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Agent skill

Excalidraw

by nimbalyst in nimbalyst/nimbalyst

Create diagrams and visual drawings using Excalidraw (.excalidraw files).

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Excalidraw

skills CLI
$ npx skills add nimbalyst/nimbalyst --skill excalidraw -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install nimbalyst/nimbalyst excalidraw --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/nimbalyst/nimbalyst.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/packages/extensions/excalidraw/claude-plugin/skills/excalidraw .claude/skills/excalidraw && 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
GitHub stars
1.9k
Token cost
~1.5k tokens
SKILL.md length
797 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
14
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Create diagrams and visual drawings using Excalidraw (.excalidraw files).

  • Works in 6 steps: One-shot by default. Build the diagram,… → Never use excalidraw.clear_all followed… → Minor imperfections are fine. Excalidraw… → …
  • The user wants flowcharts
  • SKILL.md covers STOP AFTER ONE PASS — Do Not…, When to Use Excalidraw, When NOT to Use Excalidraw and File Format, plus 5 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Excalidraw is an agent skill from nimbalyst/nimbalyst. Create diagrams and visual drawings using Excalidraw (.excalidraw files). Use when the user wants flowcharts, architecture diagrams, system diagrams, sketches, or any visual diagram. For database schemas and entity relationship diagrams, use the DataModelLM extension instead.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.5k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development, covering Diagrams. It works with Excalidraw. The repository describes itself as: Nimbalyst - The open-source visual workspace for Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode. Run multiple coding agents in parallel, edit their work visually in markdown, mockups, and… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • The user wants flowcharts
  • Architecture diagrams
  • System diagrams
  • Any visual diagram

Example prompts

  • “/excalidraw”

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. One-shot by default. Build the diagram, capture a screenshot once, describe what you made, and stop. Do not iterate on visual polish…
  2. Never use excalidraw.clear_all followed by a rebuild as a way to "redo" the diagram. clear_all is only for user-requested rebuilds. If you…
  3. Minor imperfections are fine. Excalidraw is a whiteboard / hand-drawn-style tool. Slight overlaps, arrows that route imperfectly, labels…
  4. Only one screenshot per diagram. Capture once to verify the diagram exists and is roughly what you intended, then stop screenshotting…
  5. If something is actually broken, make a targeted fix — not a rebuild. Use update_element, move_element, remove_element, or align_elements…
  6. "Good enough to convey the idea" is the bar. The diagram's job is to communicate structure or flow to a human reader. Once it does that…

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 6f14adf. 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 loads about 1.5k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 72 tokens; SKILL.md has 797 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~72
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.5k

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 nimbalyst/nimbalyst at commit 6f14adf, republished under its MIT licence (© nimbalyst). 797 words, ~1,537 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/excalidraw/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
excalidraw
description
Create diagrams and visual drawings using Excalidraw (.excalidraw files). Use when the user wants flowcharts, architecture diagrams, system diagrams, sketches, or any visual diagram. For database schemas and entity relationship diagrams, use the DataModelLM extension instead.

Excalidraw Diagrams

Excalidraw is Nimbalyst's whiteboard-style diagram editor for creating flowcharts, architecture diagrams, system diagrams, and visual sketches.

STOP AFTER ONE PASS — Do Not Thrash

The single biggest failure mode with this skill is agents creating a diagram, capturing a screenshot, noticing minor cosmetic imperfections, then clearing and rebuilding the diagram two, three, or four times without being asked. This is the wrong behavior. The user sees every rebuild, and iterations the user did not ask for are a waste of their time and attention.

Follow these rules:

  1. One-shot by default. Build the diagram, capture a screenshot once, describe what you made, and stop. Do not iterate on visual polish unless the user explicitly asks for a change.
  2. Never use excalidraw.clear_all followed by a rebuild as a way to "redo" the diagram. clear_all is only for user-requested rebuilds. If you just produced a diagram, looked at it, and feel like starting over, don't — stop and hand control back to the user.
  3. Minor imperfections are fine. Excalidraw is a whiteboard / hand-drawn-style tool. Slight overlaps, arrows that route imperfectly, labels that aren't perfectly centered, and asymmetric spacing are all acceptable and expected. Do not rebuild to fix these. Do not re-run import_mermaid because the auto-layout isn't pixel-perfect.
  4. Only one screenshot per diagram. Capture once to verify the diagram exists and is roughly what you intended, then stop screenshotting. Repeated screenshots drive perfectionism loops.
  5. If something is actually broken, make a targeted fix — not a rebuild. Use update_element, move_element, remove_element, or align_elements on the specific problem. Do not wipe and restart.
  6. "Good enough to convey the idea" is the bar. The diagram's job is to communicate structure or flow to a human reader. Once it does that, you are done. Do not keep polishing.

If you catch yourself about to call clear_all after just having built a diagram, or about to capture a second screenshot of the same diagram, stop. Report what you made and let the user decide whether changes are needed.

When to Use Excalidraw

  • Flowcharts and process diagrams
  • Architecture diagrams
  • System design diagrams
  • Sequence diagrams
  • Mind maps
  • Network diagrams
  • User flow diagrams
  • General visual diagrams and sketches

When NOT to Use Excalidraw

  • Database schemas / Entity relationship diagrams - Use DataModelLM extension instead (creates .datamodel files with Prisma schema)

File Format

  • Extension: .excalidraw
  • Format: JSON-based Excalidraw format
  • Location: Any directory in the workspace

Available MCP Tools

The Excalidraw extension provides these MCP tools for diagram manipulation:

Getting Information
  • excalidraw.get_elements - Get all elements in the diagram
Adding Elements
  • excalidraw.add_rectangle - Add a rectangle/box
  • excalidraw.add_arrow - Add a single arrow
  • excalidraw.add_arrows - Add multiple arrows at once
  • excalidraw.add_elements - Add multiple elements at once
  • excalidraw.add_frame - Add a frame (container for elements)
  • excalidraw.add_row - Add elements in a horizontal row
  • excalidraw.add_column - Add elements in a vertical column
Modifying Elements
  • excalidraw.update_element - Update an existing element
  • excalidraw.move_element - Move an element to new position
  • excalidraw.remove_element - Remove a single element
  • excalidraw.remove_elements - Remove multiple elements
Show full SKILL.md (311 more words)Show less
Organization
  • excalidraw.align_elements - Align elements horizontally/vertically
  • excalidraw.distribute_elements - Distribute elements evenly
  • excalidraw.group_elements - Group elements together
  • excalidraw.set_elements_in_frame - Put elements into a frame
  • excalidraw.relayout - Automatically relayout elements
Special Features
  • excalidraw.import_mermaid - Convert Mermaid syntax to Excalidraw
  • excalidraw.clear_all - Clear all elements from the diagram

Workflow

  1. Create file - Create a new .excalidraw file or target an existing one. The file does not need to be open in Nimbalyst.
  2. Use MCP tools - Pass the file path directly to the Excalidraw MCP tools. Nimbalyst mounts a hidden editor automatically; do not call extension_test_open_file first because it creates and focuses a visible tab.
  3. Verify visually (once) - Use mcp__nimbalyst__capture_editor_screenshot a single time to confirm the diagram rendered
  4. Stop - Report what you made and hand control back. Do not iterate on polish unless the user asks for changes. See "STOP AFTER ONE PASS" above.

Diagrams for Pages

When the diagram is for a page in Pages (a wiki page, a Team page), the diagram must be a page too: teammates cannot open a file on this computer, so never link an .excalidraw path from a page. Create the page with createSharedDoc (documentType: 'excalidraw', under the page it explains), then pass its uri (collab://...) as filePath to the tools above; they edit the shared page directly. An existing .excalidraw file is copied in with importFileToPages. Link the page by the link the tool returns. A drawing for yourself can be a Personal page (section: 'personal'); the drawing tools edit Team pages only, so build it in a file and copy it in with importFileToPages.

Best Practices

  • Use frames to group related elements
  • Keep diagrams clean and readable
  • Use consistent spacing and alignment
  • Add arrows to show flow/relationships
  • Use color sparingly for emphasis

Example: Creating a Flowchart

  1. Add rectangles for each step
  2. Add arrows connecting the steps
  3. Use align_elements to align horizontally/vertically
  4. Use distribute_elements for even spacing

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

Files

Just SKILL.md in packages/extensions/excalidraw/claude-plugin/skills/excalidraw of nimbalyst/nimbalyst.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 6f14adf

Compare with similar skills

Excalidraw 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 compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Excalidraw this skillnimbalyst/nimbalyst1.9k—~1.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Diagram Designcathrynlavery/diagram-design45k1 repos~7.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Excalidraw Diagramcoleam00/excalidraw-diagram-skill5k2 repos~6.1kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Excalidraw Diagrambreferrari/obsidian-mind4.9k—~3.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Excalidraw Skillyctimlin/mcp_excalidraw2.5k—~4.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Lanshu Animated Architecture Diagramcclank/lanshu-animated-architecture-diagram994—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Excalidraw

What does Excalidraw do?

Create diagrams and visual drawings using Excalidraw (.excalidraw files). Excalidraw is an agent skill from nimbalyst/nimbalyst.excalidraw files).

When should I use Excalidraw?

Excalidraw fits situations like: the user wants flowcharts; architecture diagrams; system diagrams; any visual diagram.

How do I install Excalidraw in Claude Code?

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

How do I install Excalidraw in Codex?

Run `npx skills add nimbalyst/nimbalyst --skill excalidraw -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (packages/extensions/excalidraw/claude-plugin/skills/excalidraw in nimbalyst/nimbalyst) into .agents/skills/excalidraw in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Excalidraw 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 nimbalyst/nimbalyst --skill excalidraw -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, .gemini/skills/excalidraw, .github/skills/excalidraw and .opencode/skills/excalidraw in your project.

What does Excalidraw need to run?

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

Does Excalidraw 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 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 use?

Excalidraw is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Excalidraw use?

About 1.5k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.1k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Excalidraw?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Excalidraw: Diagram Design (cathrynlavery/diagram-design, 45k stars), Excalidraw Diagram (coleam00/excalidraw-diagram-skill, 5k stars), Excalidraw Diagram (breferrari/obsidian-mind, 4.9k stars) and Excalidraw Skill (yctimlin/mcp_excalidraw, 2.5k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Excalidraw?

nimbalyst (a GitHub organization) maintains it in nimbalyst/nimbalyst, which has 1,850 GitHub stars. The repository holds 14 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.

Source: nimbalyst/nimbalyst on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.