Draw.io Delegation Skill

Delegate diagram creation to a separate GitHub Copilot CLI session that has the draw.io MCP server enabled.

Prerequisites

1. •

   Start the draw.io container (if not already running):

   bash

   cd ~/dotfiles/ai && docker compose up -d
   

2. •

   Verify container is ready:

   bash

   curl -sf http://localhost:8098/ > /dev/null && echo "ready" || echo "not ready"
   

Usage

To create a diagram, use the bash tool to call drawio-copilot-task with a detailed prompt:

drawio-copilot-task "Your detailed diagram description here"

How It Works

1. •drawio-copilot-task is a shell function in ~/dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc (stowed to ~/.zshrc)
2. •It starts GitHub Copilot CLI with:
   • •--additional-mcp-config @~/.copilot/drawio-only.json (enables drawio MCP)
   • •--disable-builtin-mcps (disables github-mcp-server)
   • •--allow-all-tools --no-ask-user --silent (non-interactive mode)
3. •Copilot receives your prompt, uses drawio MCP tools to create the diagram
4. •The diagram appears in the user's browser (via draw.io container at localhost:8098)
5. •Copilot exits after completing the task

Prompt Guidelines

Be specific - include components, connections, and layout hints:

# Good: specific components and relationships
drawio-copilot-task "Create an AWS architecture diagram showing:
- VPC with public and private subnets
- ALB in public subnet
- EKS cluster with 3 pods in private subnet
- RDS PostgreSQL in private subnet
- Show arrows: ALB -> EKS -> RDS"

# Good: Kubernetes with specific resources
drawio-copilot-task "Create a Kubernetes diagram with:
- Ingress controller
- Service (ClusterIP)
- Deployment with 3 replicas
- ConfigMap and Secret
- PersistentVolumeClaim
Show the namespace boundary"

# Bad: too vague
drawio-copilot-task "make a diagram"

Troubleshooting

Function not found

The drawio-copilot-task function is defined in ~/dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc.

• •The function should be available in any interactive zsh session

Container not running

cd ~/dotfiles/ai && docker compose up -d
docker ps | grep drawio

MCP server can't connect

• •Verify http://localhost:8098/ is accessible in browser
• •Check container logs: docker logs drawio

Diagram not appearing

• •The browser should open automatically via start_session
• •If not, open http://localhost:8098/ manually

Limitations

• •Runs as separate process - no context from current session
• •Non-interactive (auto-approves all tools)
• •For iterative work, user should run drawio-copilot alias directly

Interactive Mode

For interactive diagram work (user-facing), use the shell alias directly:

drawio-copilot

This opens an interactive Copilot session with drawio MCP enabled.