Mermaid Architect - Comprehensive Diagram & Documentation Skill

Version 2.0 - Hierarchical architecture with intelligent orchestration

A powerful Claude Code skill for creating Mermaid diagrams and design documents using on-demand guide loading, code-to-diagram generation, and Python utilities.

Installation

One-Click Install via Skilz Marketplace

Install this skill instantly from the Skilz Marketplace:

skilz install SpillwaveSolutions_design-doc-mermaid/design-doc-mermaid

Manual Installation

Clone directly into your Claude Code skills directory:

# Navigate to your skills directory
cd ~/.claude/skills

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/SpillwaveSolutions/design-doc-mermaid.git

Verify Installation

After installation, verify the skill is available:

# List installed skills
ls ~/.claude/skills/design-doc-mermaid

# Or ask Claude Code
# "List my installed skills"

What This Skill Does

Intelligent Diagram Generation:

• Activity diagrams (workflows, processes, business logic)
• Deployment diagrams (cloud infrastructure, K8s, serverless)
• Architecture diagrams (system components, microservices)
• Sequence diagrams (API flows, service interactions)
• Complete design documents with embedded diagrams

Code-to-Diagram Conversion:

• Extract architecture from Spring Boot applications
• Generate deployment diagrams from configuration files
• Create sequence diagrams from method calls
• Document ETL pipelines and data flows

Diagram Management:

• Extract Mermaid diagrams from Markdown files
• Validate diagram syntax with mermaid-cli
• Convert diagrams to PNG/SVG images
• Batch process entire directories

Quick Start

Create an Activity Diagram

User: "Create an activity diagram for user registration with email verification"

The skill will:

1. Load references/guides/diagrams/activity-diagrams.md
2. Use the registration pattern template
3. Add Unicode symbols (🔐 for security, 📧 for email, ✅ for success)
4. Apply high-contrast styling
5. Output complete Mermaid diagram

Generate from Code

User: "Here's my Spring Boot application.yml - generate a deployment diagram"

The skill will:

1. Analyze configuration (datasource, cache, security)
2. Load references/guides/diagrams/deployment-diagrams.md
3. Load examples/spring-boot/README.md
4. Map config to cloud resources
5. Generate deployment diagram with resource specs

Create Design Document

User: "Create an API design document for the contacts API"

The skill will:

1. Load assets/api-design-template.md
2. Load relevant diagram guides (sequence, ER, architecture)
3. Generate complete document with embedded diagrams
4. Save to docs/design/api-contacts-v1-2025-01-13.md

Structure

Hierarchical Organization

mermaid-architect/
├── SKILL.md                          # Main orchestrator with decision tree
├── README.md                         # This file
├── CLAUDE.md                         # Claude Code instructions
│
├── references/                       # Reference materials
│   ├── mermaid-diagram-guide.md     # Legacy general guide
│   └── guides/                       # Specialized guides (load on-demand)
│       ├── diagrams/
│       │   ├── activity-diagrams.md      # ✅ Complete
│       │   ├── deployment-diagrams.md    # ✅ Complete
│       │   ├── architecture-diagrams.md  # ✅ Complete
│       │   └── sequence-diagrams.md      # ✅ Complete
│       ├── code-to-diagram/
│       │   └── README.md                 # ✅ Complete (master guide)
│       ├── unicode-symbols/
│       │   └── guide.md                  # ✅ Complete (100+ symbols)
│       └── troubleshooting.md        # ✅ Complete (28 common errors)
│
├── scripts/                          # Python utilities
│   ├── extract_mermaid.py           # ✅ Extract & validate diagrams
│   └── mermaid_to_image.py          # ✅ Convert to PNG/SVG
│
├── examples/                         # Language-specific patterns
│   ├── spring-boot/                 # ✅ Complete
│   ├── fastapi/                     # ✅ Complete
│   ├── react/                       # ✅ Complete
│   ├── python-etl/                  # ✅ Complete
│   ├── node-webapp/                 # ✅ Complete
│   └── java-webapp/                 # ✅ Complete
│
└── assets/                           # Design document templates
    ├── architecture-design-template.md
    ├── api-design-template.md
    ├── feature-design-template.md
    ├── database-design-template.md
    └── system-design-template.md

Key Features

1. Unicode Semantic Symbols

Every diagram uses meaningful Unicode symbols:

graph TB
    User[👤 Client] --> Gateway[🌐 API Gateway]
    Gateway --> Auth[🔐 Auth Service]
    Gateway --> API[⚙️ API Service]
    API --> DB[(💾 Database)]
    API --> Cache[(⚡ Redis)]
    API --> Queue[📬 Message Queue]
    Queue --> Worker[⚙️ Background Worker]

Loading

Symbol Categories:

• Infrastructure: ☁️ 🌐 🔌 📡 🗄️
• Compute: ⚙️ ⚡ 🔄 🚀 💨
• Data: 💾 📦 📊 📈 🗃️
• Messaging: 📨 📬 📤 📥 🐰
• Security: 🔐 🔑 🛡️ 🚪 👤
• Monitoring: 📝 📊 🚨 ⚠️ ✅ ❌

2. High-Contrast Styling

All diagrams use accessible, high-contrast colors - see SKILL.md for full details.

3. Python Utilities

Extract Diagrams

# List all diagrams in a file
python scripts/extract_mermaid.py document.md --list-only

# Extract to separate .mmd files
python scripts/extract_mermaid.py document.md --output-dir diagrams/

# Validate all diagrams
python scripts/extract_mermaid.py document.md --validate

# Replace diagrams with image references (for Confluence)
python scripts/extract_mermaid.py document.md --replace-with-images \
  --image-format png --output-markdown output.md

Convert to Images

# Single file
python scripts/mermaid_to_image.py diagram.mmd output.png

# Custom theme and size
python scripts/mermaid_to_image.py diagram.mmd output.svg \
  --theme dark --background white --width 1200

# Batch convert directory
python scripts/mermaid_to_image.py diagrams/ output/ \
  --format png --recursive

# From stdin
echo "graph TD; A-->B" | python scripts/mermaid_to_image.py - output.png

Requirements

For Diagram Generation

• Claude Code skill system (automatic)
• Guides and templates (included in this skill)

For Validation & Image Conversion

# Install mermaid-cli globally
npm install -g @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli

# Verify installation
mmdc --version

For Python Scripts

• Python 3.7+
• No additional packages required (uses stdlib only)

Learning Path

New to Mermaid Diagrams?

1. Start with Activity Diagrams - Read references/guides/diagrams/activity-diagrams.md
2. Learn Unicode Symbols - Read references/guides/unicode-symbols/guide.md
3. Try an Example - Use patterns from examples/spring-boot/
4. Validate Your Work - Run python scripts/extract_mermaid.py --validate

Need to Document Existing Code?

1. Identify Framework - Spring Boot, FastAPI, React, etc.
2. Load Example Guide - Read examples/{your-framework}/README.md
3. Match Patterns - Find similar code patterns in examples
4. Generate Diagrams - Use templates from guides
5. Validate - Use validation scripts

Creating Design Documents?

1. Choose Template Type - Architecture, API, Feature, Database, or System
2. Load Template - Read from assets/{type}-design-template.md
3. Fill Sections - Replace placeholders with actual content
4. Add Diagrams - Load diagram guides as needed for each section
5. Use Symbols - Enhance with Unicode symbols throughout
6. Save - Place in docs/design/ with timestamp

How the Hierarchical System Works

Traditional Approach (Inefficient)

• Load entire skill documentation (~50KB)
• AI processes all templates and examples
• High token usage
• Slow response time

Hierarchical Approach (Efficient)

1. User makes request → AI analyzes intent
2. Decision tree activates → Determines needed guides
3. Load only what's needed → Reads specific guide (~2-5KB)
4. Generate output → Uses targeted templates
5. Token efficient → 10x less context needed

Example Flow

User: "Create deployment diagram for my Docker Compose setup"

Decision Tree:

1. Analyze: "deployment diagram" + "Docker Compose"
2. Determine: deployment-diagrams.md needed
3. Load: references/guides/diagrams/deployment-diagrams.md (2KB)
4. Find pattern: Docker Compose template exists
5. Generate: Using template + Unicode symbols
6. Output: Complete diagram in <30 seconds

Tokens Used: ~2,000 (vs ~10,000 with traditional approach)

Completion Status

✅ Complete:

• Hierarchical decision tree orchestrator
• Activity diagram guide with templates
• Deployment diagram guide (AWS, GCP, K8s, serverless, Docker)
• Unicode symbols guide (100+ symbols)
• Extract Mermaid script with validation
• Mermaid to image conversion script
• Spring Boot code-to-diagram examples
• Design document templates (5 types)
• High-contrast styling system

🚧 In Progress:

• FastAPI examples
• React component architecture examples
• Python ETL pipeline examples

📋 Planned:

• Architecture diagrams guide
• Sequence diagrams guide
• Code-to-diagram master guide
• Node.js/Express examples
• Java web app examples

Contributing

To add a new diagram type guide:

1. Create guide in references/guides/diagrams/{type}-diagrams.md
2. Include:
   • When to use
   • Basic syntax
   • Common patterns (3-5 templates)
   • Unicode symbol examples
   • Best practices
3. Update SKILL.md decision tree
4. Add examples with code mappings

To add a new language example:

1. Create directory in examples/{framework}/
2. Add README.md with:
   • Framework overview
   • Architecture diagram from structure
   • Deployment diagram from config
   • Sequence diagram from code
   • Activity diagram from logic
3. Update SKILL.md code-to-diagram table

License

Part of Claude Code Skills - MIT License

Related Skills

• confluence - Upload diagrams to Confluence
• plantuml - Alternative diagram format

Links

• GitHub Repository
• Skilz Marketplace Listing
• Mermaid Official Documentation

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Version: 2.0.0 Updated: 2025-01-13 Maintained by: SpillwaveSolutions