Diagrams
FreeNot checkedMCP server for generating cloud architecture diagrams, flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and more — powered by mingrammer/diagrams, Mermaid, and PlantUML.
About
MCP server for generating cloud architecture diagrams, flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and more — powered by mingrammer/diagrams, Mermaid, and PlantUML.
README
MCP server for generating cloud architecture diagrams, flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and more — powered by three rendering engines: mingrammer/diagrams, Mermaid, and PlantUML.

Getting Started
Hosted (Recommended)
Connect to the public hosted server — no installation required. All rendering engines and dependencies are pre-installed.
Claude Desktop
Add to your claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config):
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"url": "https://diagrams-mcp-production.up.railway.app/mcp"
}
}
}
Claude Code (CLI)
Run:
claude mcp add diagrams-mcp https://diagrams-mcp-production.up.railway.app/mcp
Or add to your .mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"url": "https://diagrams-mcp-production.up.railway.app/mcp"
}
}
}
Cursor
Add to your .cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"url": "https://diagrams-mcp-production.up.railway.app/mcp"
}
}
}
Windsurf
Add to your ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"serverUrl": "https://diagrams-mcp-production.up.railway.app/mcp"
}
}
}
VS Code
Add to your .vscode/mcp.json:
{
"servers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://diagrams-mcp-production.up.railway.app/mcp"
}
}
}
Local Installation
Prerequisites
Graphviz is required for the default local/in-process rendering mode. Mermaid CLI and PlantUML are optional — install them only if you need those specific rendering engines locally.
| Dependency | Required for | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Graphviz | render_diagram (cloud architecture) |
brew install graphviz |
| Mermaid CLI | render_mermaid (flowcharts, sequence, etc.) |
npm install -g @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli |
| Java + PlantUML | render_plantuml (UML diagrams) |
brew install openjdk + download plantuml.jar |
Note: The hosted server runs as a slim MCP facade plus a separate renderer service, and has all render dependencies pre-installed in the renderer. Local prerequisites only apply if you're running in-process rendering yourself.
Install the server
Via uvx (recommended):
uvx diagrams-mcp-server
Via pip:
pip install diagrams-mcp-server
From source:
pip install git+https://github.com/ByteOverDev/diagrams-mcp.git
Configure your MCP client
Claude Desktop
Add to your claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config):
uvx (recommended):
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["diagrams-mcp-server"]
}
}
}
pip:
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"command": "diagrams-mcp-server"
}
}
}
Claude Code (CLI)
Run:
claude mcp add diagrams-mcp -- uvx diagrams-mcp-server
Or add to your .mcp.json:
uvx (recommended):
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["diagrams-mcp-server"]
}
}
}
pip:
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"command": "diagrams-mcp-server"
}
}
}
Cursor
Add to your .cursor/mcp.json:
uvx (recommended):
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["diagrams-mcp-server"]
}
}
}
pip:
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"command": "diagrams-mcp-server"
}
}
}
Windsurf
Add to your ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:
uvx (recommended):
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["diagrams-mcp-server"]
}
}
}
pip:
{
"mcpServers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"command": "diagrams-mcp-server"
}
}
}
VS Code
Add to your .vscode/mcp.json:
uvx (recommended):
{
"servers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["diagrams-mcp-server"]
}
}
}
pip:
{
"servers": {
"diagrams-mcp": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "diagrams-mcp-server"
}
}
}
Available Tools
Discovery
list_providers()→list[str]— List all diagram providers (aws,gcp,k8s,azure,onprem, etc.)list_services(provider)→list[str]— List service categories within a provider (e.g.aws→compute,database,network)list_nodes(provider, service)→list[dict]— List node classes for a provider.service pair with import pathssearch_nodes(query)→list[dict]— Search for nodes by keyword across all providers (e.g. "postgres", "lambda")
Rendering
render_diagram(code)→Image(PNG) — Execute a Python script using mingrammer/diagrams in a sandboxed subprocess. Returns a rendered cloud architecture diagram.render_mermaid(definition)→Image(PNG/SVG) — Render a Mermaid diagram definition (flowcharts, sequence, class, ER, state, Gantt, and more).render_plantuml(definition)→Image(PNG) — Render a PlantUML diagram definition (sequence, class, component, activity, state, deployment).
Cross-Provider Equivalence
find_equivalent(node, target_provider?)→dict— Find equivalent services across cloud providers (e.g.EC2→ComputeEngineon GCP).list_categories()→list[dict]— List all 30 infrastructure role categories with mapped nodes across providers.
Resources
The server provides reference documentation accessible via MCP resource URIs:
| URI | Description |
|---|---|
diagrams://reference/diagram |
Diagram constructor parameters, defaults, and usage |
diagrams://reference/edge |
Edge operators, labels, styling, and chaining |
diagrams://reference/cluster |
Cluster nesting, styling, and graph attributes |
diagrams://reference/mermaid |
Mermaid syntax examples for 6 diagram types |
diagrams://reference/plantuml |
PlantUML syntax examples for 6 diagram types |
Examples
Cloud Architecture (mingrammer/diagrams)
"Draw an AWS architecture with an ALB routing to two ECS services, backed by RDS and ElastiCache"
from diagrams import Diagram, Cluster
from diagrams.aws.network import ALB
from diagrams.aws.compute import ECS
from diagrams.aws.database import RDS, ElastiCache
with Diagram("ECS Service", direction="LR"):
lb = ALB("ALB")
with Cluster("ECS Cluster"):
services = [ECS("Web"), ECS("API")]
lb >> services
services[0] >> ElastiCache("Cache")
services[1] >> RDS("Database")
Flowchart (Mermaid)
"Create a flowchart showing a CI/CD pipeline"

Sequence Diagram (PlantUML)
"Show the authentication flow between a client, API gateway, and auth service"

@startuml
Client -> "API Gateway": POST /login
"API Gateway" -> "Auth Service": Validate credentials
"Auth Service" --> "API Gateway": JWT token
"API Gateway" --> Client: 200 OK + token
Client -> "API Gateway": GET /data (Bearer token)
"API Gateway" -> "Auth Service": Verify token
"Auth Service" --> "API Gateway": Valid
"API Gateway" --> Client: 200 OK + data
@enduml
Development
# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/ByteOverDev/diagrams-mcp.git
cd diagrams-mcp
pip install -e ".[dev]"
# Run tests
pytest
# Lint and format
ruff check .
ruff format .
# Run the MCP server locally (stdio mode)
diagrams-mcp-server
Split Facade/Renderer Mode
For hosted deployments, the MCP server can run as a lightweight facade that delegates render work to a separate renderer service. This keeps the always-on MCP process small while Graphviz, Chromium, Mermaid CLI, Java, and PlantUML live only in the renderer image.
# Terminal 1: renderer service
RENDERER_HOST=0.0.0.0 RENDERER_PORT=8001 diagrams-renderer-server
# Terminal 2: HTTP MCP facade delegating to the renderer
FASTMCP_TRANSPORT=http \
FASTMCP_HOST=0.0.0.0 \
FASTMCP_PORT=8000 \
DIAGRAMS_RENDERER_MODE=remote \
DIAGRAMS_RENDERER_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8001 \
diagrams-mcp-server
Docker/Railway examples are included:
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
Dockerfile.facade |
Slim MCP facade image without renderer-only binaries |
Dockerfile.renderer |
Renderer image with Graphviz, Chromium, Mermaid CLI, Java, and PlantUML |
railway.facade.toml |
Example Railway facade service config |
railway.renderer.toml |
Example Railway renderer service config |
Key environment variables:
| Variable | Purpose |
|---|---|
DIAGRAMS_RENDERER_MODE=remote |
Makes the facade use the HTTP renderer service |
DIAGRAMS_RENDERER_URL |
Renderer base URL, for example http://diagrams-renderer.railway.internal:8080 |
DIAGRAMS_IMAGE_STORE_DIR |
Optional file-backed temporary image store directory |
BASE_URL |
Optional public base URL used when returning absolute download links |
Supported Providers
The render_diagram tool supports all providers from the mingrammer/diagrams library, including:
AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, On-Premise, AlibabaCloud, OCI, OpenStack, DigitalOcean, Elastic, Outscale, Generic, and Custom nodes.
Use list_providers() and search_nodes(query) to discover available nodes.
License
MIT
Installing Diagrams
This server has no published package — it is built from source. Open the repository and follow its README.
▸ github.com/ByteOverDev/diagrams-mcpFAQ
Is Diagrams MCP free?
Yes, Diagrams MCP is free — one-click install via Unyly at no cost.
Does Diagrams need an API key?
No, Diagrams runs without API keys or environment variables.
Is Diagrams hosted or self-hosted?
Self-hosted: the server runs locally on your machine via the install command above.
How do I install Diagrams in Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor?
Open Diagrams on unyly.org, pick your client tab (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor) and press Install — the config is generated automatically, no JSON editing.
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