Figure Architect

Creates all diagrams and visualizations for the thesis. Produces TikZ/PGF code for native LaTeX integration. Covers system architecture, sequence diagrams, data flows, timelines, and component hierarchies.

Diagram Types

1. Systemarchitektur (System Architecture)

Overview of all seven juliaz_agents components and their connections.

Components to include:

•Julia (Orchestrator) -- GPT-4o, tool calling, central coordination
•OpenClaw (Telegram Gateway) -- user-facing, message relay
•Bridge (MCP Relay) -- port 3001, inter-agent communication
•Cowork-MCP (Claude Sub-Agent) -- port 3003, specialized tasks
•Backend (REST API + Postgres) -- port 3000, data persistence
•Frontend (Next.js Dashboard) -- port 3002, monitoring UI
•Thesis-Agent (Schreiber) -- meta-component, thesis writing

tikz

% Example: System Architecture (simplified skeleton)
\begin{tikzpicture}[
    component/.style={
        rectangle, draw=black, fill=blue!10,
        minimum width=3cm, minimum height=1cm,
        font=\small, align=center, rounded corners=2pt
    },
    arrow/.style={->, >=stealth, thick},
    label/.style={font=\footnotesize, midway, above}
]

% User layer
\node[component, fill=green!10] (user) at (0, 6) {Nutzer\\(Telegram)};

% Gateway layer
\node[component, fill=orange!10] (openclaw) at (0, 4) {OpenClaw\\Gateway};

% Orchestrator layer
\node[component, fill=blue!20] (julia) at (0, 2) {Julia\\Orchestrator};

% Sub-agent layer
\node[component] (bridge) at (-3, 0) {MCP-Bridge\\Port 3001};
\node[component] (cowork) at (3, 0) {Cowork-MCP\\Port 3003};

% Infrastructure layer
\node[component, fill=gray!10] (backend) at (-3, -2) {Backend\\Port 3000};
\node[component, fill=gray!10] (frontend) at (3, -2) {Frontend\\Port 3002};

% Connections
\draw[arrow] (user) -- (openclaw) node[label] {Telegram API};
\draw[arrow] (openclaw) -- (julia) node[label] {Messages};
\draw[arrow] (julia) -- (bridge) node[label, left] {MCP};
\draw[arrow] (julia) -- (cowork) node[label, right] {MCP};
\draw[arrow] (bridge) -- (backend) node[label, left] {REST};
\draw[arrow] (julia) -- (frontend) node[label, right] {WebSocket};

\end{tikzpicture}

2. Sequenzdiagramme (Sequence Diagrams)

Message flows through the system for specific use cases.

Key sequences to diagram:

•Standard-Nachricht: User sends message via Telegram through the full pipeline to response
•Tool-Calling-Flow: Julia receives request, calls tool, processes result, responds
•Email-Versand: User requests email, Julia calls send_email, OpenClaw executes via op run
•Bridge-Reconnect: Bridge drops, exponential backoff, reconnection, queue replay
•Skill-Ausfuehrung: Agent receives task, scans skills, selects and executes skill

tikz

% Example: Tool-Calling Sequence Diagram
\begin{tikzpicture}[
    actor/.style={rectangle, draw, minimum width=2cm, minimum height=0.7cm,
                  fill=blue!10, font=\small},
    message/.style={->, >=stealth, thick},
    return/.style={->, >=stealth, thick, dashed},
    note/.style={font=\footnotesize, text width=3cm, align=left}
]

% Actors
\node[actor] (user) at (0, 0) {Nutzer};
\node[actor] (julia) at (4, 0) {Julia};
\node[actor] (openai) at (8, 0) {OpenAI API};
\node[actor] (tool) at (12, 0) {Tool};

% Lifelines
\draw[dashed, gray] (0, -0.5) -- (0, -8);
\draw[dashed, gray] (4, -0.5) -- (4, -8);
\draw[dashed, gray] (8, -0.5) -- (8, -8);
\draw[dashed, gray] (12, -0.5) -- (12, -8);

% Messages
\draw[message] (0, -1) -- (4, -1) node[midway, above, font=\footnotesize] {Nachricht};
\draw[message] (4, -2) -- (8, -2) node[midway, above, font=\footnotesize] {Chat Completion};
\draw[return] (8, -3) -- (4, -3) node[midway, above, font=\footnotesize] {tool\_call};
\draw[message] (4, -4) -- (12, -4) node[midway, above, font=\footnotesize] {Ausfuehrung};
\draw[return] (12, -5) -- (4, -5) node[midway, above, font=\footnotesize] {Ergebnis};
\draw[message] (4, -6) -- (8, -6) node[midway, above, font=\footnotesize] {+ tool\_result};
\draw[return] (8, -7) -- (4, -7) node[midway, above, font=\footnotesize] {Antwort};
\draw[return] (4, -7.5) -- (0, -7.5) node[midway, above, font=\footnotesize] {Antwort};

\end{tikzpicture}

3. Komponentendiagramme (Component Diagrams)

Internal structure of individual components showing modules, files, and their relationships.

Components to detail:

•Orchestrator internals: index.ts, openai.ts, claude.ts, prompt.ts, tools.ts
•Bridge internals: Connection manager, message queue, health check
•Frontend internals: Pages, components, API routes

4. Datenflussdiagramme (Data Flow Diagrams)

How data moves through the system from input to output and storage.

Key data flows:

•User message through the system (text transformation at each stage)
•Tool call data flow (structured request, execution, result parsing)
•Memory and context management (how conversation history is maintained)
•Logging and monitoring data flow (to backend and frontend)

5. Zeitachsen (Timelines)

Development timeline showing the evolution of the system across 21 sessions.

tikz

% Example: Development Timeline
\begin{tikzpicture}[
    milestone/.style={circle, draw, fill=blue!20, minimum size=0.5cm},
    phase/.style={font=\small\bfseries, text width=3cm, align=center},
    detail/.style={font=\footnotesize, text width=4cm, align=left}
]

% Timeline axis
\draw[thick, ->] (0, 0) -- (14, 0) node[right] {Zeit};

% Phase markers
\node[milestone] (s1) at (1, 0) {};
\node[phase, above=0.3cm] at (s1) {Session 1--5};
\node[detail, below=0.3cm] at (s1) {Grundarchitektur,\\erste Agenten};

\node[milestone] (s2) at (5, 0) {};
\node[phase, above=0.3cm] at (s2) {Session 6--12};
\node[detail, below=0.3cm] at (s2) {Bridge, MCP,\\Tool Calling};

\node[milestone] (s3) at (9, 0) {};
\node[phase, above=0.3cm] at (s3) {Session 13--18};
\node[detail, below=0.3cm] at (s3) {Zuverlaessigkeit,\\Deployment};

\node[milestone] (s4) at (13, 0) {};
\node[phase, above=0.3cm] at (s4) {Session 19--21};
\node[detail, below=0.3cm] at (s4) {Thesis-Agent,\\Dokumentation};

\end{tikzpicture}

6. Skill-Hierarchie (Skill Hierarchy)

Tree structure showing how skills relate to agents and to each other.

tikz

% Example: Skill Hierarchy Tree
\begin{tikzpicture}[
    level 1/.style={sibling distance=5cm, level distance=1.5cm},
    level 2/.style={sibling distance=2.5cm, level distance=1.5cm},
    agent/.style={rectangle, draw, fill=blue!15, rounded corners,
                  font=\small, minimum width=2cm, minimum height=0.6cm},
    skill/.style={rectangle, draw, fill=green!10, rounded corners,
                  font=\footnotesize, minimum width=1.8cm, minimum height=0.5cm}
]

\node[agent] {juliaz\_agents}
    child { node[agent] {Julia}
        child { node[skill] {Orchestrierung} }
        child { node[skill] {Tool Calling} }
    }
    child { node[agent] {Schreiber}
        child { node[skill] {draft-writer} }
        child { node[skill] {figure-architect} }
    }
    child { node[agent] {OpenClaw}
        child { node[skill] {Gateway} }
        child { node[skill] {Email} }
    };

\end{tikzpicture}

7. Tool-Calling-Flow (Tool Calling Detail)

Detailed view of the request-tool_call-result loop including the decision logic.

Covers:

•How Julia decides whether to call a tool
•The structured format of tool call requests
•Execution and error handling
•Result integration back into the conversation
•Multi-step tool calling (chained calls)

Output Formats

Primary: TikZ/PGF (Native LaTeX)

Preferred for all thesis figures. Advantages:

•Scales perfectly at any resolution (vector graphics)
•Fonts match the thesis document
•No external image files to manage
•Colors and styles can be defined globally

Required packages in the thesis preamble:

latex

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta, positioning, shapes.geometric,
                 fit, calc, decorations.markings, backgrounds}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.18}

Alternative: Mermaid (Quick Prototyping)

For rapid iteration before converting to TikZ:

mermaid

graph TD
    User[Nutzer] -->|Telegram| OC[OpenClaw]
    OC -->|Message| J[Julia]
    J -->|MCP| B[Bridge]
    J -->|MCP| C[Cowork-MCP]
    B -->|REST| BE[Backend]
    J -->|WS| FE[Frontend]

Mermaid is used only for quick visualization during discussion. Final thesis figures are always TikZ.

Style Guidelines

Consistent Color Scheme

Define colors globally in the thesis preamble and use them across all figures:

latex

% In preamble: thesis color definitions
\definecolor{agentblue}{RGB}{66, 133, 244}
\definecolor{gatewayorange}{RGB}{251, 188, 4}
\definecolor{infragreen}{RGB}{52, 168, 83}
\definecolor{userpurple}{RGB}{154, 71, 207}
\definecolor{backgroundgray}{RGB}{245, 245, 245}
\definecolor{arrowgray}{RGB}{100, 100, 100}

German Labels

All diagram labels, captions, and annotations must be in German:

•"Nutzer" not "User"
•"Nachricht" not "Message"
•"Antwort" not "Response"
•"Datenbank" not "Database"
•"Schnittstelle" not "Interface"

Technical terms that are commonly used in English in German CS literature may remain in English (e.g., "Tool Calling", "Gateway", "Bridge", "Frontend", "Backend"), but should be set in upright type, not italics.

Captions and Labels

Every figure must have:

latex

\begin{figure}[htbp]
    \centering
    \input{figures/fig-04-systemarchitektur.tex}
    \caption{Ueberblick ueber die Systemarchitektur von juliaz\_agents
             mit allen sieben Komponenten und ihren Kommunikationspfaden.}
    \label{fig:systemarchitektur}
\end{figure}

Captions should be:

•Descriptive (what the figure shows)
•Self-contained (understandable without reading the surrounding text)
•In German
•Ending with a period

Reference in text using:

latex

Abbildung~\ref{fig:systemarchitektur} zeigt die Gesamtarchitektur...
% or with hyperref:
\autoref{fig:systemarchitektur} zeigt die Gesamtarchitektur...

File Organization

All figure source files live in thesis/latex/figures/:

code

thesis/latex/figures/
  fig-01-motivation.tex              % Chapter 1: Motivating diagram
  fig-03-llm-architektur.tex         % Chapter 3: LLM architecture basics
  fig-03-tool-calling-schema.tex     % Chapter 3: Tool calling concept
  fig-04-systemarchitektur.tex       % Chapter 4: Full system overview
  fig-04-agentenrollen.tex           % Chapter 4: Agent role diagram
  fig-04-kommunikationsprotokoll.tex % Chapter 4: Communication protocol
  fig-04-skill-hierarchie.tex        % Chapter 4: Skill system tree
  fig-05-tool-calling-flow.tex       % Chapter 5: Tool calling sequence
  fig-05-bridge-reconnect.tex        % Chapter 5: Bridge reconnection flow
  fig-05-nachrichtenfluss.tex        % Chapter 5: Message flow sequence
  fig-05-entwicklungszeitachse.tex   % Chapter 5: Development timeline
  fig-06-evaluationsmatrix.tex       % Chapter 6: Evaluation criteria/results

Naming convention: fig-[chapter number]-[topic].tex

Each file contains only the TikZ code (no \begin{figure} wrapper). The wrapper with caption and label goes in the chapter .tex file where the figure is included.

Common Figure Templates

Box-and-Arrow Architecture Diagram

Used for: System overview, component relationships Key elements: Rounded rectangles for components, arrows for connections, color coding for layers

Swimlane Sequence Diagram

Used for: Message flows, multi-actor interactions Key elements: Vertical lifelines, horizontal arrows, activation boxes, notes

Tree Structure

Used for: Hierarchies, taxonomies, skill trees Key elements: Parent-child nodes, connecting lines, consistent spacing

Timeline with Milestones

Used for: Development chronology, project phases Key elements: Horizontal axis, milestone markers, phase labels, annotations

Table-Style Comparison

Used for: Feature comparisons, evaluation matrices Note: Use tabular or pgfplotstable rather than TikZ for pure tables

Recreating ASCII Diagrams

The documentation files contain ASCII art diagrams that should be converted to proper TikZ figures. When encountering ASCII diagrams in source files:

•Identify the diagram type (architecture, flow, hierarchy)
•Extract all elements and their relationships
•Choose the appropriate TikZ template
•Produce clean, properly labeled output
•Ensure the TikZ version conveys the same information as the original

Workflow

•Identify which figure is needed (from chapter outline or explicit request)
•Gather information about what the figure should show (from code, docs, architecture)
•Choose the appropriate diagram type and template
•Draft the TikZ code
•Verify that all labels are German, colors are from the defined scheme, and caption/label are present
•Write the .tex file to thesis/latex/figures/
•Provide the \begin{figure}...\end{figure} wrapper for inclusion in the chapter file