draw-io
draw.io diagram creation, editing, and review. Use for .drawio XML editing, PNG conversion, layout adjustment, and AWS icon usage.
By softaworks · 740 installs
npx skills add softaworks/agent-toolkit --skill draw-io
Source repository · Upstream listing
draw.io Diagram Skill
1. Basic Rules
Edit only .drawio files
Do not directly edit .drawio.png files
Use auto generated .drawio.png by pre commit hook in slides
2. Font Settings
For diagrams used in Quarto slides,
specify defaultFontFamily in mxGraphModel tag:
Also explicitly specify fontFamily in each text element's style attribute:
3. Conversion Commands
See conversion script at [scripts/convert drawio to png.sh](scripts/convert drawio to png.sh).
Internal command used:
Option Description
x Export mode
f png PNG format output
s 2 2x scale (high resolution)
t Transparent background
o Output file path
4. Layout Adjustment
4.1. Coordinate Adjustment Steps
1. Open .drawio file in text editor (plain XML format)
2. Find mxCell for element to adjust (search by value attribute for text)
3. Adjust coordinates in mxGeometry tag
x : Position from left
y : Position from top
width : Width
height : Height
4. Run conversion and verify
4.2. Coordinate Calculation
Element center coordinate = y + (height / 2)
To align multiple elements, calculate and match center coordinates
5. Design Principles
5.1. Basic Principles
Clarity: Create simple, visually clean diagrams
Consistency: Unify colors, fonts, icon sizes, line thickness
Accuracy: Do not sacrifice accuracy for simplification
5.2. Element Rules
Label all elements
Use arrows to indicate direction
(prefer 2 unidirectional arrows over bidirectional)
Use latest official icons
Add legend to explain custom symbols
5.3. Accessibility
Ensure sufficient color contrast
Use patterns in addition to colors
5.4. Progressive Disclosure
Separate complex systems into staged diagrams:
Diagram Type Purpose
Context Diagram System overview from external perspective
System Diagram Main components and relationships
Component Diagram Technical details and integration points
Deployment Diagram Infrastructure configuration
Data Flow Diagram Data flow and transformation
Sequence Diagram Time series interactions
5.5. Metadata
Include title, description, last updated, author, and version in diagrams.
6. Best Practices
6.1. Background Color
Remove background=" ffffff"
Transparent background adapts to various themes
6.2. Font Size
Use 1.5x standard font size (around 18px) for PDF readability
6.3. Japanese Text Width
Allow 30 40px per character
Insufficient width causes unintended line breaks
6.4. Arrow Placement
Always place arrows at back (position in XML right after Title)
Position arrows to avoid overlapping with labels
Keep arrow start/end at least 20px from label bottom edge
6.5. Arrow Connection to Text Labels
For text elements, exitX/exitY don't work, so use explicit coordinates:
6.6. edgeLabel Offset Adjustment
Adjust offset attribute to distance arrow labels from arrows:
6.7. Remove Unnecessary Elements
Remove decorative icons irrelevant to context
Example: If ECR exists, separate Docker icon is unnecessary
6.8. Labels and Headings
Service name only: 1 line
Service name + supplementary info: 2 lines with line break
Redundant notation (e.g., ECR Container Registry): shorten to 1 line
Use <br> tag for line breaks
6.9. Background Frame and Internal Element Placement
When placing elements inside background frames (grouping boxes),
ensure sufficient margin.
YOU MUST: Internal elements must have at least 30px margin from frame boundary
YOU MUST: Account for rounded corners ( rounded=1 ) and stroke width
YOU MUST: Always visually verify PNG output for overflow
Coordinate calculation verification:
Bad example (may overflow):
Good example (sufficient margin):
7. Reference
[Layout Guidelines](references/layout guidelines.md)
[AWS Icons](references/aws icons.md)
[AWS Icon Search Script](scripts/find aws icon.py)
AWS icon search examples:
8. Checklist
[ ] No background color set (page="0")
[ ] Font size appropriate (larger recommended)
[ ] Arrows placed at back layer
[ ] Arrows not overlapping labels (verify in PNG)
[ ] Arrow start/end sufficiently distant from labels (at least 20px)
[ ] Arrows not penetrating boxes or icons (verify in PNG)
[ ] Internal elements not overflowing background frame (verify in PNG)
[ ] 30px+ margin between background frame and internal elements
[ ] AWS service names are official names/correct abbreviations
[ ] AWS icons are latest version (mxgraph.aws4. )
[ ] No unnecessary elements remaining
[ ] Visually verified PNG conversion
9. Image Display in reveal.js Slides
Add auto stretch: false to YAML header:
This ensures correct image display on mobile devices.