excalidraw-diagram

Purpose

This skill creates diagrams using the Excalidraw format — a JSON-based drawing format rendered by the Excalidraw library and its integrations. The output has a distinctive hand-drawn, whiteboard aesthetic that is ideal for architecture sketches, concept maps, brainstorming visuals, and informal system diagrams.

Unlike Mermaid which produces precise, flow-based diagrams from DSL text, Excalidraw uses geometric primitives (rectangles, ellipses, arrows, text, lines) laid out on a freeform canvas. The hand-drawn style makes it suitable for early-stage thinking, workshop facilitation, and documentation where the informal look communicates "this is a sketch, not a specification."

In Obsidian, Excalidraw files are supported via the Excalidraw plugin by Zsolt Viczian, which renders .excalidraw files natively and allows embedding them in notes.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when:

• The user explicitly asks for an Excalidraw diagram
• The user wants a "sketch-style" or "whiteboard" diagram
• The user says "draw this informally" or "make it look hand-drawn"
• The user needs a system architecture or C4-style diagram with an informal aesthetic
• The user wants a concept map or mind map with free positioning (not the rigid Mermaid mindmap syntax)
• The user is working in Obsidian and wants to embed a whiteboard-style drawing
• The user wants a diagram exported as .excalidraw file or embedded in a Markdown note