Process Flow Diagram

Process Flow Diagram Skill

Create professional process flow diagrams as self-contained HTML files with inline SVG graphics and CSS styling. Optimized for linear, sequential workflows with clear step progression — manual steps, automated steps, integrations, and decision branches.

Version 1.1 · MIT License · Authored by Cocoon AI

When to Use

Use for:

• Business process documentation
• Automation workflow visualization
• Sprint / development process flows
• Approval workflows and decision trees
• Multi-step procedures with clear sequence
• Onboarding and runbook diagrams

Skip when: the relationships are non-sequential (system component graphs, infrastructure topologies). For those, see architecture-diagram-generator.

Design System

Color Palette (Step Types)

Typography

Use JetBrains Mono for all text (monospace, technical aesthetic):

<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=JetBrains+Mono:wght@400;500;600;700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">

Font sizes: 11px for step names, 9px for descriptions, 8px for annotations, 10px for step numbers.

Visual Elements

Background: #020617 (slate-950) with subtle grid pattern.

Step boxes: Rounded rectangles (rx="8") with 1.5px stroke, semi-transparent fills, minimum 140x70px.

Step number badges: Small circles with step number, positioned top-left of each step box:

<circle cx="X" cy="Y" r="12" fill="#1e293b" stroke="STEP_COLOR" stroke-width="1.5"/>
<text x="X" y="Y+4" fill="white" font-size="10" font-weight="600" text-anchor="middle">1</text>

Start/End nodes: Pill shapes (large rx value):

<rect x="X" y="Y" width="100" height="40" rx="20" fill="rgba(8, 51, 68, 0.4)" stroke="#22d3ee" stroke-width="2"/>

Decision diamonds: Rotated squares:

<rect x="X" y="Y" width="60" height="60" rx="4" transform="rotate(45, CENTER_X, CENTER_Y)" fill="rgba(136, 19, 55, 0.4)" stroke="#fb7185" stroke-width="1.5"/>

Prerequisites box: Dashed border container at top:

<rect x="X" y="Y" width="W" height="H" rx="8" fill="rgba(30, 41, 59, 0.2)" stroke="#64748b" stroke-width="1" stroke-dasharray="6,4"/>

Flow arrows: Use arrowhead marker, with optional labels:

<marker id="arrowhead" markerWidth="10" markerHeight="7" refX="9" refY="3.5" orient="auto">
  <polygon points="0 0, 10 3.5, 0 7" fill="#64748b" />
</marker>

Layout Patterns

Horizontal flow (default): Steps flow left-to-right, wrap to new row if needed.

• Prerequisites at top
• Start node on left
• Steps progress rightward
• End node on right
• Info cards below

Vertical flow: Steps flow top-to-bottom. Use for longer processes or when horizontal space is limited.

ViewBox & Overflow Guidelines

CRITICAL: Prevent right-edge cutoff

1. Calculate viewBox width generously:

   • Step stride is 220px (160px box + 60px gap — the 60px gap is needed for arrow labels like output → input)
   • Formula: (number of steps × 220) + 200px padding
   • Add +120px for each inline decision diamond (the diamond's ±57px corners plus its label consume a full step's worth of horizontal budget)
   • Add +100px if there is an exit node to the right of the last step
   • For 4 steps + 1 inline decision + exit pill: (4 × 220) + 120 + 100 + 200 = 1300px

2. Match min-width to viewBox AND container max-width:

   • .diagram-container svg { min-width: [viewBox width]px; } — same number as viewBox width, so the SVG never shrinks below its design width
   • .container { max-width: [viewBox width + 48]px; } — outer container must accommodate the SVG plus the .diagram-container's 24px side padding (48px total). If you set .container max-width equal to viewBox width, you'll get a 48px horizontal scroll and the right side will be clipped on export. Always add 48 to the viewBox width when setting .container max-width.
   • Default sizing rule: pick viewBox width V, then set svg { min-width: Vpx } and .container { max-width: (V + 48)px }. The three numbers (viewBox, svg min-width, container max-width − 48) should always be equal.

3. Right-side elements need breathing room:

   • Decision diamonds: keep 120px from right edge of viewBox
   • Exit nodes: keep 80px from right edge
   • Loop-back arrows: account for their curve radius

4. Default safe viewBox: viewBox="0 0 1300 540" with min-width: 1300px and .container { max-width: 1348px }

   • If you change the viewBox width, change all three together: set svg { min-width: <viewBox>px } and .container { max-width: <viewBox + 48>px }. The + 48 accounts for the .diagram-container's 24px side padding. If these three numbers drift apart you'll get the right side clipped behind a horizontal scroll bar (and that clipped region won't survive PNG/PDF export).
   • Accommodates 4 steps with decision + exit node comfortably
   • Scale up for more complex processes — see "Multi-row wrap" below if you need >5 steps in horizontal flow

Multi-row wrap pattern

If a horizontal flow needs more than ~5 steps + a decision, wrap to a second row instead of letting the viewBox grow past 1500px. Use a dashed slate connector to bridge end-of-row-1 to start-of-row-2:

<!-- End of row 1 (Step N right edge at, e.g., x=1240, y=180) → top of row 2 (start element at, e.g., x=120, y=423) -->
<path d="M 1240 180 L 1310 180 L 1310 380 L 120 380 L 120 423"
      fill="none" stroke="#94a3b8" stroke-width="1.5" stroke-dasharray="6,3"
      marker-end="url(#arrowhead-slate)"/>
<text x="1320" y="295" fill="#94a3b8" font-size="9">continue</text>

Place row 2 at y = row1_y + 270 to leave room for the connector to clear both rows. Keep the connector's horizontal segment at y ≈ midway between rows so it doesn't graze either row's boxes.

Cyclical loop pattern

For continuously-running processes (monitoring → trigger → action → loop), there is no Start/End pill. Instead, use a dashed cyan loop-back arrow that travels over the top of the row to return from the last step to the first:

<!-- Loop-back: last step (x=1430, y=200) → first step (x=160, y=160) over the top -->
<path d="M 1430 200 L 1460 200 L 1460 110 L 160 110 L 160 160"
      fill="none" stroke="#22d3ee" stroke-width="1.5" stroke-dasharray="6,3"
      marker-end="url(#arrowhead)"/>
<text x="800" y="103" fill="#22d3ee" font-size="9" text-anchor="middle" font-weight="600">↻ resume monitoring</text>

Reserve y = 100–120 (above the actor labels) for the horizontal segment of the loop arrow. Keep "exception path" loops (e.g. QC fail) below the row at y = row_y + 180+ with a rose dashed stroke.

Step Box Pattern

<!-- Step number badge -->
<circle cx="X" cy="Y" r="12" fill="#1e293b" stroke="STROKE_COLOR" stroke-width="1.5"/>
<text x="X" y="Y+4" fill="white" font-size="10" font-weight="600" text-anchor="middle">N</text>

<!-- Step box -->
<rect x="X+5" y="Y+5" width="160" height="80" rx="8" fill="FILL_COLOR" stroke="STROKE_COLOR" stroke-width="1.5"/>

<!-- Actor label (optional, above box) -->
<text x="CENTER_X" y="Y-8" fill="#64748b" font-size="8" text-anchor="middle">ACTOR</text>

<!-- Step title -->
<text x="CENTER_X" y="Y+30" fill="white" font-size="11" font-weight="600" text-anchor="middle">Step Name</text>

<!-- Step description (multi-line if needed) -->
<text x="CENTER_X" y="Y+48" fill="#94a3b8" font-size="9" text-anchor="middle">Description line 1</text>
<text x="CENTER_X" y="Y+62" fill="#94a3b8" font-size="9" text-anchor="middle">Description line 2</text>

Arrow with Label Pattern

<line x1="X1" y1="Y1" x2="X2" y2="Y2" stroke="#64748b" stroke-width="1.5" marker-end="url(#arrowhead)"/>
<text x="MID_X" y="MID_Y-6" fill="#94a3b8" font-size="8" text-anchor="middle">output → input</text>

Info Cards (Bottom Section)

Three cards for process metadata:

1. Prerequisites — What's needed before starting
2. Inputs/Outputs — Data flowing through the process
3. Tools/Integrations — Systems involved

Export Toolbar (built-in)

Every diagram ships with a single unobtrusive ⋯ toggle in the header. Click it to reveal three buttons — 📋 Copy (high-DPI PNG to clipboard, scale: 2), 🖼️ PNG (high-DPI PNG download), 📄 PDF (PNG embedded in a one-page PDF via jsPDF). The toolbar collapses back to the icon by default so it doesn't clutter the diagram. All three formats use the same html2canvas capture (with the toolbar excluded and 32px padding around the content), so PDF preserves the dark theme without going through the browser's print dialog.

When generating a new diagram, keep these intact in the template:

• The two CDN scripts in <head> (pinned versions, with Subresource Integrity hashes and crossorigin="anonymous"):
  • https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/html2canvas@1.4.1/dist/html2canvas.min.js — integrity="sha384-ZZ1pncU3bQe8y31yfZdMFdSpttDoPmOZg2wguVK9almUodir1PghgT0eY7Mrty8H"
  • https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/jspdf@2.5.2/dist/jspdf.umd.min.js — integrity="sha384-en/ztfPSRkGfME4KIm05joYXynqzUgbsG5nMrj/xEFAHXkeZfO3yMK8QQ+mP7p1/"
  • SRI ensures generated diagrams are tamper-resistant against CDN compromise. Do not modify the hashes; if the version is bumped, the new hash must be computed fresh.
• id="report-container" on the outermost .container div (this is what gets captured)
• .toolbar markup with .toolbar-actions (collapsed by default) and .toolbar-toggle (the ⋯ button)
• .toolbar CSS + @media print { .toolbar { display: none !important; } }
• copyAsImage(), downloadPNG(), and downloadPDF() script before </body>, all using getBoundingClientRect() + html2canvas(document.body, { x, y, width, height, ignoreElements }) to capture a precise rect with breathing room and no toolbar

Caveats: clipboard API needs a user gesture and a secure context (https/file/localhost). SVG <foreignObject> renders inconsistently in html2canvas — stick to plain <svg> shapes and <text>. Bump scale: 2 to 3 or 4 for higher-res output.

Template

Copy and customize the template at resources/template.html. Key customization points:

1. Update the <title> and header text
2. Add prerequisites in the prerequisites box
3. Add steps in sequence with appropriate colors
4. Draw arrows between steps with labels
5. Update the three summary cards
6. Update footer metadata

Output

Always produce a single self-contained .html file with:

• Embedded CSS (no external stylesheets except Google Fonts)
• Inline SVG (no external images)
• Two CDN scripts for the export toolbar (html2canvas, jsPDF) — both pinned with SRI hashes

The file should render correctly when opened directly in any modern browser.

Quality Assurance — Preview & Fix

IMPORTANT: Always preview the diagram before delivering to the user.

After creating the HTML file, follow this QA process based on your context:

Context-Aware QA Approaches

Step 1: Preview the diagram

1. Copy the file to /mnt/user-data/outputs/ (in Claude.ai sandbox)
2. Use present_files to share it with the user
3. If browser tools available: Take a screenshot to visually inspect
4. If no browser tools: Let user know you've followed the design system but they should verify the rendering

Step 2: Check for common issues

Inspect the screenshot (or ask user to check) for these problems:

Layout issues:

• Right-side cutoff (decision diamonds, exit nodes, labels clipped)
• Overlapping elements (boxes, labels, context areas)
• Elements extending beyond viewBox boundaries

Connection issues:

• Arrows not connecting to box edges (gaps or overshoots)
• Arrow labels overlapping with the arrow line itself
• Loop-back arrows not curving smoothly

Text issues:

• Labels overlapping each other
• Text extending outside boxes
• Unreadable font sizes

Spacing issues:

• Uneven gaps between steps
• Step number badges misaligned with boxes
• Actor labels too close to or overlapping boxes

Step 3: Fix any issues found

Common fixes:

Step 4: Re-preview if changes were made

If you made fixes:

• With browser tools: Take another screenshot to verify
• Without browser tools: Re-present the file and let user confirm the fix

Coordinate Reference Guide

For a step box at position (x, y) with width=140, height=105:

• Left edge: x
• Right edge: x + 140
• Top edge: y
• Bottom edge: y + 105
• Center: (x + 70, y + 52)
• Arrow entry (left): (x, y + 52)
• Arrow exit (right): (x + 140, y + 52)

For a decision diamond centered at (cx, cy) with size 64:

• Left point: (cx - 45, cy)
• Right point: (cx + 45, cy)
• Top point: (cx, cy - 45)
• Bottom point: (cx, cy + 45)

For a pill/exit node at (x, y) with width=100, height=40:

• Center: (x + 50, y + 20)
• Top edge: y
• Bottom edge: y + 40

Example Process Types

Automation Flow (e.g. Sprint Reports)

• Prerequisites: GitHub configured, access tokens
• Steps: Manual input → Automated processing → Review → Integration call
• Mix of manual (emerald) and automated (violet) steps
• See examples/sprint-report-flow.html

Approval Workflow (e.g. AI Governance, IT Change Management)

• Steps with decision diamonds for approval/rejection paths
• Multiple end states possible (Approved → Production, Rejected → exit)
• See examples/ai-governance-workflow.html (5 steps + decision + drift loop-back)
• See examples/it-change-management.html (two-row wrap pattern, 7 steps + 2 decisions)

Cyclical Process (e.g. Inventory Reorder)

• No Start/End pills — process is always-on
• Loop-back arrow over the top returns end-of-cycle to start-of-cycle
• Exception paths use a rose dashed stroke below the row
• See examples/inventory-control.html

Worked Example — AI Governance Workflow

This is the linear flow used by examples/ai-governance-workflow.html. Use the coordinates below as a starting point when authoring a new 5-step diagram with one inline decision diamond.

ViewBox sizing:

• 5 steps × 220 stride = 1100
• • 1 inline diamond = +120
• • start pill + end pill = +220
• • 60 left/right padding = +120
• → viewBox="0 0 1500 520", svg min-width: 1500px, .container max-width: 1548px

Element coordinates (y = 180 for arrow midline):

Flow: Start → 1 → 2 → 3 → Decision · {Yes → 4 → 5 → ↓ → In Production} · {No → ↓ → Rejected}.

Drift loop-back: dashed slate path from Monitor (1380, 220) curving under the row back to Risk Classification (510, 230). Reserve y = 380–420 for this kind of return arrow so it clears the legend below.