DOT/Graphviz Diagram Export Skill

Automatically render DOT/Graphviz diagrams in documents to SVG images using the dot-renderer tool.

Tool Location

~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/
├── render-dot.js         # Single diagram renderer
└── process-document.js   # Full document processor

Workflow

Step 1: Create Document with DOT Diagrams

When creating a document with DOT diagrams, use the standard DOT syntax in code blocks:

# My Document

Here's the graph:

```dot
digraph G {
    rankdir=LR
    A [label="Start"]
    B [label="Process"]
    C [label="End"]
    A -> B -> C
}

More content...

### Step 2: Export Diagrams to SVG

After creating/editing a document with DOT blocks, run:

```bash
node ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/process-document.js <document-path> --verbose

Options:

• --layout=<engine> - Force layout engine for all diagrams: dot, neato, circo, fdp, twopi, osage, patchwork
• --verbose - Show detailed progress
• --dry-run - Preview without making changes

Step 3: Result Structure

The tool will:

1. Extract all DOT code blocks (\``dot, ```graphviz, or ```gv`)
2. Render each to SVG in diagrams/{document-name}/
3. Replace the code block with an image reference
4. Preserve original code in a comment for future editing

Output structure:

document.md
diagrams/
└── document/
    ├── diagram-1.svg
    ├── network-topology.svg
    └── class-hierarchy.svg

Document transformation:

<!-- Before -->
```dot
digraph { A -> B }

---

## Layout Engines

Choose the appropriate layout engine for your graph type:

| Engine | Best For | Description |
|--------|----------|-------------|
| `dot` | Hierarchical graphs | Directed graphs, org charts, flowcharts (default) |
| `neato` | Undirected graphs | Network diagrams, social networks |
| `fdp` | Large graphs | Force-directed placement, clusters |
| `circo` | Circular layouts | Ring structures, cyclic dependencies |
| `twopi` | Radial layouts | Tree-like structures radiating from center |
| `osage` | Clustered layouts | Nested clusters, module diagrams |
| `patchwork` | Treemaps | Space-filling rectangular layout |

### Specifying Layout

Three ways to specify layout engine:

**1. In the code fence:**
```markdown
```dot:neato
graph G { A -- B -- C -- A }

**2. In the DOT code (comment):**
```dot
// layout: fdp
graph G { A -- B -- C }

3. In the DOT code (attribute):

digraph G {
    layout=circo
    A -> B -> C -> A
}

4. CLI override (applies to all diagrams):

node ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/process-document.js doc.md --layout=neato

Rendering Single Diagrams

To render a single diagram without processing a full document:

# From a .dot file
node ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/render-dot.js diagram.dot output.svg

# From stdin
echo "digraph { A -> B }" | node ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/render-dot.js --stdin output.svg

# With specific layout
node ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/render-dot.js diagram.dot output.svg --layout=neato

# Other output formats
node ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/render-dot.js diagram.dot output.json --format=json

Supported Document Types

Supported Code Fence Syntax

All these are equivalent:

• \``dot` - Standard DOT
• \``graphviz` - Full name alias
• \``gv` - Short alias

With layout hint:

• \``dot:neato`
• \``graphviz:circo`
• \``gv:fdp`

Integration with Diagramming Skill

This skill works together with the diagramming skill:

1. Design: Use the diagramming skill with 19-DOT-GRAPHVIZ-GUIDE.md for DOT syntax and semantic coloring
2. Export: Use this skill to render diagrams to SVG for distribution

Recommended workflow:

1. Create document with DOT code blocks (using diagramming skill for styling)
2. Review diagrams in a tool like Graphviz Online or VS Code extension
3. Run export to generate final SVGs
4. Commit both document and generated SVGs

Diagram Naming

Diagrams are named based on:

1. Graph name in DOT syntax: digraph MyGraph { → mygraph.svg
2. Label attribute: label="Network Topology" → network-topology.svg
3. Fallback: diagram-1, diagram-2, etc.

To control naming, use a named graph:

digraph NetworkTopology {
    A -> B -> C
}

→ Generates networktopology.svg

Editing Rendered Diagrams

To edit a previously rendered diagram:

1. Find the commented original code in the document
2. Uncomment the DOT block
3. Edit the diagram
4. Re-run the export tool
5. The new SVG will replace the old one

Output Formats

The renderer supports multiple output formats:

Troubleshooting

"Cannot find module 'node-graphviz'"

Install dependencies: cd ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer && npm install

Diagram doesn't render

• Check DOT syntax at https://dreampuf.github.io/GraphvizOnline/
• Ensure graph type matches layout (use graph for undirected with neato, digraph for directed)

Layout looks wrong

• Try different layout engines
• For undirected graphs, use neato or fdp
• For hierarchical data, use dot
• For circular, use circo or twopi

SVG too large/small

The tool auto-sizes based on diagram content. For custom sizing, edit the generated SVG or use CSS in your document.

Example Commands

# Process a markdown file
node ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/process-document.js ./docs/README.md --verbose

# Process with specific layout for all diagrams
node ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/process-document.js ./docs/network.md --layout=neato

# Dry run to see what would happen
node ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/process-document.js ./docs/README.md --dry-run

# Render single diagram with circo layout
node ~/.claude/tools/dot-renderer/render-dot.js ./diagrams/cycle.dot ./output/cycle.svg --layout=circo

DOT Quick Reference

Basic Directed Graph

digraph G {
    A -> B -> C
    B -> D
}

Basic Undirected Graph

graph G {
    A -- B -- C
    B -- D
}

With Styling (Cagle Palette)

digraph G {
    node [style=filled]

    // Infrastructure (blue)
    Cloud [fillcolor="#E3F2FD" color="#1565C0" fontcolor="#0D47A1"]

    // Service (green)
    API [fillcolor="#E8F5E9" color="#2E7D32" fontcolor="#1B5E20"]

    // Data (amber)
    DB [fillcolor="#FFF8E1" color="#F57F17" fontcolor="#E65100"]

    Cloud -> API -> DB
}

Subgraphs/Clusters

digraph G {
    subgraph cluster_frontend {
        label="Frontend"
        style=filled
        fillcolor="#E3F2FD"
        UI; Components
    }
    subgraph cluster_backend {
        label="Backend"
        style=filled
        fillcolor="#E8F5E9"
        API; Services
    }
    UI -> API
}