| name | drawio-skill |
| description | Use when user requests diagrams, flowcharts, architecture charts, or visualizations. Also use proactively when explaining systems with 3+ components, complex data flows, or relationships that benefit from visual representation. Generates .drawio XML files and exports to PNG/SVG/PDF locally using the native draw.io desktop CLI. |
| license | MIT |
| homepage | https://github.com/Agents365-ai/drawio-skill |
| compatibility | Requires draw.io desktop app CLI on PATH (macOS/Linux/Windows). Self-check step requires a vision-enabled model (e.g., Claude Sonnet/Opus); gracefully skipped if unavailable. |
| platforms | ["macos","linux","windows"] |
| metadata | {"openclaw":{"requires":{"anyBins":["draw.io","drawio"]},"emoji":"📐","os":["darwin","linux","win32"],"install":[{"id":"brew-drawio","kind":"brew","formula":"drawio","bins":["draw.io"],"label":"Install draw.io via Homebrew","os":["darwin"]}]},"hermes":{"tags":["drawio","diagram","flowchart","architecture","visualization","uml"],"category":"design","requires_tools":["draw.io"],"related_skills":["mermaid","excalidraw","plantuml"]},"author":"Agents365-ai","version":"1.4.2"} |
Draw.io Diagrams
Overview
Generate .drawio XML files and export to PNG/SVG/PDF/JPG locally using the native draw.io desktop app CLI.
Supported formats: PNG, SVG, PDF, JPG — no browser automation needed.
PNG, SVG, and PDF exports support --embed-diagram (-e) — the exported file contains the full diagram XML, so opening it in draw.io recovers the editable diagram. Use double extensions (name.drawio.png) to signal embedded XML.
When to Use
Explicit triggers: user says "diagram", "visualize", "flowchart", "draw", "architecture diagram", "process flow", "ER diagram", "UML", "sequence diagram", "class diagram", "neural network", "model architecture"
Proactive triggers:
- Explaining a system with 3+ interacting components
- Describing a multi-step process or decision tree
- Comparing architectures or approaches side by side
Skip when: a simple list or table suffices, or user is in a quick Q&A flow
Prerequisites
The draw.io desktop app must be installed and the CLI accessible:
brew install --cask drawio
draw.io --version
/Applications/draw.io.app/Contents/MacOS/draw.io --version
"C:\Program Files\draw.io\draw.io.exe" --version
draw.io --version
Install draw.io desktop if missing:
Workflow
Before starting the workflow, assess whether the user's request is specific enough. If key details are missing, ask 1-3 focused questions:
- Diagram type — which preset? (ERD, UML, Sequence, Architecture, ML/DL, Flowchart, or general)
- Output format — PNG (default), SVG, PDF, or JPG?
- Output location — default is the user's working dir; honor any explicit path the user gives (e.g. "put it in
./artifacts/"). Don't ask if they didn't mention one.
- Scope/fidelity — how many components? Any specific technologies or labels?
Skip clarification if the request already specifies these details or is clearly simple (e.g., "draw a flowchart of X").
Special case: Chinese thesis functional structure diagrams
When the user asks for 功能结构图, 系统功能结构图, 功能结构树, or wants a graduation-thesis-style functional hierarchy diagram, default to the black-and-white organizational-tree layout described in references/functional-structure-cn.md.
In this case:
- Read
references/functional-structure-cn.md before generating.
- Use the bundled visual reference
assets/functional-structure-cn-example.png as the canonical example.
- Prefer true vertical labels for second-level function boxes, with one character or letter per line.
- Keep first-level modules horizontal and second-level modules vertical.
- Use independent orthogonal branch lines per first-level group and avoid connector overlap.
- If the user provides another reference image, follow the user's image over the bundled example.
Special case: Chinese thesis flowcharts
When the user asks for 流程图, 软件流程图, 程序流程图, or wants a graduation-thesis-style Chinese flowchart, default to the strict black-and-white thesis flowchart rules described in references/flowchart-cn.md.
In this case:
- Read
references/flowchart-cn.md before generating.
- Use the bundled visual reference
assets/flowchart-cn-example.png as the canonical example.
- Always use terminator nodes for
开始 and 结束.
- Keep same-type node box sizes consistent.
- Use orthogonal connectors only; connectors must not cross, pass through nodes, or overlap unrelated node borders.
- Avoid placeholder loop nodes unless the user explicitly requires them; connect branch loops back to meaningful workflow nodes.
- Do not place an internal decorative title at the top of the figure unless the user explicitly asks for one.
- If the user provides another reference image, follow the user's image over the bundled example.
-
Auto-update (first use per conversation) — silently keep the skill current. Check the timestamp of <this-skill-dir>/.last_update. If the file is missing or older than 24 hours, run:
git -C <this-skill-dir> pull --ff-only && date +%s > <this-skill-dir>/.last_update
If the pull fails (offline, conflict, not a git checkout, etc.), ignore the error and continue normally. Do not mention the update to the user unless they ask.
Step 0.5 — Resolve active preset. Determine which (if any) user-defined style preset applies to this generation.
- Scan the user's message for a phrase that clearly names a style preset: "use my
<name> style", "with my <name> style", "in <name> mode", "in the style of <name>". A bare with <name> does not count — "draw a diagram with redis" names a component, not a style. If a clear match is found → active preset = <name>.
- Else, check
~/.drawio-skill/styles/ for any file with "default": true. If found → active preset = that one.
- Else → no preset active; fall through to the built-in color/shape/edge conventions for the rest of the workflow.
Load the preset JSON from ~/.drawio-skill/styles/<name>.json, falling back to <this-skill-dir>/styles/built-in/<name>.json. If the named preset exists in neither location, tell the user the name is unknown, list the available presets (user dir + built-in), and stop — do not silently fall back to defaults.
When a preset loads successfully, mention it in the first line of the reply: "Using preset <name> (confidence: <level>)." See the Applying a preset subsection below for how the preset changes color/shape/edge/font decisions.
- Check deps — verify
draw.io --version succeeds; note platform for correct CLI path
- Plan — identify shapes, relationships, layout (LR or TB), group by tier/layer
- Generate — write
.drawio XML file to disk. Default output dir is the user's working dir; if the user specified an output path or directory (e.g. ./artifacts/, docs/images/), use that instead — mkdir -p the target dir first. Apply the same dir choice to PNG/SVG/PDF exports in steps 4 and 7.
- Export draft — run CLI to produce a preview PNG. Do NOT pass
-e at this step — the embedded zTXt mxGraphModel chunk it adds causes vision APIs (Claude included) to return 400 "Could not process image" in step 5. Save the clean preview as <name>.png (single extension). Embedding is for the final export only (step 7).
- Self-check — use the agent's built-in vision capability to read the exported PNG, catch obvious issues, auto-fix before showing user (requires a vision-enabled model such as Claude Sonnet/Opus). If reading the PNG returns a 400 / "Could not process image" error, you almost certainly exported with
-e by mistake — re-export without -e and retry once. If it still fails, skip self-check and continue to step 6.
- Review loop — show image to user, collect feedback, apply targeted XML edits, re-export, repeat until approved
- Final export — re-export the approved version to all requested formats. Use
-e here (PNG/SVG/PDF) so the deliverable stays editable in draw.io; save as <name>.drawio.png to signal embedded XML. For PNG with -e, run the IEND repair snippet immediately after — draw.io's CLI truncates the IEND chunk in -e PNG output (8 bytes missing), producing a corrupt file that vision APIs and strict PNG decoders reject (issue #8). See Export → Post-export PNG repair. Report file paths.
Step 5: Self-Check
After exporting the draft PNG, use the agent's vision capability (e.g., Claude's image input) to read the image and check for these issues before showing the user. If the agent does not support vision, skip self-check and show the PNG directly.
Important: the draft PNG read here must have been exported without -e. Draw.io's -e flag emits a PNG with a truncated IEND chunk (8 bytes of type+CRC missing) that the Anthropic vision API rejects with 400 "Could not process image" (issue #8). The simplest fix for the preview step is to skip -e entirely; the final export in step 7 keeps -e and runs the repair snippet. If you see the 400 error here, re-export without -e and retry once; if it still fails (any other reason), skip self-check and proceed to step 6.
| Check | What to look for | Auto-fix action |
|---|
| Overlapping shapes | Two or more shapes stacked on top of each other | Shift shapes apart by ≥200px |
| Clipped labels | Text cut off at shape boundaries | Increase shape width/height to fit label |
| Missing connections | Arrows that don't visually connect to shapes | Verify source/target ids match existing cells |
| Off-canvas shapes | Shapes at negative coordinates or far from the main group | Move to positive coordinates near the cluster |
| Edge-shape overlap | An edge/arrow visually crosses through an unrelated shape | Add waypoints (<Array as="points">) to route around the shape, or increase spacing between shapes |
| Stacked edges | Multiple edges overlap each other on the same path | Distribute entry/exit points across the shape perimeter (use different exitX/entryX values) |
- Max 2 self-check rounds — if issues remain after 2 fixes, show the user anyway
- Re-export after each fix and re-read the new PNG
Step 6: Review Loop
After self-check, show the exported image and ask the user for feedback.
Targeted edit rules — for each type of feedback, apply the minimal XML change:
| User request | XML edit action |
|---|
| Change color of X | Find mxCell by value matching X, update fillColor/strokeColor in style |
| Add a new node | Append a new mxCell vertex with next available id, position near related nodes |
| Remove a node | Delete the mxCell vertex and any edges with matching source/target |
| Move shape X | Update x/y in the mxGeometry of the matching mxCell |
| Resize shape X | Update width/height in the mxGeometry of the matching mxCell |
| Add arrow from A to B | Append a new mxCell edge with source/target matching A and B ids |
| Change label text | Update the value attribute of the matching mxCell |
| Change layout direction | Full regeneration — rebuild XML with new orientation |
Rules:
- For single-element changes: edit existing XML in place — preserves layout tuning from prior iterations
- For layout-wide changes (e.g., swap LR↔TB, "start over"): regenerate full XML
- Overwrite the same
{name}.png (no -e) each iteration — do not create v1, v2, v3 files. -e is reserved for the final export in step 7.
- After applying edits, re-export and show the updated image
- Loop continues until user says approved / done / LGTM
- Safety valve: after 5 iteration rounds, suggest the user open the
.drawio file in draw.io desktop for fine-grained adjustments
Step 7: Final Export
Once the user approves:
- Export to all requested formats (PNG, SVG, PDF, JPG) — default to PNG if not specified
- Report file paths for both the
.drawio source file and exported image(s)
- Auto-launch: offer to open the
.drawio file in draw.io desktop for fine-tuning — open diagram.drawio (macOS), xdg-open (Linux), start (Windows)
- Confirm files are saved and ready to use
Style Presets
A style preset is a named JSON file that captures a user's visual preferences — palette, shape vocabulary, fonts, edge style. When a preset is active, it fully replaces the built-in conventions described in the ### Applying a preset subsection below (under ## Draw.io XML Structure).
Locations, in lookup order:
~/.drawio-skill/styles/<name>.json — user presets (survive git pull).<this-skill-dir>/styles/built-in/<name>.json — built-ins shipped with the skill (default, corporate, handdrawn).
A user preset shadows a built-in of the same name.
Only user presets can have "default": true. When the user says "make <built-in-name> my default", copy the built-in JSON to ~/.drawio-skill/styles/<name>.json first, then set default: true on the copy — leave the shipped built-in untouched.
Name normalisation: always lowercase the user-provided name before writing or looking up files (the preset schema enforces lowercase; uppercase names will fail validation).
Learn flow
Triggers: "learn my style from <path> as <name>", "save this as <name> style", "remember this style as <name>".
Dispatch by file extension:
.drawio, .xml → XML path.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .svg (rasterized flat image) → image path
Steps:
- Load the extraction reference. Read
references/style-extraction.md into context.
- Extract following the XML path or image path procedure in the reference.
- Normalize and build candidate. Convert the user-provided preset name to lowercase. Use this normalized name for ALL file paths in this flow. Build the candidate preset JSON and write it to
/tmp/drawio-preset-<name>.json (where <name> is the already-normalized name). Do not save to ~/.drawio-skill/styles/<name>.json yet.
- Render a sample using the sample-diagram skeleton in
references/style-extraction.md, parameterized by the candidate preset. Export PNG to ./preset-<name>-sample.png using the same draw.io -x -f png -e -s 2 -o ./preset-<name>-sample.png /tmp/drawio-preset-<name>.drawio command the main workflow uses.
- Show the user:
- Preset summary table (palette hex values, shapes per role, font, edge style, extras).
- The sample PNG path (and embed the image if the environment supports it).
- Provenance line:
source.type, source.path, extracted_at, confidence.
- Wait for approval:
- "save" / "looks good" → write candidate to
~/.drawio-skill/styles/<name>.json. Create ~/.drawio-skill/styles/ if it doesn't exist. Delete tempfile and sample PNG.
- "change
<field> to <value>" → edit the in-memory candidate, re-render, re-ask.
- "cancel" / "abort" / "no" → delete tempfile and sample PNG; nothing saved.
Error behavior:
| Failure | Behavior |
|---|
| Source path does not exist | Stop; report path not found. |
| XML parse fails | Stop; report the parse error; suggest opening the file in drawio desktop to repair. |
| Image vision unavailable | Stop; tell user to re-run on a vision-capable model or provide the .drawio file. |
| Extraction yields 0 vertices / shapes | Stop; refuse to save. |
| Extraction yields <3 distinct color pairs | Continue; mark confidence: "low" (image) or "medium" (XML); warn in summary. |
| Preset name collides with existing user preset | Ask: overwrite, or pick a new name. |
| Preset name collides with a built-in preset | Save to user dir (shadows the built-in); warn once. |
| Sample render fails | Still show summary; note "could not render sample — saving on your OK anyway". Do not block. |
Management operations
All operations are natural language — no slash commands.
Apply name normalisation (lowercase) to all <name>, <a>, <b> arguments before any file operation.
| User says | Agent does |
|---|
| "list my styles", "what styles do I have", "show me my style presets" | Read ~/.drawio-skill/styles/ and <this-skill-dir>/styles/built-in/. Print a table: name, location (user/built-in), source.type, confidence, default flag. Built-ins shadowed by a user preset are marked so. |
"show my <name> style", "what's in <name>" | Print the preset JSON (pretty-printed) + a one-line summary (source, confidence, is-default). |
"make <name> the default", "set <name> as default" | If <name> is a user preset: set default: true on it; clear default on any other user preset that had it; save both files. If <name> is a built-in: copy <this-skill-dir>/styles/built-in/<name>.json → ~/.drawio-skill/styles/<name>.json first, then set default: true on the copy. Never mutate the shipped built-in. |
| "remove default", "unset default" | Clear default: true from whichever user preset has it. |
"delete <name>", "remove <name>" | Confirm first. Then rm ~/.drawio-skill/styles/<name>.json. Refuse to delete files under <this-skill-dir>/styles/built-in/ — suggest shadowing with a user preset of the same name. |
"rename <a> to <b>" | mv ~/.drawio-skill/styles/<a>.json ~/.drawio-skill/styles/<b>.json, then update the name field inside. Fails if <a> is a built-in (offer to copy-then-rename instead). |
"learn my style from <path> as <name>" | Dispatch to the Learn flow above. |
Preset file validation
When loading any preset (for generation or management), do a lightweight structural check:
- Required top-level fields present (
name, version, palette, roles, shapes, font, edges).
version === 1.- Every populated palette slot has both
fillColor and strokeColor as #RRGGBB.
confidence ∈ {"low", "medium", "high"} if present.
On validation failure:
- During generation: warn the user, fall back to built-in conventions for this one diagram, do not mutate the file.
- During learn: refuse to save the candidate; report which field failed.
Draw.io XML Structure
File skeleton
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mxfile host="drawio" version="26.0.0">
<diagram name="Page-1">
<mxGraphModel>
<root>
<mxCell id="0" />
<mxCell id="1" parent="0" />
</root>
</mxGraphModel>
</diagram>
</mxfile>
Rules:
id="0" and id="1" are required root cells — never omit them- User shapes start at
id="2" and increment sequentially
- All shapes have
parent="1" (unless inside a container — then use container's id)
- All text uses
html=1 in style for proper rendering
- Never use
-- inside XML comments — it's illegal per XML spec and causes parse errors
- Escape special characters in attribute values:
&, <, >, "
- Multi-line text in labels: use

 for line breaks inside value attributes (not literal \n). Example: value="Line 1
Line 2"
Shape types (vertex)
| Style keyword | Use for |
|---|
rounded=0 | plain rectangle (default) |
rounded=1 | rounded rectangle — services, modules |
ellipse; | circles/ovals — start/end, databases |
rhombus; | diamond — decision points |
shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon; | AWS icons |
shape=cylinder3; | cylinder — databases |
swimlane; | group/container with title bar |
Required properties
<mxCell id="2" value="Label" style="rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#dae8fc;strokeColor=#6c8ebf;" vertex="1" parent="1">
<mxGeometry x="100" y="100" width="160" height="60" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="3" value="DB" style="shape=cylinder3;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#f5f5f5;strokeColor=#666666;fontColor=#333333;" vertex="1" parent="1">
<mxGeometry x="350" y="100" width="120" height="80" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="4" value="Check?" style="rhombus;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#fff2cc;strokeColor=#d6b656;" vertex="1" parent="1">
<mxGeometry x="100" y="220" width="160" height="80" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>
Containers and groups
For architecture diagrams with nested elements, use draw.io's parent-child containment — do not just place shapes on top of larger shapes.
| Type | Style | When to use |
|---|
| Group (invisible) | group;pointerEvents=0; | No visual border needed, container has no connections |
| Swimlane (titled) | swimlane;startSize=30; | Container needs a visible title bar, or container itself has connections |
| Custom container | Add container=1;pointerEvents=0; to any shape | Any shape acting as a container without its own connections |
Key rules:
- Add
pointerEvents=0; to container styles that should not capture connections between children
- Children set
parent="containerId" and use coordinates relative to the container
<mxCell id="svc1" value="User Service" style="swimlane;startSize=30;fillColor=#dae8fc;strokeColor=#6c8ebf;" vertex="1" parent="1">
<mxGeometry x="100" y="100" width="300" height="200" as="geometry"/>
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="api1" value="REST API" style="rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;" vertex="1" parent="svc1">
<mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="120" height="60" as="geometry"/>
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="db1" value="Database" style="shape=cylinder3;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;" vertex="1" parent="svc1">
<mxGeometry x="160" y="40" width="120" height="60" as="geometry"/>
</mxCell>
Connector (edge)
CRITICAL: Every edge mxCell must contain a <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry" /> child element. Self-closing edge cells (<mxCell ... edge="1" ... />) are invalid and will not render. Always use the expanded form.
<mxCell id="10" value="" style="edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=1;orthogonalLoop=1;jettySize=auto;html=1;" edge="1" parent="1" source="2" target="3">
<mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="11" value="HTTP/REST" style="edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=1;orthogonalLoop=1;jettySize=auto;html=1;exitX=0.5;exitY=1;exitDx=0;exitDy=0;entryX=0.5;entryY=0;entryDx=0;entryDy=0;" edge="1" parent="1" source="2" target="4">
<mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>
<mxCell id="12" value="" style="edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=1;orthogonalLoop=1;jettySize=auto;html=1;" edge="1" parent="1" source="3" target="5">
<mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry">
<Array as="points">
<mxPoint x="500" y="50" />
</Array>
</mxGeometry>
</mxCell>
Edge style rules:
- Animated connectors: add
flowAnimation=1; to any edge style to show a moving dot animation along the arrow. Works in SVG export and draw.io desktop — ideal for data-flow and pipeline diagrams. Example: style="edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;flowAnimation=1;rounded=1;..."
- Always include
rounded=1;orthogonalLoop=1;jettySize=auto — these enable smart routing that avoids overlaps
- Pin
exitX/exitY/entryX/entryY on every edge when a node has 2+ connections — distributes lines across the shape perimeter
- Add
<Array as="points"> waypoints when an edge must detour around an intermediate shape
- Leave room for arrowheads: the final straight segment between the last bend and the target shape must be ≥20px long. If too short, the arrowhead overlaps the bend and looks broken. Fix by increasing node spacing or adding explicit waypoints
Distributing connections on a shape
When multiple edges connect to the same shape, assign different entry/exit points to prevent stacking:
| Position | exitX/entryX | exitY/entryY | Use when |
|---|
| Top center | 0.5 | 0 | connecting to node above |
| Top-left | 0.25 | 0 | 2nd connection from top |
| Top-right | 0.75 | 0 | 3rd connection from top |
| Right center | 1 | 0.5 | connecting to node on right |
| Bottom center | 0.5 | 1 | connecting to node below |
| Left center | 0 | 0.5 | connecting to node on left |
Rule: if a shape has N connections on one side, space them evenly (e.g., 3 connections on bottom → exitX = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75)
Applying a preset
When the Workflow's step Resolve active preset identified a preset, it fully replaces the built-in palette, shape keywords, edge defaults, and font for this diagram — do not mix values from the built-in color table below.
Color lookup. For each role a shape plays (service / database / queue / gateway / error / external / security), resolve preset.roles[role] to a slot name, then preset.palette[<slot>] to the (fillColor, strokeColor) pair. If roles[role] is unset or the resolved slot is null, follow this fallback ladder:
- Try the role's canonical slot (
service→primary, database→success, queue→warning, gateway→accent, error→danger, external→neutral, security→secondary).
- If that slot is also empty, pick the most-populated non-null slot in the preset.
- Never reach into the built-in color table below — the preset is authoritative.
Decision and container shapes are not in preset.roles — they have shape vocabulary (preset.shapes.decision, preset.shapes.container) but no role-to-slot mapping. Pick their colors as follows:
- Decision (rhombus) → use
preset.palette.warning (the canonical yellow slot in the built-in conventions). If warning is empty, apply the slot-fallback ladder above starting from warning.
- Container (swimlane) → use the palette slot matching the tier/grouping the container represents (e.g., a "Services" tier container uses
primary; a "Data" tier uses success). If no tier signal is available, default to primary.
Shape keywords. Use preset.shapes[role] as the prefix of the vertex style string (before whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;...). Example: for a database role, if preset.shapes.database = "shape=cylinder3", the vertex style starts shape=cylinder3;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=.... The six named shape keys are service, database, queue, decision, external, container. Roles gateway, error, and security reuse preset.shapes.service unless the preset explicitly populates a key with their name.
Edges. Use preset.edges.style as the base edge style string. Append preset.edges.arrow. Per-edge routing keys (exitX/exitY/entryX/entryY/...) are still added by the usual routing rules in the rest of this document. If the flow between two shapes matches a token from preset.edges.dashedFor (either because the user's prompt used that word, or because one end of the edge plays a role whose typical relation is "optional"), append ;dashed=1 to the edge style.
Fonts. Append fontFamily=<preset.font.fontFamily>;fontSize=<preset.font.fontSize> to every vertex style. Container headers and swimlane titles additionally get fontSize=<preset.font.titleFontSize>;fontStyle=1 when preset.font.titleBold is true.
Extras.
preset.extras.sketch === true → append sketch=1 to every vertex style and every edge style.preset.extras.globalStrokeWidth !== 1 (any value other than the drawio default of 1, including 0.5) → append strokeWidth=<n> to every vertex style and every edge style.
Interaction with diagram-type presets (ERD / UML / Sequence / ML / Flowchart). Diagram-type presets earlier in this document set structural style keywords that the user preset must preserve (e.g., ERD tables rely on shape=table;startSize=30;container=1;childLayout=tableLayout;...). The rule: keep the diagram-type preset's structural keywords, then layer the user preset's color / font / edge / extras on top. When a diagram-type preset hardcodes a color (fillColor=#dae8fc, etc.) that conflicts with the user preset, the user preset's color wins. Exception: fillColor=none is structural — do not replace it with a palette color.
Color palette (fillColor / strokeColor)
Used only when no preset is active (see "Applying a preset" above).
| Color name | fillColor | strokeColor | Use for |
|---|
| Blue | #dae8fc | #6c8ebf | services, clients |
| Green | #d5e8d4 | #82b366 | success, databases |
| Yellow | #fff2cc | #d6b656 | queues, decisions |
| Orange | #ffe6cc | #d79b00 | gateways, APIs |
| Red/Pink | #f8cecc | #b85450 | errors, alerts |
| Grey | #f5f5f5 | #666666 | external/neutral |
| Purple | #e1d5e7 | #9673a6 | security, auth |
Layout tips
Spacing — scale with complexity:
| Diagram complexity | Nodes | Horizontal gap | Vertical gap |
|---|
| Simple | ≤5 | 200px | 150px |
| Medium | 6–10 | 280px | 200px |
| Complex | >10 | 350px | 250px |
Routing corridors: between shape rows/columns, leave an extra ~80px empty corridor where edges can route without crossing shapes. Never place a shape in a gap that edges need to traverse.
Grid alignment: snap all x, y, width, height values to multiples of 10 — this ensures shapes align cleanly on draw.io's default grid and makes manual editing easier.
General rules:
- Plan a grid before assigning x/y coordinates — sketch node positions on paper/mentally first
- Group related nodes in the same horizontal or vertical band
- Use
swimlane cells for logical grouping with visible borders
- Place heavily-connected "hub" nodes centrally so edges radiate outward instead of crossing
- To force straight vertical connections, pin entry/exit points explicitly on edges:
exitX=0.5;exitY=1;exitDx=0;exitDy=0;entryX=0.5;entryY=0;entryDx=0;entryDy=0
- Always center-align a child node under its parent (same center x) to avoid diagonal routing
- Event bus pattern: place Kafka/bus nodes in the center of the service row, not below — services on either side can reach it with short horizontal arrows (
exitX=1 left side, exitX=0 right side), eliminating all line crossings
- Horizontal connections (
exitX=1 or exitX=0) never cross vertical nodes in the same row; use them for peer-to-peer and publish connections
Avoiding edge-shape overlap:
- Before finalizing coordinates, trace each edge path mentally — if it must cross an unrelated shape, either move the shape or add waypoints
- For tree/hierarchical layouts: assign nodes to layers (rows), connect only between adjacent layers to minimize crossings
- For star/hub layouts: place the hub center, satellites around it — edges stay short and radial
- When an edge must span multiple rows/columns, route it along the outer corridor, not through the middle of the diagram
Export
Commands
There are two export modes:
- Preview / self-check (step 4 of the workflow) — no
-e. Output diagram.png. Required for vision self-check; using -e here triggers a 400 "Could not process image" error from the vision API (issue #8).
- Final / deliverable (step 7) — pass
-e. Output diagram.drawio.png. The embedded XML keeps the file editable in draw.io.
draw.io -x -f png -s 2 -o diagram.png input.drawio
draw.io -x -f png -e -s 2 -o diagram.drawio.png input.drawio
/Applications/draw.io.app/Contents/MacOS/draw.io -x -f png -s 2 -o diagram.png input.drawio
/Applications/draw.io.app/Contents/MacOS/draw.io -x -f png -e -s 2 -o diagram.drawio.png input.drawio
"C:\Program Files\draw.io\draw.io.exe" -x -f png -e -s 2 -o diagram.drawio.png input.drawio
xvfb-run -a draw.io -x -f png -e -s 2 -o diagram.drawio.png input.drawio
draw.io -x -f svg -e -o diagram.svg input.drawio
draw.io -x -f pdf -e -o diagram.pdf input.drawio
mkdir -p ./artifacts && draw.io -x -f png -e -s 2 -o ./artifacts/diagram.drawio.png input.drawio
Post-export PNG repair (required after -e PNG export)
draw.io CLI truncates the IEND chunk when emitting -e PNGs — the file ends with the 4-byte IEND length field but the IEND type + CRC (8 bytes) are missing. Result: vision APIs return 400 "Could not process image" and strict PNG decoders error out. SVG/PDF are unaffected (no IEND chunk).
Run this immediately after every -e PNG export:
python3 - "diagram.drawio.png" <<'PY'
import sys
p = sys.argv[1]
data = open(p, 'rb').read()
IEND = b'\x00\x00\x00\x00IEND\xaeB`\x82'
if not data.endswith(IEND):
if data.endswith(b'\x00\x00\x00\x00'):
data = data[:-4]
open(p, 'wb').write(data + IEND)
print(f"repaired {p}")
PY
The endswith(IEND) guard makes this a no-op if draw.io fixes the bug upstream — safe to run unconditionally.
Key flags:
-x — export mode (required)-f — format: png, svg, pdf, jpg-e — embed diagram XML in output (PNG, SVG, PDF) — exported file remains editable in draw.io. Skip for the preview PNG used in step 5 self-check — -e PNGs have a truncated IEND chunk that vision APIs reject (issue #8). For final PNG export, keep -e and run the IEND repair snippet (see Post-export PNG repair). SVG/PDF unaffected.-s — scale: 1, 2, 3 (2 recommended for PNG)-o — output file path; accepts any directory (e.g. ./artifacts/diagram.drawio.png) — mkdir -p the target dir first. Use .drawio.png double extension when embedding.-b — border width around diagram (default: 0, recommend 10)-t — transparent background (PNG only)--page-index 0 — export specific page (default: all)
Browser fallback (no CLI needed)
When the draw.io desktop CLI is unavailable, generate a browser-editable URL by deflate-compressing and base64-encoding the XML:
python3 -c "
import zlib, base64, urllib.parse, sys
xml = open(sys.argv[1]).read()
# Raw deflate (no zlib header) — diagrams.net uses mxGraph's raw inflate
c = zlib.compressobj(9, zlib.DEFLATED, -zlib.MAX_WBITS)
compressed = c.compress(xml.encode('utf-8')) + c.flush()
# Standard base64 (atob rejects url-safe -/_); strip any newlines
encoded = base64.b64encode(compressed).decode('utf-8').replace('\n', '')
print('https://viewer.diagrams.net/?tags=%7B%7D&lightbox=1&edit=_blank#R' + urllib.parse.quote(encoded, safe=''))
" input.drawio
This produces a client-side URL that opens the diagram in the browser for viewing and editing. No data is uploaded to any server — the entire diagram XML is encoded in the URL fragment (after #), which is never sent to the server. Useful when the user cannot install the desktop app.
Fallback chain
When tools are unavailable, degrade gracefully:
| Scenario | Behavior |
|---|
| draw.io CLI missing, Python available | Use browser fallback (diagrams.net URL) |
| draw.io CLI missing, Python missing | Generate .drawio XML only; instruct user to open in draw.io desktop or diagrams.net manually |
| Vision unavailable for self-check | Skip self-check (step 5); proceed directly to showing user the exported PNG |
| Export fails (Chromium/display issues) | On Linux, retry with xvfb-run -a; if still failing, deliver .drawio XML and suggest manual export |
Checking if draw.io is in PATH
if command -v draw.io &>/dev/null; then
DRAWIO="draw.io"
elif [ -f "/Applications/draw.io.app/Contents/MacOS/draw.io" ]; then
DRAWIO="/Applications/draw.io.app/Contents/MacOS/draw.io"
else
echo "draw.io not found — install from https://github.com/jgraph/drawio-desktop/releases"
fi
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|
Missing id="0" and id="1" root cells | Always include both at the top of <root> |
| Shapes not connected | source and target on edge must match existing shape id values |
| Export command not found on macOS | Try full path /Applications/draw.io.app/Contents/MacOS/draw.io |
| Linux: blank/error output headlessly | Prefix command with xvfb-run -a |
| PDF export fails | Ensure Chromium is available (draw.io bundles it on desktop) |
| Background color wrong in CLI export | Known CLI bug; add --transparent flag or set background via style |
| Overlapping shapes | Scale spacing with complexity (200–350px); leave routing corridors |
| Edges crossing through shapes | Add waypoints, distribute entry/exit points, or increase spacing |
Special characters in value | Use XML entities: & < > " |
| Iteration loop never ends | After 5 rounds, suggest user open .drawio in draw.io desktop for fine-tuning |
Self-closing edge mxCell | Always use expanded form with <mxGeometry> child — self-closing edges won't render |
-- inside XML comments | Illegal per XML spec — use single hyphens or rephrase |
| Arrowhead overlaps bend | Final edge segment before target must be ≥20px — increase spacing or add waypoints |
Literal \n in label text | Use 
 for line breaks in value attributes |
| Vision returns 400 "Could not process image" on draft PNG | Re-export the preview without -e (issue #8). Root cause is actually a truncated IEND chunk in -e PNGs (issue #8), not the zTXt chunk itself — but the simplest fix for the preview is just to skip -e. |
Final -e PNG won't open in image viewers / vision APIs | Run the IEND repair snippet (Export → Post-export PNG repair). draw.io CLI emits -e PNGs with an 8-byte truncation at IEND. SVG/PDF unaffected. |
Diagram Type Presets
When the user requests a specific diagram type, apply the matching preset below for shapes, styles, and layout conventions.
ERD (Entity-Relationship Diagram)
| Element | Style | Notes |
|---|
| Table | shape=table;startSize=30;container=1;collapsible=1;childLayout=tableLayout;fixedRows=1;rowLines=0;fontStyle=1;strokeColor=#6c8ebf;fillColor=#dae8fc; | Each table is a container |
| Row (column) | shape=tableRow;horizontal=0;startSize=0;swimlaneHead=0;swimlaneBody=0;fillColor=none;collapsible=0;dropTarget=0;points=[[0,0.5],[1,0.5]];portConstraint=eastwest;fontSize=12; | Child of table, parent=tableId |
| PK column | Bold text: fontStyle=1 on the row | Mark with PK prefix or key icon |
| FK relationship | Dashed edge: dashed=1;endArrow=ERmandOne;startArrow=ERmandOne; | Use ER notation arrows |
| Layout | TB, tables spaced 300px apart | Group related tables vertically |
UML Class Diagram
| Element | Style | Notes |
|---|
| Class box | swimlane;fontStyle=1;align=center;startSize=26;html=1; | 3-section: title / attributes / methods |
| Separator | line;strokeWidth=1;fillColor=none;align=left;verticalAlign=middle;spacingTop=-1;spacingLeft=3;spacingRight=10;rotatable=0;labelPosition=left;points=[];portConstraint=eastwest; | Between sections |
| Inheritance | endArrow=block;endFill=0; | Hollow triangle arrow |
| Implementation | endArrow=block;endFill=0;dashed=1; | Dashed + hollow triangle |
| Composition | endArrow=diamondThin;endFill=1; | Filled diamond |
| Aggregation | endArrow=diamondThin;endFill=0; | Hollow diamond |
| Layout | TB, classes 250px apart | Interfaces above implementations |
Sequence Diagram
| Element | Style | Notes |
|---|
| Actor/Object | shape=umlLifeline;perimeter=lifelinePerimeter;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;container=1;collapsible=0;recursiveResize=0;outlineConnect=0;portConstraint=eastwest; | Lifeline with dashed vertical line |
| Sync message | html=1;verticalAlign=bottom;endArrow=block; | Solid line, filled arrowhead |
| Async message | html=1;verticalAlign=bottom;endArrow=open;dashed=1; | Dashed line, open arrowhead |
| Return message | html=1;verticalAlign=bottom;endArrow=open;dashed=1;strokeColor=#999999; | Grey dashed |
| Activation box | shape=umlFrame;whiteSpace=wrap; on the lifeline | Narrow rectangle on lifeline |
| Layout | LR, lifelines spaced 200px apart | Time flows top to bottom |
Architecture Diagram
| Element | Style | Notes |
|---|
| Layer/tier | swimlane;startSize=30; | Containers for grouping: Client / API / Service / Data |
| Service | rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1; + tier color | Use color palette by tier |
| Database | shape=cylinder3;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1; | Green palette |
| Queue/Bus | rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#fff2cc;strokeColor=#d6b656; | Yellow — place centrally for hub pattern |
| Gateway/LB | shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon; or rounded=1; with orange | Orange palette |
| External | rounded=1;dashed=1;fillColor=#f5f5f5;strokeColor=#666666; | Dashed border for external systems |
| Layout | TB or LR by tier count; ≥4 tiers → TB | Hub nodes centered |
ML / Deep Learning Model Diagram
For neural network architecture diagrams — ideal for papers targeting NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR.
| Element | Style | Notes |
|---|
| Layer block | rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1; + type color | Main building block |
| Input/Output | fillColor=#d5e8d4;strokeColor=#82b366; | Green |
| Conv / Pooling | fillColor=#dae8fc;strokeColor=#6c8ebf; | Blue |
| Attention / Transformer | fillColor=#e1d5e7;strokeColor=#9673a6; | Purple |
| RNN / LSTM / GRU | fillColor=#fff2cc;strokeColor=#d6b656; | Yellow |
| FC / Linear | fillColor=#ffe6cc;strokeColor=#d79b00; | Orange |
| Loss / Activation | fillColor=#f8cecc;strokeColor=#b85450; | Red/Pink |
| Skip connection | dashed=1;endArrow=block;curved=1; | Dashed curved arrow |
| Tensor shape label | Add shape annotation as secondary label: value="Conv2D
(B, 64, 32, 32)" | Use 
 for multi-line |
| Layout | TB (data flows top→bottom), layers 150px apart | Group encoder/decoder as swimlanes |
Tensor shape convention: annotate each layer with input/output tensor dimensions in (B, C, H, W) or (B, T, D) format. Place dimensions as the second line of the label using 
.
Flowchart (enhanced)
| Element | Style | Notes |
|---|
| Start/End | ellipse;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#d5e8d4;strokeColor=#82b366; | Green oval |
| Process | rounded=0;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#dae8fc;strokeColor=#6c8ebf; | Blue rectangle |
| Decision | rhombus;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#fff2cc;strokeColor=#d6b656; | Yellow diamond |
| I/O | shape=parallelogram;perimeter=parallelogramPerimeter;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#ffe6cc;strokeColor=#d79b00; | Orange parallelogram |
| Subprocess | rounded=0;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#e1d5e7;strokeColor=#9673a6; + double border | Purple |
| Yes/No labels | value="Yes" / value="No" on decision edges | Always label decision branches |
| Layout | TB, 200px vertical gap | Decisions branch LR, merge back to center |
