Diagram Export Tool

Convert all Mermaid diagrams in your architecture blueprint to presentation-quality PNG images.

Perfect for: Stakeholder presentations, documentation, design reviews, Confluence/Notion embedding

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

•Generate PNG diagrams for stakeholder presentations
•Embed architecture diagrams in documentation (Confluence, Notion, Google Docs)
•Create visual assets for pitch decks or investor updates
•Share diagrams with teams that don't have Mermaid rendering
•Prepare diagrams before running /architect:stakeholder-doc or /architect:export-docx

Input: Architecture blueprint (markdown file with Mermaid diagrams) Output: diagrams/ folder with PNG files

Diagram Types Extracted

The tool extracts and renders these diagram types from blueprints:

1. Architecture Diagrams

•C4 Container Diagram (from Section 5: Architecture Diagram)
•C4 Component Diagram (if included)
•Deployment Diagram (from Section 5)

File naming: architecture-container.png, architecture-component.png, deployment.png

2. Database Diagrams

•Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) (from Section 4: Database Schema)
•Multi-tenancy Isolation Diagram (if B2B product)

File naming: database-erd.png, multi-tenancy.png

3. Sequence Diagrams

•Authentication Flow (from Section 8: Security Architecture)
•API Request Flow (from Section 6: API Specification)
•Real-time Update Flow (if real-time features detected)
•Payment Flow (if e-commerce detected)

File naming: sequence-auth.png, sequence-api.png, sequence-realtime.png, sequence-payment.png

4. Flow Diagrams

•User Journey Flow (if included in blueprint)
•Data Flow Diagram (if included)

File naming: flow-user-journey.png, flow-data.png

How It Works

Step 1: Scan Blueprint for Mermaid Blocks

Extract all code blocks with mermaid language identifier:

markdown

```mermaid
graph TD
    A[User] --> B[Frontend]
    B --> C[Backend]
    C --> D[Database]

code


### Step 2: Categorize Diagrams

Identify diagram type based on:
- Section context (Architecture Diagram vs Database Schema vs Security)
- Mermaid syntax (graph, sequenceDiagram, erDiagram, C4Context, etc.)
- Content analysis (keywords like "auth", "payment", "user journey")

### Step 3: Render to PNG

Use **Mermaid CLI** or **Kroki API** to render:

#### Option A: Mermaid CLI (Local Rendering)

```bash
# Install mermaid-cli if not present
npm install -g @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli

# Render each diagram
mmdc -i diagram.mmd -o diagrams/architecture-container.png -w 1600 -H 1200 -b transparent

Rendering settings:

•Width: 1600px (presentation quality)
•Height: Auto (maintain aspect ratio, max 1200px)
•Background: Transparent
•Theme: Default (or extract from blueprint if specified)

Option B: Kroki API (Cloud Rendering)

If mermaid-cli not available, use Kroki public API:

bash

# Encode diagram to base64
DIAGRAM=$(echo 'graph TD; A-->B' | base64)

# Fetch PNG from Kroki
curl https://kroki.io/mermaid/png/$DIAGRAM -o diagram.png

Fallback strategy: Try Mermaid CLI first, fallback to Kroki if CLI not installed.

Step 4: Create diagrams/ Folder Structure

code

diagrams/
├── architecture-container.png       # Main C4 diagram
├── architecture-component.png       # Component details (if exists)
├── deployment.png                   # Hosting architecture
├── database-erd.png                 # Entity relationships
├── multi-tenancy.png                # Tenant isolation (B2B only)
├── sequence-auth.png                # Authentication flow
├── sequence-api.png                 # API request/response
├── sequence-realtime.png            # Real-time updates (if exists)
├── sequence-payment.png             # Payment flow (e-commerce only)
├── flow-user-journey.png            # User journey (if exists)
└── flow-data.png                    # Data flow (if exists)

Step 5: Generate Index File

Create diagrams/README.md with:

markdown

# Architecture Diagrams

Generated from blueprint on [Date]

## High-Level Architecture

![Container Diagram](./architecture-container.png)
*System components and how they connect*

## Database Schema

![ERD](./database-erd.png)
*Data model and relationships*

## Authentication Flow

![Auth Sequence](./sequence-auth.png)
*How users authenticate and authorize*

## API Request Flow

![API Sequence](./sequence-api.png)
*Typical API request lifecycle*

[... additional diagrams ...]

---

**Note**: All diagrams are exported at 1600px width for presentation quality.
To re-generate, run `/architect:export-diagrams` in the project root.

Output Format

When invoked, generate:

code

📊 Extracting diagrams from blueprint...

✅ Found 8 Mermaid diagrams in blueprint
✅ Categorized diagrams by type

🎨 Rendering diagrams to PNG...
✅ architecture-container.png (1600x890px)
✅ database-erd.png (1600x1120px)
✅ sequence-auth.png (1600x780px)
✅ sequence-api.png (1600x650px)
✅ deployment.png (1600x720px)
✅ multi-tenancy.png (1600x580px)
⚠️  sequence-realtime.png (skipped - no real-time diagram in blueprint)
⚠️  sequence-payment.png (skipped - no payment diagram in blueprint)

📁 Created diagrams/ folder with 6 PNG files
📄 Created diagrams/README.md index

Ready for presentations and documentation!

Next steps:
- Use diagrams in `/architect:stakeholder-doc`
- Embed in Confluence/Notion
- Add to pitch decks or investor updates

Customization Options

Optional parameters (ask user if they want to customize):

•Output format: PNG (default), SVG, PDF
•Width: 1600px (default), 1200px, 2000px (for retina displays)
•Theme: Default, dark, forest, neutral
•Background: Transparent (default), white, custom color
•DPI: 96 (screen), 300 (print quality)

Default behavior: PNG, 1600px width, default theme, transparent background.

Diagram Quality Standards

All exported diagrams must meet these standards:

•✅ Minimum width: 1200px (readable in presentations)
•✅ Aspect ratio preserved: No stretching or distortion
•✅ Text readable: Font size ≥12pt when displayed at 1600px
•✅ Colors accessible: Sufficient contrast for colorblind viewers
•✅ Transparent background: Unless user requests solid color
•✅ No truncation: All labels and arrows fully visible

Error Handling

If Mermaid syntax is invalid:

•Action: Report which diagram has errors, show Mermaid error message
•Example: "⚠️ ERD diagram has syntax error: Expected 'entity' keyword at line 5"
•Fallback: Skip invalid diagram, continue with others

If Mermaid CLI not installed:

•Action: Automatically fallback to Kroki API
•Notify user: "ℹ️ Using Kroki API for rendering (mermaid-cli not found)"

If diagram is too large (>10MB):

•Action: Reduce width to 1200px and retry
•Notify user: "⚠️ Diagram too large, reduced to 1200px width"

If no diagrams found in blueprint:

•Action: Error message with guidance
•Example: "❌ No Mermaid diagrams found in blueprint. Did you run /architect:blueprint first?"

Integration with Other Skills

Before running `/architect:stakeholder-doc`:

Run /architect:export-diagrams first to generate PNGs that stakeholder-doc can embed.

Before running `/architect:export-docx`:

Run /architect:export-diagrams to create diagrams for Word document.

After running `/architect:blueprint`:

Run /architect:export-diagrams to generate visual assets immediately.

Examples

Example 1: Basic Usage

bash

# After generating blueprint
/architect:export-diagrams

# Output:
# ✅ Created diagrams/ with 6 PNG files
# Ready for presentations!

Example 2: Custom Settings

bash

/architect:export-diagrams --format=svg --width=2000 --theme=dark

# Output:
# ✅ Created diagrams/ with 6 SVG files (2000px, dark theme)

Example 3: Print Quality

bash

/architect:export-diagrams --dpi=300 --background=white

# Output:
# ✅ Created diagrams/ with 6 PNG files (300 DPI, print-ready)

Technical Implementation

Mermaid CLI Rendering (Preferred)

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Extract Mermaid blocks from blueprint and render each

BLUEPRINT="blueprint.md"
OUTPUT_DIR="diagrams"

mkdir -p "$OUTPUT_DIR"

# Extract each mermaid block and render
# (Actual implementation would parse markdown and extract blocks)

# Example rendering command:
mmdc -i temp-diagram.mmd \
     -o "$OUTPUT_DIR/architecture-container.png" \
     -w 1600 \
     -b transparent \
     -t default

Kroki API Rendering (Fallback)

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Encode diagram and fetch from Kroki

DIAGRAM_CODE="graph TD; A-->B"
ENCODED=$(echo "$DIAGRAM_CODE" | base64 -w 0)

curl "https://kroki.io/mermaid/png/$ENCODED" \
     -o "diagrams/diagram.png" \
     --silent \
     --fail

Diagram Extraction Logic

typescript

// Pseudocode for extracting diagrams from blueprint

function extractDiagrams(blueprint: string) {
  const diagrams = [];

  // Parse markdown, extract code blocks with ```mermaid
  const mermaidBlocks = extractMermaidCodeBlocks(blueprint);

  for (const block of mermaidBlocks) {
    const context = getSectionContext(block); // "Architecture Diagram", "Database Schema", etc.
    const type = detectDiagramType(block.code); // graph, sequenceDiagram, erDiagram, etc.
    const filename = generateFilename(context, type); // "architecture-container.png"

    diagrams.push({
      code: block.code,
      filename: filename,
      context: context,
      type: type
    });
  }

  return diagrams;
}

Success Criteria

A successful diagram export should:

•✅ Extract all Mermaid diagrams from blueprint
•✅ Render each diagram to high-quality PNG (1600px minimum)
•✅ Use descriptive filenames based on diagram purpose
•✅ Create diagrams/ folder with organized structure
•✅ Generate README.md index with embedded images
•✅ Handle errors gracefully (invalid syntax, missing tools)
•✅ Provide clear progress and completion messages
•✅ Be ready for immediate use in presentations and docs

Files Created

code

diagrams/
├── README.md                        # Index with embedded images
├── architecture-container.png
├── architecture-component.png       # (optional)
├── deployment.png
├── database-erd.png
├── multi-tenancy.png                # (if B2B)
├── sequence-auth.png
├── sequence-api.png
├── sequence-realtime.png            # (if real-time features)
├── sequence-payment.png             # (if e-commerce)
├── flow-user-journey.png            # (optional)
└── flow-data.png                    # (optional)

Total size: Typically 1-5 MB for all diagrams combined.

Diagram Export Tool

When to Use This Skill

Diagram Types Extracted

1. Architecture Diagrams

2. Database Diagrams

3. Sequence Diagrams

4. Flow Diagrams

How It Works

Step 1: Scan Blueprint for Mermaid Blocks

Option B: Kroki API (Cloud Rendering)

Step 4: Create diagrams/ Folder Structure

Step 5: Generate Index File

Output Format

Customization Options

Diagram Quality Standards

Error Handling

If Mermaid syntax is invalid:

If Mermaid CLI not installed:

If diagram is too large (>10MB):

If no diagrams found in blueprint:

Integration with Other Skills

Before running /architect:stakeholder-doc:

Before running /architect:export-docx:

After running /architect:blueprint:

Examples

Example 1: Basic Usage

Example 2: Custom Settings

Example 3: Print Quality

Technical Implementation

Mermaid CLI Rendering (Preferred)

Kroki API Rendering (Fallback)

Diagram Extraction Logic

Success Criteria

Files Created

Before running `/architect:stakeholder-doc`:

Before running `/architect:export-docx`:

After running `/architect:blueprint`: