rendering-clean-diagramslisted

# Rendering Clean Diagrams ## Scope boundaries **In scope** - General-purpose diagram rendering across Mermaid, D2, Graphviz, and PlantUML. - Flowcharts, ERDs, state diagrams, dependency/network graphs, mindmaps, and non-C4 architecture sketches. - Basic sequence diagrams (short, straightforward message timelines). **Out of scope** - Explicit C4 modeling requests (Context/Container/Component/Dynamic/Deployment). - Deep Mermaid sequence specialization (advanced control flow semantics, activation audits, Mermaid-only syntax surgery). ## Quick start 1. Choose the diagram type from the user intent (flowchart, basic sequence, ERD, state, architecture sketch, dependency, mindmap, network). 2. Apply the default tool choice: - **GitHub-native Markdown rendering required:** Mermaid - **Standalone SVG/PNG or docs pipeline:** D2 - **UML-style basic sequence diagram requested:** PlantUML - **Highest control for directed/dependency graphs:** Graphviz (`dot`) 3. Generate diagram code with a strict node budget (usually 3-5 nodes unless the user asks otherwise). 4. Render immediately and fix errors in a generate → validate → fix loop. 5. Deliver both source diagram code and rendered output path/link. ## Workflow 1. **Classify the diagram problem before writing code.** - Time-ordered interactions → basic sequence diagram - Decision/process logic → flowchart - Data entities and cardinality → ERD - State transitions → state diagram - Layered components/services