Mermaid to assets. Source code to maps. MCP for agents.
vaults-diagram-tools is a standalone toolkit for teams that need reproducible Mermaid SVG/JPEG assets, source-code diagrams, and agent-friendly diagram workflows without carrying Vault-specific content.
What is included
- Mermaid renderer extracted from the Vaults toolchain.
- Source-code to Mermaid diagram generator.
- MCP stdio server with three explicit tools, published in MCP Registry as
io.github.Malnati/vaults-diagram-tools.
- Offline-capable release assets for zip and container distribution.
- Dedicated GitHub Actions Marketplace wrapper repository for render/source/policy automation.
- Packaging templates for Homebrew, deb/rpm, CDN, Docker, and Podman, plus a publishable VS Code extension package.
Content-management workflows outside diagram generation are not part of this package.
Quick start
Install in a project:
npm install -D vaults-diagram-tools
Render one Mermaid source to durable assets:
npx vaults-mermaid-render path/to/diagram.mmd --output-dir out --manifest out/manifest.json
Generate Mermaid diagrams from source code:
npx vaults-source-diagrams --source-dir src --output-dir diagrams
Run the MCP stdio server:
Use one-shot npx when the project should not keep a dependency:
npx --yes --package vaults-diagram-tools vaults-mermaid-render path/to/diagram.mmd --output-dir out
npx --yes --package vaults-diagram-tools vaults-source-diagrams --source-dir src --output-dir diagrams
npx --yes --package vaults-diagram-tools vaults-diagram-mcp
| Command | Purpose |
|---|
vaults-mermaid-render | Render .mmd or .mermaid files to SVG/JPEG, manifests, and optional PNG/text sidecars. |
vaults-source-diagrams | Generate Mermaid diagrams from source-code structure, including focused selections and traceability metadata. |
vaults-diagram-mcp | Expose render_mermaid_text, render_mermaid_file, and generate_source_diagrams through MCP stdio. |
Additional package binaries are compatibility entrypoints for older Vaults paths, optional text renderers, and Podman workflows.
Workflows
- Markdown docs: keep the Mermaid source as a linked
.mmd, render .svg and .jpg, and show source inline with a fenced mermaid block.
- Source graph reviews: generate diagrams from real source paths and inspect manifest selection data for requested files, omitted connectors, and rendered outputs.
- Agent automation: use the MCP server when clients need diagram rendering through a narrow, explicit tool surface. Current registry entry is active at version
0.1.4, and the Smithery server page is already published.
- Release packaging: ship npm, zip, container, and offline vendor artifacts while preserving license and notice files.
Download and distribution
npm registry
Use the published npm package when you want the normal Node.js toolchain installation. Current npm latest is vaults-diagram-tools@0.1.4:
npm install -D vaults-diagram-tools
npx vaults-mermaid-render path/to/diagram.mmd --output-dir out --manifest out/manifest.json
npx vaults-source-diagrams --source-dir src --output-dir diagrams
npx vaults-diagram-mcp
One-shot with npx
Use --package when the project should not keep the dependency:
npx --yes --package vaults-diagram-tools vaults-mermaid-render path/to/diagram.mmd --output-dir out
npx --yes --package vaults-diagram-tools vaults-source-diagrams --source-dir src --output-dir diagrams
npx --yes --package vaults-diagram-tools vaults-diagram-mcp
GitHub Actions Marketplace
Use the dedicated Marketplace action when the diagram workflow should run inside GitHub Actions without adding project-local scripts:
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Render Mermaid assets
id: diagrams
uses: Malnati/vaults-diagram-tools-action@v0
with:
mode: render
input: docs/diagrams
output-dir: diagram-assets
- name: Upload diagram assets
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: diagram-assets
path: ${{ steps.diagrams.outputs.output-dir }}
npm package from GitHub
Use the GitHub package source when testing a commit before a registry release:
npm install github:malnati/vaults-diagram-tools
npx vaults-mermaid-render path/to/diagram.mmd --output-dir out
GitHub release assets
The latest GitHub Release, GHCR image, npm package, MCP Registry metadata, and VS Code VSIX are published at v0.1.4; the Quay.io Podman image remains at v0.1.0:
Local checkout
Use the checkout for development, validation, or release preparation:
git clone https://github.com/malnati/vaults-diagram-tools.git
cd vaults-diagram-tools
npm ci
npm test
node packages/renderer/render-mermaid-assets.mjs examples/simple/flowchart.mmd --output-dir tmp/rendered
node packages/source-diagrams/source-diagrams.mjs --source-dir packages/mcp --output-dir tmp/source-diagrams
node packages/mcp/server.mjs
Container, Docker, and Podman
Build locally:
docker build -f containers/Containerfile -t vaults-diagram-tools:local .
podman build -f containers/Containerfile -t vaults-diagram-tools:local .
Run a render from the GHCR image:
docker run --rm \
-v "$PWD/examples/simple:/work/input:ro" \
-v "$PWD/tmp/container-output:/work/output:rw" \
ghcr.io/malnati/vaults-diagram-tools:v0.1.4 \
--output-dir /work/output /work/input/flowchart.mmd
Run the published Podman image from Quay.io:
podman run --rm \
-v "$PWD/examples/simple:/work/input:ro" \
-v "$PWD/tmp/container-output:/work/output:rw" \
quay.io/ricardomalnati/vaults-diagram-tools:v0.1.0 \
--output-dir /work/output /work/input/flowchart.mmd
Quay.io also exposes 0.1.0 and latest tags for the same published package line.
Podman helper scripts are available through vaults-mermaid-podman-build, vaults-mermaid-podman-render, and vaults-mermaid-podman-test.
CDN facade
The package is CLI-first. CDN endpoints expose browser-safe metadata/helpers only; SVG/JPEG rendering still runs through Node.js, MCP, or the container runtime.
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/vaults-diagram-tools/packaging/cdn/vaults-diagram-tools.mjs
https://unpkg.com/vaults-diagram-tools/packaging/cdn/vaults-diagram-tools.mjs
VS Code extension
The desktop VS Code extension is published as malnati.vaults-diagram-tools and can also be installed directly from the GitHub Release VSIX. It uses a hybrid runtime: a bundled offline fallback plus a managed cache that can follow vaults-diagram-tools@latest without republishing the extension. It contributes:
- Command Palette actions for Mermaid SVG/JPEG rendering, source-diagram generation, and Markdown diagram-policy validation.
- Runtime commands: update managed runtime now, show runtime status, and force the bundled runtime.
- A native VS Code MCP server definition provider for the resolved
vaults-diagram-tools stdio server.
- Marketplace/Open VSX publish scripts for manual publication from an authenticated local shell. Keep npm, VS Code Marketplace, and Open VSX credentials in the local terminal; GitHub Actions does not use those secrets.
Install options after v0.1.4 is released:
Local package validation:
npm run vscode:install
npm run vscode:test
npm run vscode:package
code --install-extension dist/vaults-diagram-tools-vscode-0.1.4.vsix
Sequential local publication:
make auth
make publish-all
make publish-all runs local-terminal authentication first, validates guard-only release metadata, packages artifacts, creates the GitHub tag/release, publishes npm, VS Code Marketplace, Open VSX, GHCR, Quay.io, and MCP Registry, then verifies public availability. It fails when the current version/tag/npm package already exists; bump and commit release metadata before running.
Command line usage
After installing from npm, run public CLIs directly from node_modules/.bin, npm exec, or npx:
vaults-mermaid-render path/to/diagram.mmd --output-dir out --png --ascii --manifest out/manifest.json
vaults-source-diagrams --source-dir src --output-dir diagrams --langs auto --diagrams dependency,class
vaults-diagram-mcp
One-shot examples:
npx --yes --package vaults-diagram-tools vaults-mermaid-render examples/simple/flowchart.mmd --output-dir tmp/vaults-diagram-tools
npx --yes --package vaults-diagram-tools vaults-source-diagrams --source-dir packages/mcp --output-dir tmp/source-diagrams --render-mode placeholder
npx --yes --package vaults-diagram-tools vaults-diagram-mcp
Local checkout equivalents:
node packages/renderer/render-mermaid-assets.mjs examples/simple/flowchart.mmd --output-dir tmp/vaults-diagram-tools
node packages/source-diagrams/source-diagrams.mjs --source-dir packages/mcp --output-dir tmp/source-diagrams
node packages/mcp/server.mjs
vaults-diagram-mcp exposes exactly three tools:
render_mermaid_textrender_mermaid_filegenerate_source_diagrams
Example client command:
The MCP adapter passes theme and rendering options through to the same renderer used by the CLI, so a client can request theme: "dracula" and receive .svg + .jpg artifacts.
Dracula diagram examples
The diagrams below were generated by this repository with vaults-mermaid-render --theme dracula; Markdown links the generated assets instead of embedding SVG/JPEG.
Install and usage flow
flowchart LR
Install["Install"] --> Npm["npm registry"]
Install --> Npx["npx one-shot"]
Install --> GitHub["GitHub npm"]
Install --> Local["Local checkout"]
Install --> Container["Docker Podman GHCR Quay.io"]
Npm --> Cli["Public CLIs"]
Npx --> Cli
GitHub --> Cli
Local --> Cli
Container --> Cli
Cli --> Render["vaults-mermaid-render"]
Cli --> Source["vaults-source-diagrams"]
Cli --> Mcp["vaults-diagram-mcp"]
Render --> Svg["SVG Dracula"]
Render --> Jpg["JPEG Dracula"]
Source --> Mermaid["Mermaid source"]
Source --> Svg
Mcp --> Tools["3 explicit MCP tools"]
flowchart TB
User["User or agent"] --> Markdown["Markdown docs"]
User --> Cli["CLI workflow"]
User --> McpClient["MCP client"]
Cli --> Renderer["vaults-mermaid-render"]
Cli --> SourceDiagrams["vaults-source-diagrams"]
McpClient --> McpServer["vaults-diagram-mcp"]
McpServer --> Renderer
McpServer --> SourceDiagrams
SourceDiagrams --> SourceTree["Source tree"]
SourceDiagrams --> GeneratedMmd["Generated .mmd"]
GeneratedMmd --> Renderer
Renderer --> Svg[".svg"]
Renderer --> Jpeg[".jpg"]
Renderer --> Manifest["manifest.json"]
Svg --> Markdown
Jpeg --> Markdown
GeneratedMmd --> Markdown
MCP package source graph
flowchart LR
N1["server.mjs"]
N2["tests/mcp-tools.test.mjs"]
N3["tools.mjs"]
N1 --> N3
N2 --> N3
Brand assets
The repository, GitHub Pages landing, Actions summaries, release notes, GitHub App badge, and social preview use one deterministic brand kit generated from the current landing visual language.
Regenerate and verify the kit with:
npm run brand:generate
npm run brand:check
Compliance and artifact policy
Markdown diagram policy
Generated Markdown should link artifacts and show source in a mermaid fenced block:
#### Diagram title
- Links: [Mermaid source](docs/assets/diagrams/install-usage-flow.mmd) / [SVG](docs/assets/diagrams/install-usage-flow.svg) / [JPEG](docs/assets/diagrams/install-usage-flow.jpg)
```mermaid
flowchart TD
A["Source"] --> B["Rendered assets"]
```
SVG and JPEG files are delivery artifacts. Markdown should link them instead of embedding them as images by default.
Credits and license compliance
- Project license: MIT.
- Project notices: NOTICE.md.
- Third-party credits and license index: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.
- License verification:
npm run license:check; refresh generated notices with npm run license:generate.
- Dracula-colored documentation diagrams credit the MIT-licensed Dracula Theme palette through
beautiful-mermaid.
- Icon data credits include Font Awesome 4, SVG Logos by Gil Barbara, and Lucide Icons via Iconify JSON packages.
- Release artifacts must preserve
LICENSE, NOTICE.md, THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md, and upstream license files bundled by packaged dependencies or the offline vendor runtime.
Offline vendor runtime
The source tree does not commit node_modules. Build and release jobs create offline vendor assets with:
npm run vendor:refresh
npm run test:vendor:offline
The renderer can run from normal npm dependencies during development, or from packages/renderer/vendor/node when MMDC_VENDOR_ONLY=1.
The default renderer is the Node/JS/WASM vendor path and does not require Chromium, Puppeteer, mmdc, ImageMagick, or npx. The legacy shell wrapper only uses mmdc when explicitly requested with MMDC_RENDER_ENGINE=mmdc; automatic fallback to Puppeteer is disabled.
GitHub App
The public vaults-diagram-tools GitHub App is the installable read-only app surface for this package.
Distribution status
Working in v1:
- npm package publication and GitHub install flow
- Docker/Podman images through GHCR and Quay.io
- MCP server
- MCP Registry entry
io.github.Malnati/vaults-diagram-tools active at version 0.1.4
- Smithery server page for
ricardomalnati/vaults-diagram-tools
- zip release
- GitHub Actions CI, release, CodeQL, and Pages workflows
- GitHub Actions Marketplace Action
Vaults Diagram Tools for render/source/policy automation
- Public read-only GitHub App install surface
- Homebrewery package page with searchable tags
- Publishable VS Code extension package with VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX workflow targets
Templates in v1:
- Homebrew formula
- deb/rpm through nfpm
- CDN facade through npm/jsDelivr/unpkg
Current release
vaults-diagram-tools is published as npm 0.1.4 and MCP Registry server io.github.Malnati/vaults-diagram-tools version 0.1.4. The latest GitHub Release, GHCR image, and VS Code VSIX are v0.1.4; Quay.io carries the Podman image line at v0.1.0.
| Channel | Status |
|---|
| GitHub Release | v0.1.4 |
| Release assets | vaults-diagram-tools-0.1.4.tgz, vaults-diagram-tools-0.1.4.zip, and vaults-diagram-tools-vscode-0.1.4.vsix |
| npm | vaults-diagram-tools@0.1.4, dist-tag latest |
| GitHub Actions Marketplace | Vaults Diagram Tools target, backed by Malnati/vaults-diagram-tools-action tags v0.1.4 and v0 |
| MCP Registry | io.github.Malnati/vaults-diagram-tools, status active, version 0.1.4 |
| Smithery | ricardomalnati/vaults-diagram-tools is published |
| Registry PR | PR #17 aligned the MCP Registry publisher name and was merged. |
| GHCR container | ghcr.io/malnati/vaults-diagram-tools:v0.1.4; future container publication is manual outside GitHub Actions. |
| Quay.io Podman image | quay.io/ricardomalnati/vaults-diagram-tools:v0.1.0 |
| Automation | CI, CodeQL, Pages, and Release workflows run through GitHub Actions; release validates and packages artifacts only. npm, VS Code Marketplace, Open VSX, container registries, and MCP Registry are published manually from a local terminal. |
| GitHub App | vaults-diagram-tools public read-only app; install. |
| VS Code extension | VSIX is attached to the GitHub Release. Marketplace target malnati.vaults-diagram-tools and Open VSX target malnati/vaults-diagram-tools are published manually outside GitHub Actions. |
| Documentation | GitHub Pages publishes the docs/ site. |
Documentation