" parent="0" />
        <!-- All content here -->
      </root>
    </mxGraphModel>
  </diagram>
</mxfile>

Page sizing:

• Small (3-5 services): pageWidth="800" pageHeight="600"
• Medium (6-12 services): pageWidth="1169" pageHeight="827"
• Large (13+): pageWidth="1600" pageHeight="1200"
• Add ~600px width for legend panel

Title Block

<mxCell id="title-group" connectable="0" style="group;fontFamily=Helvetica;" value="" vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="50" y="30" width="1200" height="83" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="title-text" style="text;html=1;resizable=1;points=[];autosize=1;align=left;verticalAlign=top;spacingTop=-4;fontSize=30;fontStyle=1;fontFamily=Helvetica;" value="Architecture Title" vertex="1" parent="title-group">
  <mxGeometry width="800" height="42" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="subtitle-text" style="text;html=1;resizable=0;points=[];autosize=1;align=left;verticalAlign=top;spacingTop=-4;fontSize=16;fontFamily=Helvetica;" value= = =>
  


  

AWS Cloud Group

Use container=0 so services stay at parent="1" with absolute coordinates:

<mxCell id="aws-cloud" style="points=[[0,0],[0.25,0],[0.5,0],[0.75,0],[1,0],[1,0.25],[1,0.5],[1,0.75],[1,1],[0.75,1],[0.5,1],[0.25,1],[0,1],[0,0.75],[0,0.5],[0,0.25]];outlineConnect=0;gradientColor=none;html=1;whiteSpace=wrap;fontSize=12;fontStyle=0;shape=mxgraph.aws4.group;grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_aws_cloud;strokeColor=#232F3E;fillColor=light-dark(#232F3E0D,#232F3E0D);fillStyle=auto;verticalAlign=top;align=left;spacingLeft=30;fontColor=#232F3E;dashed=0;container=0;pointerEvents=0;collapsible=0;recursiveResize=0" value="AWS Cloud" vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="260" y="150" width="1060" height="660" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Users Container (Outside AWS Cloud)

<mxCell id="users-container" style="fillColor=#f5f5f5;strokeColor=light-dark(#666666,#D4D4D4);rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;verticalAlign=top;fontStyle=1;fontSize=12;fontColor=#333333;fontFamily=Helvetica;container=1;collapsible=0;shadow=1;strokeWidth=1;" value="Users" vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="50" y="300" width="130" height="170" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="users-icon" style="sketch=0;points=[[0,0,0],[0.25,0,0],[0.5,0,0],[0.75,0,0],[1,0,0],[0,1,0],[0.25,1,0],[0.5,1,0],[0.75,1,0],[1,1,0],[0,0.25,0],[0,0.5,0],[0,0.75,0],[1,0.25,0],[1,0.5,0],[1,0.75,0]];outlineConnect=0;fontColor=#232F3E;fillColor=#232F3D;strokeColor=#ffffff;dashed=0;verticalLabelPosition=bottom;verticalAlign=top;align=center;html=1;fontSize=12;fontStyle=0;aspect=fixed;shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.users;fontFamily=Helvetica;" value="" vertex="1" parent="users-container">
  <mxGeometry x="41" y="30" width="48" height="48" as="geometry" />

Service Container (120x120 with 48x48 Icon)

Container value = category label (NOT service name). Icon value = service name.

<mxCell id="lambda-ctr" style="fillColor={TINT};strokeColor={STROKE};rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;verticalAlign=top;fontStyle=1;fontSize=12;fontColor={STROKE};fontFamily=Helvetica;container=1;collapsible=0;shadow=1;strokeWidth=1.5;" value="{CATEGORY}" vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="500" y="300" width="120" height="120" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="lambda-icon" style="sketch=0;points=[[0,0,0],[0.25,0,0],[0.5,0,0],[0.75,0,0],[1,0,0],[0,1,0],[0.25,1,0],[0.5,1,0],[0.75,1,0],[1,1,0],[0,0.25,0],[0,0.5,0],[0,0.75,0],[1,0.25,0],[1,0.5,0],[1,0.75,0]];outlineConnect=0;fontColor=#232F3E;fillColor={ICON_FILL};strokeColor=#ffffff;dashed=0;verticalLabelPosition=bottom;verticalAlign=top;align=center;html=1;fontSize=10;fontStyle=0;aspect=fixed;shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.{SHAPE};fontFamily=Helvetica;shadow=1;" value="Service Name&lt;div&gt;&lt;i&gt;detail&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;" vertex="1" parent="lambda-ctr">
  <mxGeometry x="36" = = = = />

Service Category Colors

Category	fillColor (tint)	strokeColor	Icon fillColor
Compute	#FFF2E8	#ED7100	#ED7100
Database	#F5E6F7	#C925D1	#C925D1
Analytics / Networking	#EDE7F6	#8C4FFF	#8C4FFF
Storage	#E8F5E9	#3F8624	#3F8624
App Integration	#FCE4EC	#E7157B	#E7157B
AI / ML	#E0F2F1	#01A88D	#01A88D
Security	#FFEBEE	#DD344C	#DD344C
General / Auxiliary	#F5F5F5	#666666	#666666

AWS Service Icon Names (mxgraph.aws4.*)

Compute: lambda, ec2, fargate, elastic_beanstalk, app_runner, batch Database: dynamodb, rds, aurora, elasticache, neptune Storage: s3, glacier, elastic_file_system, elastic_block_store Analytics: kinesis, athena, glue, emr, redshift, quicksight App Integration: sqs, sns, eventbridge, step_functions, apigateway, appsync Security: cognito, identity_and_access_management, secrets_manager, waf Networking: route_53, cloudfront, vpc, transit_gateway Containers: ecs, eks, ecr AI/ML: sagemaker, bedrock, rekognition_2, comprehend, textract Management: cloudwatch_2, cloudtrail, systems_manager, cloudformation

Group Shapes

Group	grIcon	strokeColor
AWS Cloud	mxgraph.aws4.group_aws_cloud	#232F3E
Region	mxgraph.aws4.group_region	#00A4A6
VPC	mxgraph.aws4.group_vpc2	#8C4FFF
Public Subnet	mxgraph.aws4.group_public_subnet	#248814
Private Subnet	mxgraph.aws4.group_private_subnet	#147EBA
Security Group	mxgraph.aws4.group_security_group	#DD344C

CRITICAL: Regions MUST use container=0. Services placed at parent="1" with absolute coordinates.

Edge Styles

Standard (synchronous):

<mxCell id="edge-1" style="edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;html=1;endArrow=block;elbow=vertical;startArrow=none;endFill=1;strokeColor=#545B64;rounded=0;" edge="1" parent="1" source="icon-a" target="icon-b">

Dashed (async / optional):

<mxCell id="edge-2" style="edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;html=1;endArrow=block;elbow=vertical;startArrow=none;endFill=1;strokeColor=#545B64;rounded=0;dashed=1;" edge="1" ...>

Open arrow (data flow):

<mxCell id="edge-3" style="edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;html=1;endArrow=open;elbow=vertical;startArrow=none;endFill=0;strokeColor=#545B64;rounded=0;" edge="1" ...>

Edge label (separate child cell):

<mxCell id="edge-1-label" value="API call" style="edgeLabel;html=1;align=center;verticalAlign=middle;resizable=0;points=[];fontSize=11;fontFamily=Helvetica;labelBackgroundColor=none;" connectable="0" vertex="1" parent="edge-1">
  <mxGeometry relative="1" x="-0.3" y="0" as="geometry"><mxPoint as="offset" /></mxGeometry>
</mxCell>

Avoiding Crossing Lines

When multiple edges leave the same source:

1. Use different exit points: Assign distinct exitX/exitY values as XML attributes on each edge
2. Route around services: For edges that need to pass other services, use explicit waypoints:

   <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry">
     <Array as="points">
       <mxPoint x="620" y="184" />
       <mxPoint x="840" y="184" />
     </Array>
   </mxGeometry>
   

3. Separate lanes: Query edges (solid) and registration/async edges (dashed) should exit at different Y positions and use separate horizontal/vertical lanes
4. Edges on opposite sides: If possible, route output edges from the left side (exitX=0) and data edges from the right side (exitX=1)

Step Badges (28x28)

<mxCell id="step-N" style="rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#007CBD;strokeColor=default;fontColor=#FFFFFF;fontStyle=1;fontSize=16;fontFamily=Helvetica;shadow=1;glass=0;strokeWidth=2;align=center;verticalAlign=middle;labelBackgroundColor=none;" value="N" vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="X" y="Y" width="28" height="28" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Place near arrow source end, offset 20px, minimum 10px clearance from icons.

Legend Panel

Position at x = diagram_right_edge + 40. Include:

• Step descriptions (badge 40x38 + text block)
• Connection types section (solid, dashed, open-arrow with labels)
• Background: fillColor=light-dark(#EDF3FF,#305363);strokeColor=#6c8ebf

Font Standards

Element	Size	Style
Title	30px	bold
Subtitle	16px	regular
Group labels	12px	regular
Container labels	12px	bold
Service labels	10px	regular
Edge labels	11px	regular
Step badges	16px (diagram) / 22px (legend)	bold
Legend title	16px	bold
Legend text	14px	regular

All fonts: fontFamily=Helvetica

---

Critical Rules

1. Service icons connect to edges, NOT containers - always use the icon ID as edge source/target
2. Container value = category (e.g., "Compute"), Icon value = service name (e.g., "AWS Lambda")
3. No emojis in any element values
4. All positions aligned to grid multiples of 10
5. Edge labels always have connectable="0" and labelBackgroundColor=none
6. Use light-dark() for adaptive colors; add fillStyle=auto
7. Run validate_drawio.py before delivery - all 6 checks must pass