ascii-visualizer

name	ascii-visualizer
license	MIT
compatibility	Claude Code 2.1.76+.
description	ASCII diagram patterns for architecture, workflows, file trees, and data visualizations. Use when creating terminal-rendered diagrams, box-drawing layouts, progress bars, swimlanes, or blast radius visualizations.
tags	["ascii","diagrams","visualization","box-drawing","architecture","terminal"]
version	1.1.0
author	OrchestKit
user-invocable	false
disable-model-invocation	true
context	inherit
allowed-tools	["Read","Grep","Glob"]
complexity	low
persuasion-type	reference
effort	low
model	haiku
metadata	{"category":"document-asset-creation"}

ASCII Visualizer

Consistent, readable ASCII diagrams for architecture, workflows, file trees, and data visualizations. All output renders correctly in monospace terminals without external tools.

Core principle: Encode information into structure, not decoration. Every diagram element should communicate something meaningful.

Box-Drawing Character Reference

Standard:  ┌─┐ │ └─┘  ├─┤ ┬ ┴ ┼
Heavy:     ┏━┓ ┃ ┗━┛  ┣━┫ ┳ ┻ ╋
Double:    ╔═╗ ║ ╚═╝  ╠═╣ ╦ ╩ ╬
Rounded:   ╭─╮ │ ╰─╯
Arrows:    → ← ↑ ↓ ─> <─ ──> <──
Blocks:    █ ▓ ░ ▏▎▍▌▋▊▉
Checks:    ✓ ✗ ● ○ ◆ ◇ ★ ☆

Weight Conventions

Weight	Characters	Use For
Standard ─│	Normal boxes and connectors	Most diagrams
Heavy ━┃	Emphasis, borders, headers	Key components, outer frames
Double ═║	Separation, titles	Section dividers, title boxes

Border Integrity

Build diagrams on a fixed-width character grid before adding annotations. Treat each box as immutable: choose its width from the widest label plus padding, then reuse the same left and right edges on every row.

• Keep connector lanes outside boxes. Never draw a connector through a label, corner, or border segment, and never repair an overlap by replacing a corner with ─ or │.
• Use a junction character where a connector meets a border (┬ ┴ ├ ┤ ┼, or the matching heavy characters ┳ ┻ ┣ ┫ ╋). Select the junction from the lines that actually meet there.
• Do not mix standard and heavy strokes at one join. If a mixed-weight join is not representable cleanly, use standard weight for the complete connected path.
• Leave at least two spaces before an annotation so its arrow cannot be mistaken for, or overwrite, the box edge.
• Before emitting the diagram, check every row's display width and inspect each box for intact corners, continuous edges, and intentional junctions. Never use tabs for layout.

For example, a heavy box with a downward connector keeps the border and uses a junction rather than cutting a hole in the bottom edge:

                   ▼
             ┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
             ┃  ags-ipc.lua  ┃  ← single parser
             ┗━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┛
                     ┃
                     ▼

Diagram Patterns

Architecture Diagrams