Rjv Monochart

monochart — draw system in text, in terminal

WHAT: box + arrow picture. pure text. no render tool. goes in README, comment, chat. WHY: cheap. read at glance. git-diffable. renders anywhere monospace runs. TWO KINDS: topology (boxes fan out, who talks to who) · flow (decisions, loops, steps).

VOICE — read this first. This file is written terse to stay small. The DIAGRAM YOU DRAW IS NOT. Labels are for a stranger, so write them in plain words: return response, not RET; buy call option, not BUY CE; holds one position, not slot. No cryptic abbreviations, no internal jargon, nothing that needs a decoder. Terse file, readable output — never confuse the two.

NEVER zero-shot. always 3 steps.

model draws ascii badly on first try — misaligns, wrong branches. so:

1. PLAN — pick kind. count boxes. pick ONE center column. list every branch + its label.
2. DRAW — one entry at top. flow top→down. hang children under parent. mirror branches.
3. VERIFY — run checklist below. fix. ONLY THEN show user. never show step-2 draft.

charset — house style

• rails: │ ─ ┌ ┐ └ ┘ ┬ ┴ ├ ┤ ┼
• arrows: ▼ ▲ ▶ ◀
• box: ┌──┐ / │..│ / └──┘
• state markers (leaves only): 🟩 good/return · 🟦 write/side-effect · 🟥 stop/fail · 🟨 wait

RULE: box-drawing = rails. emoji = END-STATE only, 1 per leaf, add legend if >1 kind. never emoji mid-line.

patterns (steal these)

fan-out — topology:

       FEED
         │
   ┌─────┴─────┐
   ▼           ▼
┌─────┐     ┌─────┐
│  A  │     │  B  │
└─────┘     └─────┘

decision — split, LABEL both sides:

  signal?
  ┌──┴──┐
no│     │yes
  ▼     ▼
 wait  BUY 🟦

loop-back — close the cycle, draw the return:

 SELL 🟩
   │
   └──▶ back to top

example 1 — topology (two bots, one feed)

        📡 TICK FEED
             │
      ┌──────┴──────┐
      ▼             ▼
 ┌─────────┐   ┌─────────┐
 │  BOT 1  │   │  BOT 2  │
 │   M1    │   │  M1 M2  │
 └────┬────┘   └────┬────┘
      ▼             ▼
   BUY/SELL      BUY/SELL

example 2 — flow (decision + marker + loop)

      🌐 REQUEST
          │
          ▼
   ┌─────────────┐
   │ API GATEWAY │
   └──────┬──────┘
       auth ok?
     ┌────┴────┐
     ▼         ▼
 ┌───────┐ ┌───────┐
 │ CACHE │ │  DB   │
 └───┬───┘ └───┬───┘
 cache hit?    │
  ┌──┴──┐      │
no│     │yes   │
  ▼     ▼      ▼
populate  return   fetch from
cache     cached🟩  DB 🟦

rules (this is the "one-shot with best practice")

• LABELS: plain words a stranger reads without asking. spell it out — return response, not RET. no abbreviations, no internal jargon. (this file is terse; the diagram is not.)
• SYMMETRY: mirror branches. equal box width in a row.
• ALIGN: children hang under parent ┴ / center column. eyeball the columns line up.
• DECISION: word + ? then split. LABEL every branch (yes/no, hit?/miss). no unlabeled fork.
• MARKERS: 🟩🟦🟥🟨 at terminal leaves only. not mid-flow.
• SIZE: keep < ~25 lines. bigger → split into 2 charts (coarse topology, then zoom one box). don't cram.
• ASCII fallback: target may break unicode/emoji (email, old term, some fonts)? switch to + - | v > <, drop emoji, and SAY which mode you used.
• it's text: edit one line to change topology, commit, diff clean. that's the whole point.

bigger real example (topology + flow split into 2 charts): see examples.md in this skill dir.

VERIFY checklist — run before showing

• every label is plain words — no RET/CE/slot/abbreviations a stranger can't read
• exactly one entry node at top
• every arrow touches a box/node (nothing dangles)
• every decision fork has ALL branches labeled
• columns line up — children under parent
• emoji only at leaves; legend if >1 kind
• loops draw the return arrow (not just say it in words)
• < ~25 lines, else split into 2 charts