Skill 009

Dialogue Graph Skill

This skill provides a dialogue_graph module to easily build valid dialogue trees/graphs.

When to use

• Script Parsers: When converting text to data.
• Dialogue Editors: When building tools to edit conversation flow.
• Game Logic: When traversing a dialogue tree.
• Visualization: When generating visual diagrams of dialogue flows.

How to use

Import the module:

from dialogue_graph import Graph, Node, Edge

1. The Graph Class

The main container.

graph = Graph()

2. Adding Nodes

Define content nodes.

# Regular line
graph.add_node(Node(id="Start", speaker="Guard", text="Halt!", type="line"))

# Choice hub
graph.add_node(Node(id="Choices", type="choice"))

3. Adding Edges

Connect nodes (transitions).

# Simple transition
graph.add_edge(Edge(source="Start", target="Choices"))

# Choice transition (with text)
graph.add_edge(Edge(source="Choices", target="End", text="1. Run away"))

4. Export

Serialize to JSON format for the engine.

data = graph.to_dict()
# returns {"nodes": [...], "edges": [...]}
json_str = graph.to_json()

5. Validation

Check for integrity.

errors = graph.validate()
# Returns list of strings, e.g., ["Edge 'Start'->'Unk' points to missing node 'Unk'"]

6. Visualization

Generate a PNG/SVG graph diagram.

# Requires: pip install graphviz
# Also requires Graphviz binary: https://graphviz.org/download/

graph.visualize('dialogue_graph')  # Creates dialogue_graph.png
graph.visualize('output', format='svg')  # Creates output.svg

The visualization includes:

• Diamond shapes for choice nodes (light blue)
• Rounded boxes for dialogue nodes (colored by speaker)
• Bold blue edges for skill-check choices like [Lie], [Attack]
• Gray edges for regular choices
• Black edges for simple transitions

7. Loading from JSON

Load an existing dialogue graph.

# From file
graph = Graph.from_file('dialogue.json')

# From dict
graph = Graph.from_dict({'nodes': [...], 'edges': [...]})

# From JSON string
graph = Graph.from_json(json_string)