A tool for creating sequence diagrams from a Domain-Specific Language. Runs in nodejs and browsers.
See it in action in the online editor
The core rendering capability is also available as a library:
npm install --save svg-sequence-diagram
import { SequenceDiagram } from 'svg-sequence-diagram';
const myDiagram = new SequenceDiagram(`
title Foo
A -> B
B -> A
`);
document.body.appendChild(myDiagram.dom());
See here for full API documentation.
Or generate SVGs from the commandline:
npx svg-sequence-diagram < source.txt > diagram.svg
title Labyrinth
Bowie -> Goblin: You remind me of the babe
Goblin -> Bowie: What babe?
Bowie -> Goblin: The babe with the power
Goblin -> Bowie: What power?
note right of Bowie, Goblin: Most people get muddled here!
Bowie -> Goblin: "The power of voodoo"
Goblin -> Bowie: "Who-do?"
Bowie -> Goblin: You do!
Goblin -> Bowie: Do what?
Bowie -> Goblin: Remind me of the babe!
Bowie -> Audience: Sings
terminators box
title Connection Types
begin Foo, Bar, Baz
Foo -> Bar: Simple arrow
Bar --> Baz: Dashed arrow
Foo <- Bar: Reversed arrow
Bar <-- Baz: Reversed & dashed
Foo <-> Bar: Double arrow
Bar <--> Baz: Double dashed arrow
# An arrow with no label:
Foo -> Bar
Bar ->> Baz: Different arrow
Foo <<--> Bar: Mix of arrows
Bar -> Bar: Bar talks to itself
Foo -> +Bar: Foo asks Bar
-Bar --> Foo: and Bar replies
Bar -x Baz: Lost message
# Arrows leaving on the left and right of the diagram
[ -> Foo: From the left
[ <- Foo: To the left
Foo -> ]: To the right
Foo <- ]: From the right
[ ~> ]: Wavy left to right!
# (etc.)
title Dividers
begin Foo, Bar, Baz
Foo -> +Bar
divider
Bar -> +Baz
divider delay: This takes a while
-Baz --> Bar
divider tear with height 20: Lots of stuff happens
-Bar --> Foo
title Note Placements
begin Foo, Bar
note over Foo: Foo says something
note left of Foo: Stuff
note right of Bar: More stuff
note over Foo, Bar: "Foo and Bar
on multiple lines"
note between Foo, Bar: Link
# in long diagrams, we can add reminders of which agent is which:
relabel
text right: "Comments\nOver here!"
state over Foo: Foo is ponderous
title At the Bank
begin Person, ATM, Bank
Person -> ATM: Request money
ATM -> Bank: Check funds
if fraud detected
Bank -> Police: "Get 'em!"
Police -> Person: "You're nicked"
end Police
else if sufficient funds
ATM -> Bank: Withdraw funds
repeat until "all requested money
has been handed over"
ATM -> Person: Dispense note
end
else
ATM -> Person: Error
end
autolabel "[<inc>] <label>"
begin "Underpants\nGnomes" as A
A <- ]: Collect underpants
A <-> ]: ???
A <- ]: Profit!
title "My Multiline
Title"
begin Foo, Bar
note over Foo: "Also possible\nwith escapes"
Foo -> Bar: "Lines of text\non this arrow"
if "Even multiline\ninside conditions like this"
Foo -> "Multiline\nagent"
end
state over Foo: "Newlines here,
too!"
theme sketch
title Mockup
A thing -> +Another thing: Something happens
-Another thing --> A thing: With some response
note right of Another thing: Find out what happens here
end Another thing
title "Baz doesn't live long"
note over Foo, Bar: Using begin / end
begin Baz
Bar -> Baz
Baz -> Foo
end Baz
note over Foo, Bar: Using * / !
# * and ! cause agents to be
# created and destroyed inline
Bar -> *Baz: make Baz
Foo <- !Baz: end Baz
# Foo and Bar end with black bars
terminators bar
# (options are: box, bar, cross, fade, none)
define My complicated agent name as A
define "Another agent name,
and this one's multi-line!" as B
A -> B: this is much easier
A <- B: than writing the whole name
define "Name with
**bold** and _italic_" as A
define "Also `code`
and ~strikeout~" as B
A -> B: "_**basic markdown
is supported!**_"
define Baz, Foo
Foo -> Bar
Bar -> Baz
begin User, Application, PostgreSQL
User -> +Application
Application -> +PostgreSQL
-PostgreSQL --> Application
-Application --> User
User is a person
PostgreSQL is a database
begin Initiator as I, Receiver as R
# the '...id' syntax allows connections
# to span multiple lines
I -> ...fin1
...fin1 -> R: FIN
# they can even inter-mix!
R -> ...ack1
R -> ...fin2
...ack1 -> I: ACK
...fin2 -> I: FIN
!I -> ...ack2
...ack2 -> !R: ACK
This is a work-in-progress feature. There are situations where this can lead to ugly / unreadable overlapping content.
begin A, B, C, D
A -> C
# Define a marker which can be returned to later
some primary process:
A -> B
B -> A
A -> B
B -> A
# Return to the defined marker
# (should be interpreted as no-higher-then the marker; may be
# pushed down to keep relative action ordering consistent)
simultaneously with some primary process:
C -> D
D -> C
end D
C -> A
# The marker name is optional; using "simultaneously:" with no
# marker will jump to the top of the entire sequence.
Comments begin with a #
and end at the next newline:
# This is a comment
Meta data can be provided with particular keywords:
title "My title here"
Quoting strings is usually optional, for example these are the same:
title "My title here"
title My title here
title "My title" here
title "My" "title" "here"
Each non-metadata line represents a step in the sequence, in order.
# Draw an arrow from agent "Foo Bar" to agent "Zig Zag" with a label:
# (implicitly creates the agents if they do not already exist)
Foo Bar -> Zig Zag: Do a thing
# With quotes, this is the same as:
"Foo Bar" -> "Zig Zag": "Do a thing"
Blocks surround steps, and can nest:
if something
Foo -> Bar
else if something else
Foo -> Baz
if more stuff
Baz -> Zig
end
end
(indentation is ignored)
If you want to run an online renderer (like https://sequence.davidje13.com/), take a look at https://github.com/davidje13/Website/tree/master/sequence.
Contributions are welcome!
If you find a bug or desire a new feature, feel free to report it in the GitHub issue tracker, or write the code yourself and make a pull request.
For more details on contributing, see the CONTRIBUTING.md file.