# Darcyegb Diagram Pipeline Diagram Orchestrator > Diagram Pipeline Orchestrator - Skill: `tomevault-io/darcyegb-diagram-pipeline-diagram-orchestrator` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/darcyegb-diagram-pipeline-diagram-orchestrator` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/darcyegb-diagram-pipeline-diagram-orchestrator/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: DevOps & Infra - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/darcyegb-diagram-pipeline-diagram-orchestrator --- # Diagram Pipeline Orchestrator Entry point for creating information design diagrams. Routes work through specialized skills, each handling a distinct layer of the design process. The first three skills (content → encoding → design) are shared; the final rendering step branches to either Illustrator or SVG. ## The Pipeline ``` User request (document, concept, data) │ ▼ ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ Skill 1: Content Analysis │ What to show │ diagram-content-analysis │ → Content specification (YAML) └──────────────┬──────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ Skill 2: Visual Encoding │ How to encode it │ diagram-visual-encoding │ → Visual design plan (YAML) └──────────────┬──────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ Skill 3: Graphic Design │ How to make it look right │ diagram-graphic-design │ → Design specification (YAML) └──────────────┬──────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌──────┴──────┐ │ Renderer? │ └──┬───────┬──┘ │ │ ┌─────┘ └─────┐ ▼ ▼ ┌────────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ │ Skill 4a: │ │ Skill 4b: │ │ Illustrator │ │ SVG Render │ │ Render │ │ │ │ → .ai + PNG │ │ → .svg + PNG │ └────────────────┘ └────────────────┘ ``` Each skill produces a structured YAML specification that the next skill consumes. The user can approve, modify, or reject the output at each stage. ## Renderer Selection After Skill 3 completes, choose the renderer: **Use Illustrator (Skill 4a)** when: - User explicitly requests Illustrator / .ai output - User needs editable vector layers with named groups - User will do further manual editing in Illustrator - Illustrator is installed and accessible via osascript **Use SVG (Skill 4b)** when: - User explicitly requests SVG / "no Illustrator" / "portable" - Illustrator is not installed or not available - Output is for web embedding or browser display - User wants a self-contained file with no app dependencies - User wants to version-control the diagram (SVG is text-based) **Default:** If the user doesn't specify, check whether Illustrator is available. If yes, use Illustrator. If no, use SVG. When in doubt, ask. ## When to Use This Skill **New diagram from scratch:** User provides source material (document, dataset, concept description) and wants a diagram. Run the full pipeline. **Modify an existing diagram:** User identifies a problem. Route to the appropriate skill based on what layer the problem lives in (see Routing Guide below). **Explore before committing:** User isn't sure what kind of diagram they want. Start with Skill 1 to analyze the content, then present options at Skill 2. ## Core Workflow ### Step 1: Assess the Request Read the user's request and determine: 1. **What source material exists?** Document, dataset, conversation notes, or just a concept description? This determines how much Skill 1 needs to do. 2. **How clear is the intent?** "Make a diagram of this chapter" is clear — run the pipeline. "Help me visualize something" is ambiguous — interview first. 3. **Are there constraints?** Page size, medium (print/screen/presentation), audience, standalone vs. companion to text. Capture these for Skill 1's constraint section. ### Step 2: Run Skill 1 — Content Analysis Read the `diagram-content-analysis` skill and follow its workflow. Feed it the source material and constraints. **Output:** A content specification with story, dimensions, relationships, concepts (if applicable), written content, and constraints. **Checkpoint:** Present the content spec to the user. Key questions: - "Is this the right story? Should the diagram emphasize something different?" - "Are the priorities right? What's most important to communicate?" - "Is any important information missing?" If the user wants changes, iterate within Skill 1. Don't proceed until the content spec is approved. ### Step 3: Run Skill 2 — Visual Encoding Read the `diagram-visual-encoding` skill. Feed it the approved content spec. **Output:** A visual design plan with composition type, channel assignments (which visual channels encode which data dimensions), dynamic range verification, spatial layout, and Tufte audit. **Checkpoint:** Present the visual plan. Key questions: - "Does this composition type match what you're imagining?" - "The primary visual encoding is [X] — does that capture the main message?" This is where the user might say "I was thinking more of a flowchart" or "Can we show the volume differences more prominently?" Those are Skill 2 decisions. ### Step 4: Run Skill 3 — Graphic Design Read the `diagram-graphic-design` skill. Feed it the approved visual plan. **Output:** A complete design specification with grid system, type scale, color palette, element styling, and composition rules — all as concrete values (point sizes, RGB values, spacing in grid units). **Checkpoint:** The design spec is technical. For most users, present a summary: - "Using a 12pt grid, Helvetica Neue, blue accent (#2563EB)" - "Letter-size page, 48pt margins, 2×2 card grid with synthesis card" Most users will approve this quickly. Designers may want to adjust colors, fonts, or spacing — those are Skill 3 decisions. ### Step 5: Render the Diagram Choose the renderer based on the Renderer Selection rules above. #### Step 5a: Illustrator Renderer Read the `diagram-illustrator-render` skill. Feed it both the visual plan (Skill 2) and the design spec (Skill 3). **Output:** A rendered diagram in Illustrator, exported as PNG for review. **Evaluation loop:** View the PNG. Check against the design spec. Fix rendering issues (misalignment, wrong colors, text overflow, MRAP errors). Typically 2-4 iterations. #### Step 5b: SVG Renderer Read the `diagram-svg-render` skill. Feed it both the visual plan (Skill 2) and the design spec (Skill 3). **Output:** An SVG file, optionally converted to PNG for review. **Evaluation loop:** Read the SVG file to view it. Check against the design spec. Fix rendering issues (text clipping, missing markers, foreignObject problems). Typically 2-3 iterations. SVG is declarative, so iteration is faster — no app launch or osascript round-trips. **SVG-specific notes:** - Coordinate system is top-left origin, Y-down (simpler than Illustrator) - No text measurement available — approximate at 0.55× font-size per character - Use `` for arrows instead of manual arrowhead triangles - Use `` for wrapped text - Convert to PNG via `cairosvg` if the user needs raster output **Final checkpoint:** Show the user the rendered diagram. If they identify issues, route to the appropriate skill (see below). ### Step 6: Final Export Once approved: **Illustrator path:** - Export PNG at 200% for digital use - Save .ai for future editing - Optionally export PDF for print - Copy to the workspace folder **SVG path:** - Save .svg as the primary deliverable - Optionally convert to PNG via cairosvg at desired resolution - Optionally export PDF via cairosvg - Copy to the workspace folder ## Routing Guide: Where Does This Problem Live? When the user identifies a problem with a diagram, route to the skill that owns that layer. The diagnostic question: **what kind of change would fix it?** ### Route to Skill 1 (Content Analysis) if: - "The story is wrong" / "It should emphasize X instead" - "This concept is missing" / "That concept isn't important" - "The definitions don't make sense" / "The examples are wrong" - "There's too much / too little information" - "The text on the cards needs rewriting" **Signal words:** story, message, content, concepts, definitions, examples, text, what it says, missing information, wrong emphasis. ### Route to Skill 2 (Visual Encoding) if: - "Wrong type of diagram" / "Should be a flowchart, not cards" - "Can't see the volume differences" / "The sizes don't work" - "The flow direction is confusing" / "Reading order is wrong" - "There's too much visual clutter" / "Not enough data-ink" - "The comparison doesn't work" / "Can't spot the pattern" **Signal words:** diagram type, composition, chart type, encoding, channel, flow direction, reading order, can't see the difference, clutter, pattern. ### Route to Skill 3 (Graphic Design) if: - "Colors are wrong" / "Too many colors" / "Not enough contrast" - "Font is too small" / "Typography feels off" - "Spacing is weird" / "Things aren't aligned" - "Looks unprofessional" / "Feels cluttered but I can't say why" - "The hierarchy isn't clear" / "Don't know where to look first" **Signal words:** colors, fonts, spacing, alignment, grid, typography, hierarchy, professional, polish, clean up, looks off, feels wrong. ### Route to Skill 4a (Illustrator Render) if: - "Text is behind the boxes" / "Elements are overlapping" - "The export is blurry" / "Wrong file format" - "Illustrator threw an error" / "Script didn't work" - "Positions are off by a few points" / "Rounding errors" - "Need to re-export at different size" **Signal words:** rendering, Illustrator, error, export, z-order, overlap, blurry, positions, script, JSX, MRAP. ### Route to Skill 4b (SVG Render) if: - "Text is clipped" / "Text overflows the box" - "Arrows aren't showing" / "Markers are missing" - "The foreignObject isn't rendering" / "HTML inside SVG is blank" - "SVG looks different in different browsers" - "Need PNG instead of SVG" / "Convert to raster" **Signal words:** SVG, markup, viewBox, marker, foreignObject, text clipping, xmlns, browser rendering, cairosvg, convert to PNG. ### Ambiguous Cases Sometimes the user says something like "it doesn't look right" without being specific. Ask a diagnostic question: - "Is the *information* wrong (what it shows), or does the *presentation* feel off (how it looks)?" - If information → Skill 1 or 2 - If presentation → Skill 3 or 4 - "Can you see the main message in the first 3 seconds?" - If no → probably Skill 2 (encoding not working) - If yes but it's ugly → Skill 3 (graphic design) ## Adaptive Autonomy **When intent is clear** (user provides a document and says "make a one-page diagram of the key concepts"): Run the pipeline, present checkpoints briefly, move quickly. Propose rather than interview. **When intent is ambiguous** (user says "help me visualize this"): Interview at Skill 1 to understand what they want to communicate. Present composition options at Skill 2. Move to rendering only after the design direction is confirmed. **When iterating** (user has seen a render and wants changes): Identify the layer, route directly to that skill, and re-render. Don't re-run upstream skills unless the change cascades (e.g., changing the story in Skill 1 requires re-running 2, 3, and 4). ## Cascade Rules Changes at an upstream skill may invalidate downstream work: | Change at | Must re-run | |-----------|-------------| | Skill 1 (content) | Skills 2, 3, 4a/4b | | Skill 2 (encoding) | Skills 3, 4a/4b | | Skill 3 (design) | Skill 4a or 4b only | | Skill 4a/4b (render) | Nothing — just fix and re-render | | Switch renderer | Skill 4a ↔ 4b only (design spec is shared) | In practice, most iterations after the first render are Skill 3 or 4 changes that don't cascade. Content and encoding changes are rarer but more expensive. Switching between Illustrator and SVG is cheap — the design spec feeds both renderers, so only the rendering step re-runs. ## Quick Start For the common case — user provides a document and wants a diagram: 1. Read the document 2. Run Skill 1: extract story, dimensions, concepts, write content 3. Present content spec → get approval 4. Run Skill 2: select composition, map channels, verify dynamic range 5. Present visual plan → get approval (brief) 6. Run Skill 3: design grid, type, color, elements 7. Summarize design choices → get approval (usually quick) 8. Choose renderer: Illustrator (4a) or SVG (4b) — see Renderer Selection 9. Run chosen renderer: write JSX/SVG, execute/save, export PNG 10. View render → evaluate → fix → iterate (2-4 cycles) 11. Present final diagram → get approval 12. Export and deliver ## References Each skill has its own reference documents. Read them when that skill runs: - **Skill 1:** `references/content-writing.md`, `references/output-format.md` - **Skill 2:** `references/channel-effectiveness.md`, `references/compositions.md` - **Skill 3:** `references/design-rules.md` - **Skill 4a:** `references/extendscript-api.md`, `references/composition-implementations.md` - **Skill 4b:** `references/svg-patterns.md` --- > Converted and distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io/claim/darcyegb) — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.