excalidraw

Excalidraw Diagram Creator

Generate Excalidraw diagrams using the ExcalidrawAutomate (EA) API. Output is a compressed-Markdown drawing file saved directly to the Obsidian vault — Obsidian renders it natively.

[!important] On-disk filename — read this first ea.create({ filename: "foo" }) does not write foo.excalidraw. It writes foo.excalidraw.md (Excalidraw stores drawings as compressed Markdown). Throughout this skill, when you call ea.create({ filename: "name", ... }):

• The actual file on disk is <foldername>/name.excalidraw.md.
• Embeds stay ![[name.excalidraw]] — Obsidian resolves the .excalidraw basename to the real name.excalidraw.md file (do not write ![[name.excalidraw.md]]).
• Verify success by the on-disk path name.excalidraw.md, not name.excalidraw. A headless agent that stats name.excalidraw will never find it and will falsely report failure.

Before writing any diagram code, read the bundled EA API reference at: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/excalidraw/reference/excalidraw-api.md

For the full upstream plugin source, clone https://github.com/zsviczian/obsidian-excalidraw-plugin.

This skill has two modes depending on the request:

• Single Diagram Mode — user wants ONE diagram of a specific concept. Output: one <name>.excalidraw.md file.
• Codebase Walkthrough Mode — user wants to document an entire codebase visually. Output: 4-6 <name>.excalidraw.md files + interlinked markdown notes.

If the request mentions "document the codebase", "walk through this system", "map out this repo", or similar, jump to the Codebase Walkthrough Mode section. Otherwise stay in Single Diagram Mode.

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Core Philosophy

Diagrams should ARGUE, not DISPLAY.

A diagram isn't formatted text. It's a visual argument that shows relationships, causality, and flow that words alone can't express. The shape should BE the meaning.

The Isomorphism Test: If you removed all text, would the structure alone communicate the concept? If not, redesign.