draw.io

io.drawPublished by draw.ioOfficial publisherv1.7.0Updated Nov 7, 2026

Create draw.io diagrams in chat from Mermaid or XML, shown live and interactive. 10,000+ shapes.

VerifiedStreamable HTTPWeb executableDeveloper ToolsMedia & Design

Overview

AI-generated overview

Official draw.io server that lets an assistant create interactive diagrams from Mermaid or draw.io XML and look up shapes from draw.io's stencil libraries.

What you can do
  • Create and display interactive diagrams from Mermaid.js syntax or draw.io XML, with optional auto-layout and connector routing passes
  • Search roughly 10,000 built-in shapes across cloud, network, P&ID, electrical, Cisco, Kubernetes, UML and BPMN libraries, returning exact style strings
  • Retrieve the draw.io XML or Mermaid generation reference so the model can follow formatting and well-formedness rules
  • Diagrams render inline in hosts supporting the MCP Apps extension; other hosts return a link that opens the diagram in draw.io
When to use it
Useful when you want flowcharts, architecture or network diagrams, org charts, ER schemas, UML or BPMN drawn from a prompt and previewed in the conversation. It suits hosts such as Claude.ai, ChatGPT, VS Code, Cursor or any MCP Apps-compatible client where inline diagram previews are wanted.
Requirements
Remote endpoint at mcp.draw.io over streamable HTTP; no installation, account or API key is declared. Hosts without inline diagram support still work but return a link instead of an embedded viewer.
Before you install
The hosted endpoint receives your diagram content as the MCP request, so diagrams leave your machine; self-hosting keeps them local. Rendering loads viewer code from diagrams.net, and shape search queries the icon service unless disabled. Diagram content is also generated by whichever LLM you use.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open draw.io in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Web executable via Streamable HTTP. Remote servers run from the web runtime once configured in a workspace.

Use with an agent

Paste this prompt into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or another agent — or into SourceWeft chat. The agent reads this server's install guide, shows you its publisher, endpoint and sign-in, and adds it to your client once you agree. Keys never go into a command.

Read https://sourceweft.com/mcp/io.draw%2Fmcp/install.md and connect the MCP server it describes to my client. Before changing any config, show me its publisher, endpoint and sign-in method and wait for my OK. Never put an API key in a command or in a file I would commit; ask me where it should come from.

Read the install guide the agent follows

Other MCP clients

Add this to your client's mcpServers config.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "draw-io": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.draw.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

README

Draw.io MCP Server

The official draw.io MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that enables LLMs to create and open diagrams in the draw.io editor.

[An AI assistant turns a prompt for a customer refund flowchart into an editable draw.io diagram in the chat, with Open in draw.io, Copy and Download diagram buttons]

▶ Watch the video and set up draw.io in your AI assistant on drawio.com/mcp.

Four Ways to Create Diagrams

This repository offers four approaches for integrating draw.io with AI assistants. Pick the one that fits your setup:

MCP App ServerMCP Tool ServerAssistant PluginsProject Instructions
How it worksRenders diagrams inline in chatOpens diagrams in your browserGenerates .drawio files, optional PNG/SVG/PDF export or browser URLClaude generates draw.io URLs via Python
Diagram outputInteractive viewer embedded in conversationdraw.io editor in a new tab.drawio, .drawio.png / .svg / .pdf, or browser URLClickable link to draw.io
Requires installationNo (hosted at mcp.draw.io)Yes (npm package)One-line plugin install (draw.io Desktop only for PNG/SVG/PDF export)No — just paste instructions
Supports XML, CSV, MermaidXML and Mermaid✅ All threeXML and Mermaid (Mermaid needs draw.io Desktop)✅ All three
Editable in draw.ioVia "Open in draw.io" button✅ Directly✅ DirectlyVia link
Works withClaude.ai, ChatGPT, VS Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot CLI, any MCP Apps hostClaude Desktop, Cursor, OpenCode, any MCP clientClaude Code, Codex CLI, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Antigravity, OpenCodeClaude.ai (with Projects)
Best forInline previews in chatLocal desktop workflowsLocal development workflowsQuick setup, no install needed

Guides

User guides with tested prompts and examples are in the draw.io documentation, and the setup for each assistant is on drawio.com/mcp:

The gallery is generated from docs/images/gallery/gallery.json and the editable light and dark SVGs next to it; drawio.com reads them when the site is built.

MCP App Server

The MCP App server renders draw.io diagrams inline in AI chat interfaces using the MCP Apps protocol. Instead of opening a browser tab, diagrams appear directly in the conversation as interactive iframes.

The official hosted endpoint is available at:

https://mcp.draw.io/mcp

Add this URL as a remote MCP server in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Cursor, GitHub Copilot CLI, or any MCP Apps-compatible host — no installation required. On Claude.ai, draw.io is also listed in the connector directory and can be added from there in one click; in ChatGPT and Codex, in the plugin directory. In Cursor (≥ 2.6), diagrams render inline in the Agent chat (one-click install); on older builds, use the stdio @drawio/mcp tool server instead. In GitHub Copilot CLI, run copilot mcp add --transport http drawio https://mcp.draw.io/mcp; a terminal can't show diagrams inline, so it gets a link that opens each diagram in draw.io.

You can also run the server locally via Node.js or the jgraph/drawio-mcp Docker image, or deploy your own instance to Cloudflare Workers.

Tools:

  • create_diagram — Renders draw.io XML or Mermaid (28 diagram types) as an interactive diagram inline in chat
  • search_shapes — Searches 10,000+ shapes across all draw.io libraries (AWS, Azure, GCP, P&ID, electrical, Cisco, Kubernetes, UML, BPMN, etc.) by keyword, supplemented by the draw.io icon service (brand logos and general-purpose concept icons) when the built-in libraries have no good match. Returns exact style strings that can be used directly in XML. Use this to find the correct shape before calling create_diagram.
  • get_drawio_reference — Returns the XML or Mermaid generation reference, which the model reads once per format before its first diagram.

Full documentation →

Note: Diagrams appear inline in hosts that support the MCP Apps extension, such as Claude.ai, ChatGPT, VS Code with GitHub Copilot and Cursor. In other hosts, such as GitHub Copilot CLI, the tool still works and answers with a link that opens the diagram in draw.io.

MCP Tool Server

The original MCP server that opens diagrams directly in the draw.io editor. Supports XML, CSV, and Mermaid.js formats with lightbox and dark mode options. Published as @drawio/mcp on npm.

Quick start: npx @drawio/mcp

Setup instructions are available for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Cursor (with one-click install), and OpenCode.

Full documentation →

Assistant Plugins (Claude Code, Codex CLI, GitHub Copilot)

The drawio skill packaged as a plugin for AI coding assistants (under plugins/): it generates native .drawio files, with optional export to PNG, SVG, or PDF (with embedded XML so the exported file remains editable in draw.io) — or a browser URL that opens the diagram directly in app.diagrams.net. The Claude Code and Cursor plugins also bundle the hosted MCP App Server, so diagrams show inline where the host supports it; the Codex and Copilot ports need no MCP setup. The same skill ships for four hosts:

Claude Code (full documentation →) — install from this repo's marketplace:

/plugin marketplace add jgraph/drawio-mcp/plugin install drawio@drawio

Or load it directly from a local clone with claude --plugin-dir ./plugins/claude-code.

Codex CLI (full documentation →) — install from the same marketplace repo:

bash
codex plugin marketplace add jgraph/drawio-mcpcodex plugin add drawio@drawio

GitHub Copilot CLI (full documentation →) — install from the same marketplace repo:

bash
copilot plugin marketplace add jgraph/drawio-mcpcopilot plugin install drawio@drawio

Other Copilot surfaces (VS Code agent mode, the coding agent, code review) load the same skill from a repo's .github/skills/ directory instead — see the plugin README.

Cursor (full documentation →) — the same skill plus the hosted MCP App Server, so diagrams also render inline in Cursor's Agent chat. Install it from the Cursor Marketplace (Customize → drawio → Install), or copy plugins/cursor to ~/.cursor/plugins/local/drawio and reload the window.

Antigravity (full documentation →) — install from the plugin's directory on GitHub:

bash
agy plugin install https://github.com/jgraph/drawio-mcp/tree/main/plugins/antigravity

OpenCode needs no plugin at all: it discovers skills in .opencode/skills/ and .claude/skills/ (and their ~/ equivalents), so the Claude Code skill folder works as-is — see OpenCode (no plugin needed) for the one-line install.

By default, the plugin writes a .drawio file and opens it in draw.io. Mention a format in your request to change the output:

  • png / svg / pdf — exports using the draw.io desktop CLI with --embed-diagram
  • url — compresses the XML with Node.js's built-in zlib and opens the result at app.diagrams.net. No draw.io Desktop needed; the .drawio file is kept locally as a persistent copy.

Alternative: Project Instructions (No MCP Required)

An alternative approach that works without installing anything. Add instructions to a Claude Project that teach Claude to generate draw.io URLs using Python code execution. No MCP server, no desktop app — just paste and go.

Full documentation →

Diagram layouts

Two optional, independent layout passes can run after the AI generates a diagram — one re-arranges the nodes, the other only reroutes the edges. Which are available depends on the approach:

Layout passWhat it doesApp Server (create_diagram)Tool Server (open_drawio_xml)Assistant PluginsProject Instructions
ELK auto-layout (postLayout: "elk")Re-arranges nodes into a clean layered layout; routes the edges as part of it✅—✅ via draw.io Desktop CLI (--layout)—
libavoid routing (routing: "libavoid")Keeps node positions; reroutes connectors orthogonally around the shapes✅✅ from v1.3.0✅ via draw.io Desktop CLI (--layout libavoid)—
  • These apply to draw.io XML diagrams. Mermaid diagrams are auto-laid-out already, so neither pass is needed.
  • The App Server applies these in the inline viewer after the diagram renders; the Tool Server applies libavoid server-side before opening the draw.io editor; the plugins run them through the locally installed draw.io Desktop CLI.
  • Pick one, not both: ELK already routes its own edges, so adding libavoid on top is redundant. Use postLayout to re-arrange a layout, or routing to tidy the connectors on a layout you placed deliberately.

Data Residency & Offline Use

If you're deploying in an environment with strict data restrictions, here is exactly where diagram data goes for each approach.

No component sends your diagram to a cloud rasterizer. convert.diagrams.net (or any cloud export endpoint) is not called anywhere in this repository, and there is no "local dependency missing → fall back to cloud" path. PNG/SVG/PDF export happens only in the assistant plugins, which shell out to your locally installed draw.io Desktop CLI (located via which drawio); if it isn't installed, the .drawio file is kept and nothing is sent.

Does your diagram leave the machine?

ApproachDiagram leaves the machine?
MCP App Server — hosted (mcp.draw.io)Yes — it is sent to the draw.io server as the MCP request. Self-host instead (below) to keep it local.
MCP App Server — self-hosted (local Node, the jgraph/drawio-mcp Docker image, or your own Cloudflare)No — processed by your server and embedded in HTML that renders client-side.
MCP Tool Server (@drawio/mcp)No — carried in the URL #fragment, which browsers do not transmit to the server.
Assistant Plugins (Claude Code, Codex CLI, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Antigravity)No — written locally and exported by your local draw.io Desktop CLI. The Claude Code and Cursor plugins also bundle the hosted App Server: diagrams drawn with it are sent to mcp.draw.io (row above).

By default the servers do not write diagram content to their logs — only request metadata (method, session, status, timing). The Cloudflare-hosted App Server logs response bodies only when run with DEBUG=true.

Reducing external requests

Even when the diagram itself stays local, the rendering loads draw.io's web-app / viewer code from app.diagrams.net and viewer.diagrams.net by default. These fetch application code and assets — not your diagram — but they are still outbound requests. To reduce or remove them:

  • App Server: build with the VIEWER_PATH environment variable to inline the viewer instead of loading it from viewer.diagrams.net. Server-side, it makes a version check against viewer.diagrams.net at startup and daily (no data, 5 s timeout, safe to block), and search_shapes queries icons.diagrams.net with the search terms unless DRAWIO_ICON_SERVICE_URL=off. Set DRAWIO_BASE_URL to a self-hosted draw.io instance to have "Open in draw.io" and the link for clients without inline diagrams open there; the inline viewer still loads its code and shape images from diagrams.net.
  • Tool Server: set the DRAWIO_BASE_URL environment variable to a self-hosted draw.io instance. Its two server-side passes also fetch code from viewer.diagrams.net once per draw.io release and cache it per user: the libavoid routing core (routing: "libavoid", also primed at install time) and the drawio-elk bundle (postLayout: "elk", fetched on first use, overridable with DRAWIO_ELK_URL). Not requesting those passes makes no such call; the diagram is never part of one either way.
  • Assistant Plugins: the opt-in url output mode opens the diagram at app.diagrams.net (hardcoded — no DRAWIO_BASE_URL equivalent). Use the default .drawio output or local Desktop export instead if you need to avoid that request.

Your LLM is a separate consideration

The diagram is generated by the LLM. If you use a hosted model, the diagram content is produced in that provider's cloud regardless of where this MCP server runs. End-to-end isolation requires a locally hosted model as well.

Verifying

The only reliable way to confirm a deployment makes no outbound calls is to run it with network egress blocked (or watch the browser's Network tab) and verify it still renders. We recommend this for any strict-isolation deployment.

XML Reference (Single Source of Truth)

The draw.io XML generation reference — covering edge routing, containers, layers, tags, metadata, dark mode, style properties, and XML well-formedness — lives in a single canonical file:

shared/xml-reference.md

All four approaches above use this file as their single source of truth for LLM prompts:

ApproachHow it accesses the reference
MCP App ServerReads the file at startup / build time and returns it from the get_drawio_reference tool
MCP Tool ServerReads the file at startup (from repo or bundled copy via prepack) and returns it from the get_drawio_reference tool; the open_drawio_xml description carries the condensed shared/xml-essentials.md
Assistant Plugins (Claude Code, Codex CLI, GitHub Copilot)Fetch the condensed shared/xml-essentials.md by its GitHub raw URL, and the full reference only for layers, tags, metadata, tables, cross-functional grids and dark-mode colors
Project InstructionsUsers copy the condensed shared/xml-essentials.md into their Claude Project, and the full reference only when they need those topics

When updating XML generation guidance, edit shared/xml-reference.md — changes propagate to all consumers automatically. If the change touches a rule that shared/xml-essentials.md summarizes, update that line there too.

Shape Search Index

The search_shapes tool is powered by a pre-built index of all draw.io shapes. The index is generated from the live draw.io client (https://app.diagrams.net/js/app.min.js) by running all sidebar palette initializations in Node.js via jsdom and capturing the shape data.

Icons from the draw.io icon service (icons.diagrams.net — the same grouped icon search the editor sidebar uses) are not part of this index: search_shapes queries the service live when the local index has no strong match for a query, returning the icons as shape=image styles. Set DRAWIO_ICON_SERVICE_URL to a self-hosted service to override the endpoint, or to off to disable icon supplementation.

shape-search/search-index.json is committed to the repository. The Update Shape Search Index GitHub Action regenerates it from the released draw.io client after every draw.io release (drawio-dev dispatches drawio-release when its build has finished) and daily as a fallback, and opens a pull request when the shapes changed. Once merged, the tool server picks it up from the CDN; the hosted app server bundles it, so it needs a deploy.

To regenerate the index manually (e.g. when iterating on the generator itself):

bash
cd shape-searchnpm installnpm run generate
# Rebuild the MCP App Server worker to embed the updated indexcd ../mcp-app-servernpm run build:worker

The generator fetches app.min.js directly from the public draw.io web app, so no local checkout of the draw.io source is needed.

Development

bash
# MCP App Servercd mcp-app-servernpm installnpm start
# MCP Tool Servercd mcp-tool-servernpm installnpm start

Related Resources

Source: README.md at commit 2a0f570

Tools

3

create_diagram

Create Diagram

Creates and displays an interactive draw.io diagram from Mermaid.js syntax or draw.io XML — provide exactly one. **Choose the format first.** Use `xml` for diagrams of boxes and lines up to about 30 shapes: flowcharts, pipelines, decision trees, org charts, ER schemas, UML class, state and use case diagrams, mind maps, timelines, architecture, cloud and network diagrams, swimlanes, UI mockups, floor plans and anything with stencils. You place every shape yourself, laid out for the chat view (see the XML reference). Use `mermaid` for sequenceDiagram, gantt, gitGraph, pie, journey, quadrantChart, xychart-beta, sankey-beta, requirementDiagram, C4Context/C4Container/C4Component, block-beta, packet-beta, kanban, radar-beta, treemap-beta, treeView-beta, venn-beta, ishikawa-beta, zenuml, wardley-beta, eventmodeling, and for flowcharts, class and state diagrams of more than about 30 shapes (flowcharts with postLayout elk). Whenever the user asks for draw.io XML or no Mermaid, use XML for the rest of the conversation. **Call `get_drawio_reference` before your first diagram in a conversation**, once per format, with the format you chose: "mermaid" has the syntax for every type (a misspelled header renders blank), "xml" the styles, layout grid, edges, containers, layers and dark mode. Call `search_shapes` first for industry icons (AWS, Azure, GCP, Cisco, Kubernetes, P&ID, electrical) or logos. XML essentials: <mxGraphModel adaptiveColors="auto"><root><mxCell id="0"/><mxCell id="1" parent="0"/>…</root></mxGraphModel>. Every cell has a unique id. Vertices: vertex="1" with <mxGeometry x y width height as="geometry"/>. Edges: edge="1" with source and target, always with a child <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry"/>. Put html=1 in every style and XML-escape HTML in values (&lt; &gt; &amp; &quot;). No XML comments. Don't add waypoints. Place the shapes yourself (no postLayout) and set `routing: "libavoid"` only when an edge would otherwise cross a shape.

ParametersxmlmermaidroutingdirectionpostLayout

search_shapes

Search Shapes

Search the draw.io shape library by keywords. Returns matching shapes with their exact style strings, dimensions, and titles. Covers ~10,000 built-in stencils (cloud architecture, network topology, P&ID, electrical, Cisco, Kubernetes, BPMN) and, when those are sparse, supplements results with the draw.io icon service (brand/product logos and general-purpose concept icons, e.g. 'react', 'slack', 'shopping cart', 'solar panel'). Use ONLY for diagrams that need industry-specific, branded, or pictorial icons. Do NOT use for standard diagram types like flowcharts, UML, ERD, org charts, or mind maps — these use basic geometric shapes (rectangles, diamonds, circles, cylinders) that are already covered in the XML reference. Also skip if the user asks to use basic/simple shapes or says not to search. The style string from the results can be used directly in mxCell style attributes.

Parameterslimitqueryrequired

get_drawio_reference

Get draw.io Reference

Returns the draw.io diagram generation reference as Markdown. Format "xml": styles, the layout grid, edges, containers, swimlanes, layers, tags, metadata, dark mode, the layout and routing passes, and the well-formedness rules for create_diagram's xml. Format "mermaid": the header keyword and syntax hints for every Mermaid type draw.io supports, flowchart styling and the ELK layout. Call it once per format and conversation, before the first diagram in that format; the reference stays valid for the rest of the conversation.

Parametersformatrequired

Version history

11
  1. v1.7.0LatestNov 7, 2026
  2. v1.5.0Nov 3, 2026
  3. v1.4.7Oct 31, 2026
  4. v1.4.2Oct 30, 2026
  5. v1.4.1Oct 19, 2026
  6. v1.4.0Oct 18, 2026
  7. v1.3.0Oct 18, 2026
  8. v1.2.0Oct 17, 2026
  9. v1.1.1Oct 13, 2026
  10. v1.1.0Oct 13, 2026
  11. v1.0.3Sep 16, 2026

Score

100% of the applicable checks met

How complete this listing is, computed from the registry entry, the endpoint and public sources. Not a rating of the server and not a statement that it is safe or working today: reachability is a dated check, and no installs or reviews go into the score.

  • Reached in the last 30 daysRequired25 pts
  • Auth declaredRequired10 pts
  • Tools listedRequired15 pts
  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts
  • License10 pts

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