Excalidraw Free Skill

Create professional Excalidraw diagrams with Claude. Mind maps, swimlanes, and process flows with arrows that actually connect.

What's Included

Diagram Type	Use For	Workflow
Mind Maps	Brainstorming, book summaries, topic exploration	workflows/mind-maps.md
Swimlanes	Multi-role processes, who does what, handoffs	workflows/swimlane.md
Process Flows	Step-by-step procedures, SOPs, decision flows	workflows/process-flow.md

How It Works

•You describe what you want to visualize
•Claude identifies the right diagram type
•Claude analyzes the content and plans the layout
•Claude generates the .excalidraw file with proper formatting

Quick Start

Tell Claude what you want to visualize:

•"Create a mind map for my content strategy"
•"Map out my client onboarding process as a swimlane"
•"Show my sales funnel as a process flow"
•"Visualize the steps in my morning routine"

Claude will ask clarifying questions if needed, then generate the diagram.

Workflow Routing

Step 1: Identify diagram type from user request

User Says	Diagram Type	LOAD THIS WORKFLOW
"mind map", "brainstorm", "ideas", "branches", "book summary"	Mind Map	READ: workflows/mind-maps.md
"swimlane", "who does what", "roles", "handoff", "multi-person"	Swimlane	READ: workflows/swimlane.md
"process", "steps", "flow", "procedure", "SOP", "workflow"	Process Flow	READ: workflows/process-flow.md
Other/unclear	Ask user	Clarify before proceeding

Step 2: Load core references (ALWAYS)

Before generating ANY diagram, also READ these files:

•references/json-format.md - Required for proper JSON structure
•references/colors.md - Color palettes

Step 3: Follow the workflow

Each workflow file contains:

•Layout rules and positioning
•Element templates
•Color schemes
•Example outputs

References (Load Before Generating)

Reference	Purpose
references/json-format.md	JSON structure, shapes, arrows, binding rules
references/colors.md	Color palettes for professional diagrams

CRITICAL: Always load json-format.md before generating ANY Excalidraw file. It contains the bidirectional binding rules that make arrows connect properly.

Example Prompts

Mind Maps

•"Create a mind map for the book Atomic Habits"
•"Map out my business goals for this year"
•"Visualize the topics I want to cover in my course"

Swimlanes

•"Show my content creation workflow (me, AI, editor)"
•"Map the customer journey from lead to client"
•"Create a swimlane for our hiring process"

Process Flows

•"Show the steps in my morning routine"
•"Create a flowchart for handling customer complaints"
•"Map my sales process from first contact to close"

Output

Claude saves diagrams as .excalidraw files.

Naming convention:

•[topic]-mindmap.excalidraw
•[process]-swimlane.excalidraw
•[process]-flow.excalidraw

To open:

•Go to excalidraw.com
•Click menu → "Open"
•Select the .excalidraw file

Skill Structure

code

excalidraw-free/
├── SKILL.md (this file)
├── workflows/
│   ├── mind-maps.md      ← Radial diagrams
│   ├── swimlane.md       ← Multi-role processes
│   └── process-flow.md   ← Sequential steps
└── references/
    ├── json-format.md    ← JSON structure + binding rules
    └── colors.md         ← Color palettes

Tips

•Keep it simple - Start with 4-8 elements, add more if needed
•Use colors meaningfully - Different colors for different categories
•Check the output - Open in Excalidraw to verify arrows connect

Want More?

This free skill covers the fundamentals. For advanced business visualization:

Business X-Ray Workshop includes:

•The interview process (what questions to ask)
•Advanced diagram types (bowtie, decision trees, sequences)
•Business architecture methodology
•How to identify what to visualize

The skill makes diagrams. The workshop teaches you how to think.

Free Excalidraw skill by Rashid