Atlas / Skills / cathrynlavery / Diagram Design

Diagram DesignSAFE

skills/cathrynlavery/diagram-design

Editorial diagram design for Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Factory Droid, and Pi. 44 diagram types. Self-contained HTML + SVG. No shadows. No Mermaid slop.

Verdict
SAFE
Grade
B
Trust score
89 /100
Version
2.6
Hosts
4 documented
License
MIT
Stars
48,899
01

Overview

Editorial diagram design for Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Factory Droid, and Pi. 44 diagram types. Self-contained HTML + SVG. No shadows. No Mermaid slop.

Read from source at commit 2f7a45b32340OBSERVED · 2026-10-10
02

Host compatibility

What the documentation claims. We have not run a compatibility test.

HostStatusNotes
claude-codementioned
codexmentioned
copilotmentioned
cursormentioned
03

What it tells the agent

The instruction file, verbatim from the audited commit — this is the text the model reads, and the surface the audit's instruction layer examines. Quoted here so you can judge it without cloning anything.

---
name: diagram-design
description: Create branded architecture, architecture delta, IT current-state, flowchart, sequence, state machine, ER/data model, timeline, swimlane, quadrant, radar/spider, polar chart (polar/radial lollipop), loop/flywheel, nested, tree, org chart, layer stack, exploded axonometric, axonometric plan, Venn, pyramid/funnel, treemap and marimekko, heatmap, bar and dumbbell, waterfall, line (slopegraph, ridgeline, streamgraph, bump), Gantt and scatter charts (bubble, beeswarm), high-level, process, medallion, data flow, DP integration, DP security matrix, Sankey, fishbone, Wardley map, kanban, user journey, deployment, dependency graph, UML class, story map, or database schema diagrams as HTML/SVG/PNG, with .drawio, Mermaid, and .excalidraw import, plus lifecycle phase maps, block decomposition trees, and onboarding guidance.
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: "2.6"
---

# Diagram Design

Create diagrams as self-contained HTML files with inline SVG and an editorial design system.

Forty-four visual types. Semantic patterns describe behavior; type references describe layout.

---

## 0. First-time setup — style guide gate

**Before generating your first diagram in a new project, verify the style guide has been customized.**

Do not silently ship default-skinned diagrams into a branded project.

First resolve any project `.diagram-design` marker per [`references/profiles.md`](references/profiles.md); a successfully resolved marker selects its profile and bypasses this gate. That reference owns failures, the protected default, and save behavior.

Open [`references/style-guide.md`](references/style-guide.md) and check the default tokens. If they are still the shipped defaults (paper `#f5f5f5`, ink `#2d3142`, accent `#bf4520`), **pause and ask the user**:

> *"This is your first diagram in this project and the style guide is still default. Customize now? Options: (a) website URL, (b) installed skill, (c) local folder/design-system, (d) paste tokens, (e) keep default, (f) load saved profile."*

Then branch per the matching section of [`references/onboarding.md`](references/onboarding.md); for **(f)** follow [`references/profiles.md`](references/profiles.md).

**Once the style guide has been customized** (or the user explicitly chose default), skip this gate on later runs. A leading profile header names the copied-in active profile. Without a header, any semantic-role value or typography family differing from shipped defaults means **custom-unsaved**: skip the gate and offer to save it as a profile. All-default tokens with no marker/header trigger the gate. After onboarding, offer to save as a named client profile per `references/profiles.md`.

---

## 1. Philosophy

**The highest-quality move is usually deletion.**

Applied to schematics:

- Every node represents a distinct idea. Two nodes that always travel together are one node.
- Every connection carries information. If the relationship is obvious from layout, remove the line.
- Coral is **editorial, not a flag.** 1–2 focal nodes per diagram. Using it on 5 nodes erases the signal.
- The schematic isn't done when everything is added. It's done when nothing can be removed.

**Target density: 4/10.** Enough to be technically complete. Not so dense it needs a guide. Above 9 nodes, it's probably two diagrams.

---

## 2. When to Use

Use for any of the 44 visual types (§3) when a reader will learn more from a visual than from prose, a table, or a bulleted list.

**Don't use for:**

- Quick unicode diagrams → use **wiretext**.
- Lists of things → table or bullets.
- Attribute-only before/after → table; topology changes → Architecture delta.
- One-shape "diagrams" → just write the sentence.

Before drawing, ask: *Would the reader learn more from this than from a well-written paragraph?* If no, don't draw.

---

## 3. Selection: semantic pattern, then visual type

When behavior, state, enforcement, or risk carries the meaning, first load [`references/semantic-patterns.md`](references/semantic-patterns.md) and choose one primary pattern. Then choose the nearest visual type for layout. If no pattern matches, choose the type directly.

| Behavioral trigger | Semantic pattern → nearest type |
|---|---|
| Fan-in, queue depth, finite capacity, bottleneck | **Fan-in queue / bottleneck** → Data flow |
| Repeated Question / Input / Governance / Output slots across stages | **Stage framework with semantic slots** → Process |
| Conversation or loose input becomes a structured durable artifact | **Unstructured input → structured artifact** → Data flow |
| Two rule traces need pass/fail/skipped/not-reached and first divergence | **Paired policy-evaluation traces** → Flowchart |
| Trust boundaries plus permitted/forbidden ingress or deploy paths | **Secure paved road** → Architecture |
| Controls grouped by where they are enforced | **Governance / control catalog** → Layer stack |
| Defenses compensate for prior gaps and residual risk propagates | **Compensating security layers** → Layer stack |
| Hierarchical, ID-addressable decomposition needing per-block I/O, constraints, and a code link | **Traceable block decomposition** → Tree |
| One subject progresses through phases, waits, retries, cancellation, and terminal outcomes | **Lifecycle phase map** → State Machine |

The pattern owns semantic primitives and its tighter budget; the type owns layout grammar. Use [`references/animation.md`](references/animation.md) only when motion is requested or materially clarifies ordered change; static remains the default.

### Visual-type guide (44)

| If you're showing... | Use | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Components + connections in one system snapshot | **Architecture** | [type-architecture.md](references/type-architecture.md) |
| Structural change between synchronized Before / After topologies, with a Changes ledger | **Architecture delta** | [type-architecture-delta.md](references/type-architecture-delta.md) |
| Legacy IT landscape by phase or 
04

Trust audit

SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.

LayerWhat it checksResult
L0Provenance & inventoryPASS
L1Static analysis of the codePASS
L2Instruction surface (what it tells the agent)PASS
L3Class-specific surfacePASS
L4Behavioural (sandbox)SKIPPED

What the source does

Filesystem
none-observed
Network
none-observed
Shell
none-observed
Dependencies
pinned
Secrets in source
none-found

Findings (1)

LOWObfuscation / stealth · obf.decode_call · CWE-506, CWE-94
scripts/drawio_extract.py:99
raw = base64.b64decode(payload, validate=False)

Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.

Audited 2026-10-10 · audit v0.4.1 · source sha 2f7a45b32340full audit observations/trust-audit/skill/cathrynlavery__diagram-design.json · Report an issue / request a re-scan
05

Audit history

Every audit this skill has had.

DateSourceVerdictGradeScoreChange
2026-10-102f7a45b32340SAFEB89first audit
06

Questions

What does the diagram-design — cathrynlavery/diagram-design skill do?

Editorial diagram design for Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Factory Droid, and Pi. 44 diagram types. Self-contained HTML + SVG. No shadows. No Mermaid slop.

Is diagram-design — cathrynlavery/diagram-design safe to install?

The audit found nothing in the source that contradicts what it says it does, and graded it B (89/100). Grade A is held back for packages that have also passed a sandboxed behavioural run, which is why a clean skill reads B.

What can diagram-design — cathrynlavery/diagram-design access on my machine?

The audit observed no filesystem, network or shell use at all in its source.

Which assistants does diagram-design — cathrynlavery/diagram-design work with?

Its documentation mentions claude-code, codex, copilot and cursor. That is what the text claims, not a compatibility test we ran.

How current is this page?

The grade is for one exact copy of the source (2f7a45b32340), read on 2026-10-10. The repository is watched, and a new audit runs when it changes — this is the first audit.

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