How do I install the Visualizing With Mermaid skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/visualizing-with-mermaid in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Visualizing With Mermaid safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Visualizing With Mermaid?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Visualizing With Mermaid free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Visualizing With Mermaid?

tomevault-io (@tomevault-io) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Visualizing With Mermaid by tomevault-io

Name: Visualizing With Mermaid
Author: tomevault-io

File contents

Mermaid Diagrams

Default: Dark mode colors from references/color-palettes.md.

Choosing Diagram Type

Concept	Diagram Type
Process flows, decisions	Flowchart (TB direction)
API calls, message passing	Sequence diagram
Lifecycle states	State diagram
Data models, relationships	Class diagram or ERD
System architecture	Flowchart with subgraphs (LR direction)

Core Principles

Visual hierarchy over decoration - Color/size guide the eye to what matters
Semantic color - Colors have meaning (grouping, state, criticality)
Simplicity over completeness - 80% clearly beats 100% confusingly
7-12 nodes max - Human working memory limit; break larger systems into drill-downs

Quick Styling Guide

Do:

Use fills to group related components
Highlight critical paths with stroke width
Different shapes = different component types (cylinders for DBs, diamonds for decisions)
Keep labels to 1-4 words; use <br/> for longer

Don't:

Pure black (#000000) - too harsh, use dark gray
Saturated background colors - tire the eyes
More than 5 colors per diagram
Low-contrast combinations

Shape Semantics

Rectangles: Services, processes
Rounded rectangles: APIs, interfaces
Circles: Start/end points, external systems
Diamonds: Decision points
Cylinders: Databases
Hexagons: Queues, message brokers

Layout

LR (left-to-right): Pipelines, architecture diagrams TB (top-to-bottom): Hierarchies, decision flows

Use subgraphs for: deployment boundaries, logical layers, team ownership, trust boundaries.

Resources

Color palettes: See references/color-palettes.md
Pattern examples: See references/examples.md for architecture, state machines, data flows, ERDs

Workflow

Purpose - What decision/understanding should this enable?
Type - Choose based on what you're showing
Structure - Identify components, relationships, groupings
Style - Apply semantic colors, highlight critical paths
Review - Can someone understand it in 10 seconds?

Source: rileyhilliard/claude-essentials — distributed by TomeVault.

---name: visualizing-with-mermaiddescription: Creates professional Mermaid diagrams with semantic styling and visual hierarchy. Use when creating flowcharts, sequence diagrams, state machines, class diagrams, or architecture visualizations.---# Mermaid Diagrams**Default: Dark mode colors** from [references/color-palettes.md](references/color-palettes.md).## Choosing Diagram Type| Concept | Diagram Type ||---------|--------------|| Process flows, decisions | Flowchart (TB direction) || API calls, message passing | Sequence diagram || Lifecycle states | State diagram || Data models, relationships | Class diagram or ERD || System architecture | Flowchart with subgraphs (LR direction) |## Core Principles1. **Visual hierarchy over decoration** - Color/size guide the eye to what matters2. **Semantic color** - Colors have meaning (grouping, state, criticality)3. **Simplicity over completeness** - 80% clearly beats 100% confusingly4. **7-12 nodes max** - Human working memory limit; break larger systems into drill-downs## Quick Styling Guide**Do:**- Use fills to group related components- Highlight critical paths with stroke width- Different shapes = different component types (cylinders for DBs, diamonds for decisions)- Keep labels to 1-4 words; use `<br/>` for longer**Don't:**- Pure black (`#000000`) - too harsh, use dark gray- Saturated background colors - tire the eyes- More than 5 colors per diagram- Low-contrast combinations## Shape Semantics- **Rectangles**: Services, processes- **Rounded rectangles**: APIs, interfaces- **Circles**: Start/end points, external systems- **Diamonds**: Decision points- **Cylinders**: Databases- **Hexagons**: Queues, message brokers## Layout**LR (left-to-right)**: Pipelines, architecture diagrams**TB (top-to-bottom)**: Hierarchies, decision flowsUse **subgraphs** for: deployment boundaries, logical layers, team ownership, trust boundaries.## Resources- **Color palettes**: See [references/color-palettes.md](references/color-palettes.md)- **Pattern examples**: See [references/examples.md](references/examples.md) for architecture, state machines, data flows, ERDs## Workflow1. **Purpose** - What decision/understanding should this enable?2. **Type** - Choose based on what you're showing3. **Structure** - Identify components, relationships, groupings4. **Style** - Apply semantic colors, highlight critical paths5. **Review** - Can someone understand it in 10 seconds?---> Source: [rileyhilliard/claude-essentials](https://github.com/rileyhilliard/claude-essentials) — distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io).

Frequently asked questions

Visualizing With Mermaid