Generate Visio

⚠ TEMPLATE ONLY — Slot for Visio generation

This skill is a scaffolding slot per L-001 (Lintel = scaffolding, not curated content). The frontmatter + agent-mapping entry exist; the workflow body does not. When an operator invokes this skill, the AI generates the appropriate workflow content at invocation time using the design-spec.json + content.md from the shared pipeline.

Why a slot exists

Visio diagrams are highly content-specific: architecture topology, sequence diagram, swimlane, network layout, deployment pipeline. The shared pipeline cannot pre-bake a "general Visio workflow" because what gets diagrammed depends entirely on what's being engaged. AI-at-invocation reads content.md → detects what should be diagrammed → produces appropriate stencil/connector layout.

Alternative consideration: Visio diagrams are often delivered as .vsdx (Visio format), .svg (vector), or .png (raster export). The slot accepts --output-format <vsdx|svg|png|drawio> to handle the spectrum.

At-invocation contract

When invoked (via /li:generate-visio --from-pipeline <run-dir> or directly):

1. Diagram-type detection: AI reads content.md + identifies sections with diagrammable content (architecture sketches in §X, network topologies in §Y, process flows in §Z). Detection signals: keywords like "topology," "flow," "sequence," "deployment," explicit Visio mentions in notes_for_writer from outline.
2. Diagram-type selection: Per detected section, AI picks the right Visio diagram-type (Cloud Architecture, Network, Cross-functional Flowchart, Sequence Diagram, etc.). For cloud-architecture content, defaults to a cloud-architecture stencil set (provider-specific stencils contributed by the active pack if present).
3. Stencil + connector layout: AI lays out shapes per standard architecture-diagram reference patterns. Uses design-spec.json's palette for color-coding (primary for compute, secondary for network, accent for identity, etc.).
4. Output-format selection: Default vsdx for editable handoff. svg for embedded artifacts. png for slide-embed. drawio for collaborative editing if customer prefers draw.io over Visio.
5. Build: Use python-vsdx or libvsx-equivalent (or generate via draw.io XML format if more reliable). Brand-template from ~/.lintel/brand/visio-templates/ if present.
6. QA hand-off: Pass produced diagram to /li:generate-qa for validation (mostly visual — stencil-consistency, connector-validity).

Brand template

~/.lintel/brand/visio-templates/ slot exists. Templates might include: cloud-architecture-base.vsdx, network-topology-base.vsdx, swimlane-base.vsdx. If template present, AI uses it as starting stencil set. If empty, AI uses generic shapes (or a provider stencil set contributed by the active pack).

Agent dispatch

Per skills/generate/agent-mapping.yaml:

• Primary: SystemArchitect (default architecture/topology diagrams)
• Conditional: NetworkArchitect if topology-focused content
• Conditional: SecurityAuditor if diagram includes security boundaries (trust zones, DMZ)

Voice tier

voice: internal default. Diagrams have minimal prose (labels, captions). Voice constraints apply to labels but loosely.

If invoked with --customer-share, requires an upstream PASS from the active pack's voice gate (none by default) on any text labels in diagram (orchestrator-level gate).

Status protocol

• DONE — diagram produced (vsdx/svg/png/drawio) + qa-handoff successful
• DONE_WITH_CONCERNS — produced but qa flagged stencil-inconsistency or label issues
• BLOCKED — content.md has no diagrammable sections + no fresh-architecture strategy declared
• NEEDS_CONTEXT — --from-pipeline directory missing, design-spec absent, or output-format unspecified for ambiguous content

When to promote from slot to curated

If a recurring diagram-pattern emerges (e.g., always the same cloud-architecture with same shape-layout), promote that pattern into the SKILL.md body — that becomes a canonical Visio-builder for that scenario.

Until then: AI generates fresh per invocation. Repo stays clean.

Recommended next steps

After invocation:

• For QA: /li:generate-qa --artifacts <diagram-path>
• For embedding in deck: chain /li:generate-ppt --include-diagram <svg-path> after diagram approved
• For collaborative editing: invoke with --output-format drawio and share .drawio file
• For multi-format consistency: invoke parent /li:generate instead of solo-invocation