Marvin-LiJunZan Mermaid Charts — Structured Technical & Architecture Diagramming
Mermaid generates diagrams and visualizations using text-based markdown definitions. It integrates seamlessly into GitHub, GitLab, Notion, and Markdown documentation.
1. Professional Styling Principles
Default Mermaid charts often look garish with bright cyan and pink nodes. Always enforce clean, minimalist themes:
%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'primaryColor': '#f1f5f9', 'primaryTextColor': '#0f172a', 'primaryBorderColor': '#cbd5e1', 'lineColor': '#64748b', 'secondaryColor': '#e2e8f0', 'tertiaryColor': '#ffffff'}}}%%
flowchart TD
A[Client UI Request] --> B[API Gateway]
B --> C{Authentication}
C -->|Authorized| D[Core Microservice]
C -->|Unauthorized| E[403 Forbidden Response]
D --> F[(PostgreSQL DB)]
D --> G[(Redis Cache)]
2. Supported Diagram Types & Use Cases
- Flowcharts (
flowchart TD / LR):- Algorithmic branching, business logic workflows, user journeys.
- Sequence Diagrams (
sequenceDiagram):- Microservice communication, API handshakes, asynchronous message queue handling.
- State Diagrams (
stateDiagram-v2):- Order processing states, sensor connection states, finite state machines.
- Class & Entity-Relationship (
classDiagram,erDiagram):- Database schemas, Object-Oriented software architectures.
- Gantt Charts (
gantt):- Software sprint timelines, research project milestones, delivery phases.
3. Standard Architecture Pattern Example
sequenceDiagram
autonumber
actor User as Engineer / User
participant Frontend as shadcn/ui Desktop
participant Backend as FastMCP / API Server
participant Worker as GPU Inference Worker
participant DB as SQLite / Vector DB
User->>Frontend: Trigger "Audit Analysis"
Frontend->>Backend: POST /api/v1/audit
Backend->>Worker: Dispatch Compute Task
Worker->>DB: Query Baseline Parameters
DB-->>Worker: Return Model Tensors
Worker-->>Backend: Yield Final Predictions
Backend-->>Frontend: Stream JSON Results
Frontend-->>User: Render Interactive Visualizer