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Agent skill

Excalidraw Architect

by BV-Venky in BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp

Choose and compose the right Excalidraw diagram - architecture, flowchart, sequence, state, ER, swimlane, process, timeline, quadrant, pyramid, venn, loop, gantt, bar, line, scatter, and more -…

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Excalidraw Architect

skills CLI
$ npx skills add BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp --skill excalidraw-architect -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp excalidraw-architect --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/excalidraw-architect .claude/skills/excalidraw-architect && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
excalidraw-architect
GitHub stars
158
Token cost
~2k tokens
SKILL.md length
1,009 words
Files
2 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
3
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Choose and compose the right Excalidraw diagram - architecture, flowchart, sequence, state, ER, swimlane, process, timeline, quadrant, pyramid, venn, loop, gantt, bar, line, scatter, and more -…

  • Works in 6 steps: Before you draw → The two rules that carry most of the… → Picking a type → …
  • A reader would learn more from a picture than from prose
  • SKILL.md covers 1. Before you draw, 2. The two rules that carry…, 3. Picking a type and 4. Calling the tools, plus 2 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Excalidraw Architect is an agent skill from BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp. Choose and compose the right Excalidraw diagram - architecture, flowchart, sequence, state, ER, swimlane, process, timeline, quadrant, pyramid, venn, loop, gantt, bar, line, scatter, and more - using the excalidraw-architect-mcp server. Use whenever a reader would learn more from a picture than from prose, or when asked to draw, diagram, chart, or visualize a system, process, or dataset.

Its SKILL.md is about 2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files, including reference files (for example `references/types.md`).

It sits in Development, covering Diagrams. It works with Excalidraw and Model Context Protocol. The repository describes itself as: Turn your architecture into a living, queryable knowledge graph - and render it as beautiful auto-laid-out Excalidraw diagrams. An MCP server for Cursor, Claude Code & Windsurf… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • A reader would learn more from a picture than from prose
  • Visualize a system

Example prompts

  • “/excalidraw-architect”

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Before you draw
  2. The two rules that carry most of the quality
  3. Picking a type
  4. Calling the tools
  5. Anti-patterns
  6. What the renderer already handles

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 6280bb3. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Excalidraw Architect loads about 2k tokens when it runs, and up to ~7.6k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 103 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,009 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~103
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~7.6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp at commit 6280bb3, republished under its MIT licence (© BV-Venky). 1,009 words, ~1,977 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/excalidraw-architect/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
excalidraw-architect
description
Choose and compose the right Excalidraw diagram - architecture, flowchart, sequence, state, ER, swimlane, process, timeline, quadrant, pyramid, venn, loop, gantt, bar, line, scatter, and more - using the excalidraw-architect-mcp server. Use whenever a reader would learn more from a picture than from prose, or when asked to draw, diagram, chart, or visualize a system, process, or dataset.
license
MIT

Excalidraw Architect

The MCP server renders. This skill decides what to render and how much.

Picking the wrong diagram type is the most common way a diagram fails. A cross-functional process drawn as a flowchart loses the handoffs that were the entire point. A ranking drawn as a bar chart loses the ranking.

1. Before you draw

Ask: would the reader learn more from this than from a well-written paragraph or a three-column table? If no, write the paragraph.

Don't draw for:

  • A list of things → bullets or a table.
  • A simple before/after → a two-column table.
  • One shape → just write the sentence.

2. The two rules that carry most of the quality

Density target: ~4/10. Enough to be complete, not so dense it needs its own legend. Above nine nodes it is usually two diagrams — draw an overview and a detail. Two nodes that always travel together are one node.

Accent is reserved. Every spec accepts "focal": true on its elements. Mark one or two — the thing you want looked at first. Marking five spends the signal and leaves the reader with no entry point. Most elements should be unmarked; that is what makes the marked one work.

A third, quieter rule: every connection should carry information. If the relationship is already obvious from the layout, delete the line.

3. Picking a type

<!-- BEGIN:selection-table -->
If you're showing…UseNot when
Components and the connections between themarchitecture(graph type — pass nodes + connections)
Decision logic with branchesflowchart(graph type — pass nodes + connections)
Parent -> children: taxonomies, file hierarchies, decision breakdowns.treeUse org_chart for people or teams; use nested when containment is the point.
Human, team, or agent ownership: reporting lines, escalation, routing.org_chartNot for system components -- that is architecture.
States, transitions, and guards. Order lifecycles, retry machines, approval flows.stateNot for time-ordered messages between actors -- that is sequence.
Hierarchy by containment or scope: bounded contexts, module trees, org scopes.nestedBeyond three levels of nesting, split into an overview plus a detail diagram.
Stacked abstraction levels where each layer sits on the one below.layersIf the layers exchange traffic in both directions, use architecture instead.
Multi-tier data storage with quality levels: bronze/silver/gold, raw/curated/serving.medallionUse data_flow when the emphasis is who does what rather than where data rests.
Entities, their fields, and relationships. Data models and schema documentation.erAbove ~8 entities, split by bounded context.
End-to-end stack drawn inside one named boundary (a cluster, an account, a VPC).high_levelUse architecture when the boundary is not the point.
Legacy landscape grouped by phase or department; the 'before' state.it_stateUse architecture for a target-state design.
Cross-functional process where step ownership matters. Handoffs are the story.swimlaneIf every step has the same owner, use flowchart.
Multi-actor sequential workflow drawn as vertical actor columns with data handoffs.processUse swimlane for horizontal lanes and a wider flow.
A pipeline where each stage is tagged with the role that owns it.data_flowUse medallion when storage tiers, not roles, are the subject.
Integration topology of a platform: sources -> core -> consumers.dp_integrationUse architecture when the core needs to be decomposed in detail.
Time-ordered messages between actors: API traces, protocols, incident replays.sequenceNever draw a message arrow that points backwards in time; use state for lifecycles.
Events positioned in time along a single axis. Roadmaps, incident chronologies.timelineUse gantt when items have duration rather than a single instant.
Two-axis positioning and prioritization. Add quadrant_labels for a consultant 2x2.quadrantUse scatter when the axes carry real units rather than relative position.
Ranked hierarchy (mode='pyramid') or conversion drop-off (mode='funnel').pyramidUse bar when the values matter more than the ranking.
Overlap between two or three sets, where the intersection is the insight.vennFour or more sets is unreadable -- use a table.
A reinforcing cycle; add a hub for shared state the stations write back to.loopUse process when the flow has a real beginning and end.
Tasks and phases with duration on a timeline. Shows overlap and parallel tracks.ganttAbove ~12 tasks, collapse to a phase-level view.
Quantitative comparison across categories. Multiple series render as grouped bars.barUse line when the x axis is continuous time.
Continuous trends over an ordered axis. Capped at 15 points per series.lineUse bar for a handful of discrete categories.
Distribution and correlation between two continuous variables.scatterUse quadrant when position is relative judgement rather than measurement.
Show full SKILL.md (270 more words)Show less
<!-- END:selection-table -->

Rules of thumb:

  • If a three-column table says the same thing, use the table.
  • Combining two types? Pick the dominant axis. Don't hybridize grammars.
  • Past the density budget? Split into overview + detail.

4. Calling the tools

list_diagram_types()            # the table above, from the server
get_diagram_schema("sequence")  # exact spec shape for one type
create_diagram(output_path="./x.excalidraw", diagram_type="sequence", spec={...})

architecture and flowchart are graph types and take nodes + connections instead of a spec. Everything else takes diagram_type + spec.

Every spec accepts optional title and subtitle.

Editing. Call get_diagram_info(path) to read the stored spec, then:

modify_diagram(path, [{"op": "update_spec", "patch": {"title": "New title"}}])

The patch is deep-merged. Lists are replaced wholesale — to change one tier, send the whole tiers list.

Exporting. export_diagram(path, "./x.svg") for SVG; PNG needs the optional cairosvg extra.

See references/types.md for the full spec shape and a worked example of every type.

5. Anti-patterns

Anti-patternWhy it fails
Accent on five nodesDestroys the signal it exists to carry.
A step drawn across two lanesPick one owner; ambiguity is the opposite of the point.
A sequence message pointing upwardReverses time. Never correct.
Fifteen nodes in one diagramPast the budget — split it.
A chart with 50 pointsSketchy strokes turn it into a seismograph. Downsample.
A table drawn as boxesExcalidraw has no table primitive. Write the markdown table.
Generic labels ("Service A")Name the real thing or delete the node.

6. What the renderer already handles

Don't work around these — they are done for you:

  • Layout. Never pass coordinates. The engine places and routes everything.
  • Chrome vs content. Axes, gridlines, and lane dividers render crisp; shapes and data marks render hand-drawn. That contrast is deliberate.
  • Themes. default, dark, colorful. Accent and series ramps adapt.
  • Bindings. Arrows stay attached when a node is dragged in Excalidraw.

© BV-Venky, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file (references) in skills/excalidraw-architect of BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/types.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 6280bb3

Compare with similar skills

Excalidraw Architect next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Excalidraw Architect compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Excalidraw Architect this skillBV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp158—~2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Excalidraw Skillyctimlin/mcp_excalidraw2.5k—~4.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Excalidraw Canvas Toolkitlingzhi227/agent-research-skills390—~3.8kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Excalidraw MCP Diagrammingthomast1906/github-copilot-agent-skills202—~3.1kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Excalidraw Diagramssammcj/agentic-coding162—~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Excalidrawmadhvantyagi/Gnos339—~650Automated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Excalidraw Architect

What does Excalidraw Architect do?

Choose and compose the right Excalidraw diagram - architecture, flowchart, sequence, state, ER, swimlane, process, timeline, quadrant, pyramid, venn, loop, gantt, bar, line, scatter, and more -…. Excalidraw Architect is an agent skill from BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp. Choose and compose the right Excalidraw diagram - architecture, flowchart, sequence, state, ER, swimlane, process, timeline, quadrant, pyramid, venn, loop, gantt, bar, line, scatter, and more - using the excalidraw-architect-mcp server.

When should I use Excalidraw Architect?

Excalidraw Architect fits situations like: A reader would learn more from a picture than from prose; visualize a system.

How do I install Excalidraw Architect in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp --skill excalidraw-architect -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/excalidraw-architect in BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp) into .claude/skills/excalidraw-architect in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Excalidraw Architect in Codex?

Run `npx skills add BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp --skill excalidraw-architect -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/excalidraw-architect in BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp) into .agents/skills/excalidraw-architect in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Excalidraw Architect in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp --skill excalidraw-architect -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/excalidraw-architect, .gemini/skills/excalidraw-architect, .github/skills/excalidraw-architect and .opencode/skills/excalidraw-architect in your project.

What does Excalidraw Architect need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Excalidraw Architect is instructions for the agent only.

Does Excalidraw Architect access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Excalidraw Architect safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Excalidraw Architect use?

Excalidraw Architect is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Excalidraw Architect use?

About 2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7.9k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 5.6k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Excalidraw Architect?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Excalidraw Architect: Excalidraw Skill (yctimlin/mcp_excalidraw, 2.5k stars), Excalidraw Canvas Toolkit (lingzhi227/agent-research-skills, 390 stars), Excalidraw MCP Diagramming (thomast1906/github-copilot-agent-skills, 202 stars) and Excalidraw Diagrams (sammcj/agentic-coding, 162 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Excalidraw Architect?

BV-Venky (a GitHub user) maintains it in BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp, which has 158 GitHub stars. The repository holds 3 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 25, 2026.

Source: BV-Venky/excalidraw-architect-mcp on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.