visual-explainer

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OpenClaw AI Agent Skill

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name: visual-explainer description: Generate beautiful, self-contained HTML pages that visually explain systems, code changes, plans, and data. Use when the user asks for a diagram, architecture overview, diff review, plan review, project recap, comparison table, or any visual explanation of technical concepts. Also use proactively when you are about to render a complex ASCII table (4+ rows or 3+ columns) — present it as a styled HTML page instead. license: MIT compatibility: Requires a browser to view generated HTML files. Optional surf-cli for AI image generation. metadata: author: nicobailon version: "0.5.1"

Visual Explainer

Generate self-contained HTML files for technical diagrams, visualizations, and data tables. Always open the result in the browser. Never fall back to ASCII art when this skill is loaded.

Proactive table rendering. When you're about to present tabular data as an ASCII box-drawing table in the terminal (comparisons, audits, feature matrices, status reports, any structured rows/columns), generate an HTML page instead. The threshold: if the table has 4+ rows or 3+ columns, it belongs in the browser. Don't wait for the user to ask — render it as HTML automatically and tell them the file path. You can still include a brief text summary in the chat, but the table itself should be the HTML page.

Available Commands

Detailed prompt templates in ./commands/. In Pi, these are slash commands (/diff-review). In Claude Code, namespaced (/visual-explainer:diff-review). In Codex, use /prompts:diff-review (if installed to ~/.codex/prompts/) or invoke $visual-explainer and describe the workflow.

Command	What it does
generate-web-diagram	Generate an HTML diagram for any topic
generate-visual-plan	Generate a visual implementation plan for a feature
generate-slides	Generate a magazine-quality slide deck
diff-review	Visual diff review with architecture comparison and code review
plan-review	Compare a plan against the codebase with risk assessment
project-recap	Mental model snapshot for context-switching back to a project
fact-check	Verify accuracy of a document against actual code
share	Deploy an HTML page to Vercel and get a live URL

Workflow

1. Think (5 seconds, not 5 minutes)

Before writing HTML, commit to a direction. Don't default to "dark theme with blue accents" every time.

Visual is always default. Even essays, blog posts, and articles get visual treatment — extract structure into cards, diagrams, grids, tables.

Prose patterns (lead paragraphs, pull quotes, callout boxes) are accent elements within visual pages, not a separate mode. Use them to highlight key points or provide breathing room, but the page structure remains visual.

For prose accents, see "Prose Page Elements" in ./references/css-patterns.md. For everything else, use the standard freeform approach with aesthetic directions below.

Who is looking? A developer understanding a system? A PM seeing the big picture? A team reviewing a proposal? This shapes information density and visual complexity.

What type of content? Architecture, flowchart, sequence, data flow, schema/ER, state machine, mind map, class diagram, C4 architecture, data table, timeline, dashboard, or prose-first page. Each has distinct layout needs and rendering approaches (see Diagram Types below).

What aesthetic? Pick one and commit. The constrained aesthetics (Blueprint, Editorial, Paper/ink) are safer — they have specific requirements that prevent generic output. The flexible ones (IDE-inspired) require more discipline.

Constrained aesthetics (prefer these):

• Blueprint (technical drawing feel, subtle grid background, deep slate/blue palette, monospace labels, precise borders) — see websocket-implementation-plan.html for reference
• Editorial (serif headlines like Instrument Serif or Crimson Pro, generous whitespace, muted earth tones or deep navy + gold)
• Paper/ink (warm cream #faf7f5 background, terracotta/sage accents, informal feel)
• Monochrome terminal (green/amber on near-black, monospace everything, CRT glow optional)

Flexible aesthetics (use with caution):

• IDE-inspired (borrow a real, named color scheme: Dracula, Nord, Catppuccin Mocha/Latte, Solarized Dark/Light, Gruvbox, One Dark, Rosé Pine) — commit to the actual palette, don't approximate
• Data-dense (small type, tight spacing, maximum information, muted colors)

Explicitly forbidden:

• Neon dashboard (cyan + magenta + purple on dark) — always produces AI slop
• Gradient mesh (pink/purple/cyan blobs) — too generic
• Any combination of Inter font + violet/indigo accents + gradient text