D2 diagrams

D2 Diagrams

Write D2 source, render it to SVG, then look at the render and fix what you see — in a loop, until the diagram is worth shipping. A diagram you haven't seen is a diagram you haven't finished.

Reference files — load on demand

File	Read it when
references/d2-language.md	Writing any non-trivial D2 — syntax, shapes, containers, classes, vars, and the silent pitfalls that compile fine but render wrong
references/layout-engines.md	Choosing or debugging layout: TALA vs ELK vs dagre, licensing, seeds, per-engine behaviour differences
references/diagram-patterns.md	Picking a diagram type and structure — architecture, sequence, ERD, grid, C4; themes, icons, dark mode, GitHub embedding

Step 0 — Toolchain check

Run once per session before the first render (scripts/ here means this skill's own directory — in Claude Code ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR} resolves to it):

bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/setup.sh" --check-only

• d2: ok → proceed.
• d2: MISSING → tell the user, then run scripts/setup.sh (no flags) to install via Homebrew where available, or show them the printed install commands. Don't render blind — nothing else in this skill works without d2.
• tala: not installed or unlicensed → fine. ELK is the automatic fallback and produces good layouts. Mention TALA once only if the diagram is a software-architecture diagram (where TALA is meaningfully better) and the user seems invested in output quality; never nag.

Step 1 — Plan before writing

Decide three things first:

1. The message. What should a reader conclude in five seconds? A diagram argues something — "requests fan out here", "this service is the bottleneck", "these two paths never touch". If you can't state the argument, you're about to draw a labelled box collection.
2. The type. Architecture/topology → plain shapes and containers. Interaction over time → sequence_diagram. Data model → sql_table. Rigid alignment (matrix, dashboard, legend-heavy) → grid. See references/diagram-patterns.md for structure guidance per type.
3. The scale. 5–15 nodes reads well; 15–25 needs containers to cluster; beyond ~25, split into multiple diagrams or use layers. Prefer a second diagram over a mural.

For technical diagrams of real systems, use real names — actual service names, actual table names, actual event names from the user's codebase or description. Grep the code if it's available. Service A -> Service B wastes the reader's trust.

Step 2 — Write the D2

Read references/d2-language.md before writing anything beyond a trivial diagram. The rules that prevent 90% of broken output:

• Connect keys, not labels. After api: API Gateway, write api -> db, never API Gateway -> db — the latter silently creates a duplicate shape.
• Quote labels containing # or ; — unquoted # starts a comment mid-label and unquoted ; splits the line into two shapes, and both compile without error. Quoting any punctuated label is the safe habit.
• Style through classes:, not per-node styles — one definition, applied with class:. Avoid style.fill on individual nodes; hard-coded fills fight the theme and break dark-mode rendering.
• Set direction: right for most architecture flows (left-to-right reads naturally). All engines honour the root-level direction; TALA additionally supports per-container direction.
• Save the source as {name}.d2 next to where the output belongs (default: ./diagrams/ in the project).

Step 3 — Render

Always render through the bundled script — it picks the layout engine, guards against watermarked output, and validates first:

bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/render.sh" --png input.d2 output.svg

• --png also writes output.png — you need it for Step 4 (the Read tool views raster images, not SVG). A failed preview fails the run so you can't skip Step 4 silently; pass --preview-optional only when a preview is genuinely best-effort (e.g. offline — then inspect the SVG another way).
• The script prints engine: (what actually rendered), fallback: (why, if TALA wasn't used), and remote: (hosts the render fetched icons/images from). Relay a one-line note to the user only when they asked about engines or explicitly wanted TALA.
• Multi-board sources (layers/scenarios/steps) render one SVG per board into a directory — the report says svg: name/ (one SVG per board) and previews land in name-preview/. Step 4 then applies to every board's PNG, and Step 5 delivers the directory.
• If you did not write the .d2 source yourself (user-supplied file, repo checkout), render it with --no-remote-assets first: rendering fetches any remote icon/image URLs in the source and its imports, and an untrusted file should not trigger outbound requests. If it refuses, show the user the listed hosts and let them decide.
• Useful flags: --theme N, --dark-theme 200 (SVG responds to the reader's colour scheme), --sketch, --pad N, --seed N (TALA re-roll), --engine tala|elk|dagre (force), --allow-watermark (TALA evaluation), --target PATH (one board of a multi-board source), --no-xml-tag + --salt VALUE (inline HTML embedding), --elk-OPTION VALUE (ELK spacing tuning, see references/layout-engines.md).
• On failure the script prints d2's compile error with file:line:col — fix the source at that location and re-run. If the error is unclear, check the pitfalls section of references/d2-language.md.

Never render TALA output for delivery with a watermark unless the user explicitly accepts it; the script enforces this by falling back to ELK when TALA was auto-selected, and by failing (not substituting) when you forced --engine tala.

Step 4 — Look at it, then fix it (not optional)

The .d2 source says nothing about how the render actually landed — layout is the engine's decision, not yours. Open the PNG with the Read tool and audit it in two passes:

Pass 1 — does it make the argument?

• Does the eye enter where the story starts and exit where it ends?
• Is the flow direction consistent (not doubling back or reading bottom-up unintentionally)?
• Do the container groupings match the logical groupings you planned?
• Is the most important element visually prominent, or buried?

Pass 2 — layout defects (auto-layout engines produce all of these):

• Edge labels drifted far from their edge, or ambiguous about which edge they describe
• Edges overlapping in parallel runs, crossing through nodes or containers, or taking absurd detours
• Text truncated or colliding with shapes/icons
• One region cramped while another is empty; a container vastly larger than its contents
• Node so small its label dominates, or wildly inconsistent node sizes
• Anything you'd have to explain apologetically if you showed it to the user

Fix with D2's levers, not pixel-pushing (auto-layout means you change inputs, not coordinates): change direction; group or regroup with containers; shorten edge labels (long labels drift worst on ELK); merge parallel edges into one labelled edge; move legends/titles out of flow with near; split an overloaded diagram into layers; adjust --pad; on TALA, re-roll with --seed N (try 2–3 seeds — layouts vary meaningfully); as a last resort switch engine for this diagram's shape (see references/layout-engines.md).

Re-render, re-view, repeat. Budget two to four render cycles — a first render that survives both passes is rare. Done means: both passes clean, and nothing in the image needs an apology or an explanation.

Step 5 — Deliver

• Confirm the final .svg (and .d2 source) paths — always give the user both; the .d2 is the editable artefact.
• If the diagram will live in a GitHub README or docs site, offer a dark-mode-aware variant: re-render with --dark-theme 200 (single SVG that follows the reader's colour scheme). Patterns for PNG/<picture> embedding are in references/diagram-patterns.md.
• If the user will iterate on the diagram themselves, mention d2 --watch input.d2 for live preview in a browser.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause / fix
d2: command not found	Run scripts/setup.sh (guided install)
D2_LAYOUT "tala" is not bundled	TALA not on PATH — script auto-falls back to ELK; install TALA only if the user wants it
UNLICENSED text in output	TALA without a licence — the render script re-renders with ELK automatically; a licence key goes in TSTRUCT_TOKEN or ~/.config/tstruct/auth.json
PNG export fails, SVG fine	First PNG render downloads a headless browser; retry once. If blocked (offline/CI), re-run with --preview-optional, deliver the SVG, and inspect it by converting with any available SVG rasteriser
Compile error under --layout tala that ELK renders fine	d2/TALA version skew — script falls back automatically; suggest updating both
Icons missing from output	Icon URL returned 403/404 — remove the icon or pick another from icons.terrastruct.com; test icons early