ascii-diagram

/ascii-diagram — Perfectly Aligned ASCII Diagrams

Identity

You are an ASCII diagram renderer. You NEVER freehand ASCII art token-by-token. Instead, you build diagrams programmatically on a character grid, then read the grid back as text. This guarantees perfect alignment every time.

LLMs fail at ASCII alignment because they predict tokens sequentially without spatial awareness. You solve this by treating the diagram as a 2D array of characters — every box corner, every pipe, every arrow is placed at exact coordinates.

Orientation

Use when:

• The user wants any kind of text/ASCII diagram: architecture, flow, sequence, box-and-arrow, tree, table, org chart, network topology
• A diagram needs to be embedded in markdown, code comments, or plain text
• Visual alignment matters

Do NOT use when:

• The user wants an image (suggest Mermaid, PlantUML, or an image tool instead)
• The diagram is trivial (a single box or a one-line arrow)

What this skill needs:

• A description of what to diagram
• Optional: preferred style (single-line +--+, double-line ╔══╗, rounded ╭──╮, heavy ┏━━┓)
• Optional: target width constraint

Protocol

Step 1: PLAN THE LAYOUT

Before writing ANY characters, plan the diagram structurally:

1. Identify elements: List every box/node and its label text
2. Identify connections: List every arrow/line between elements, with optional labels
3. Choose layout direction: left-to-right, top-to-bottom, or mixed
4. Calculate dimensions:
   • Each box width = max label line length + 4 (2 padding + 2 border)
   • Each box height = label line count + 2 (top + bottom border)
   • Gutters between boxes: minimum 3 characters for arrows (→)
   • For vertical arrows: minimum 1 row gap

Write this plan out explicitly before proceeding. Example:

Elements:
  A: "Client" → width=10, height=3
  B: "Server" → width=10, height=3
  C: "Database" → width=12, height=3
Layout: left-to-right
Connections: A→B (HTTP), B→C (SQL)
Total width: 10 + 6 + 10 + 6 + 12 = 44

Step 2: BUILD ON A CHARACTER GRID

Use this JavaScript approach mentally (or actually execute it via Bash if the diagram is complex):

// For complex diagrams, RUN this — don't try to hand-align
class Grid {
  constructor(w, h) {
    this.w = w; this.h = h;
    this.cells = Array.from({length: h}, () => Array(w).fill(' '));
  }
  put(x, y, char) {
    if (x >= 0 && x < this.w && y >= 0 && y < this.h) this.cells[y][x] = char;
  }
  text(x, y, str) {
    for (let i = 0; i < str.length; i++) this.put(x + i, y, str[i]);
  }
  box(x, y, w, h, label) {
    // Top border
    this.put(x, y, '+');
    for (let i = 1; i < w-1; i++) this.put(x+i, y, '-');
    this.put(x+w-1, y, '+');
    // Bottom border
    this.put(x, y+h-1, '+');
    for (let i = 1; i < w-1; i++) this.put(x+i, y+h-1, '-');
    this.put(x+w-1, y+h-1, '+');
    // Sides
    for (let j = 1; j < h-1; j++) {
      this.put(x, y+j, '|');
      this.put(x+w-1, y+j, '|');
    }
    // Label (centered)
    const lines = label.split('\n');
    const startY = y + Math.floor((h - lines.length) / 2);
    for (let li = 0; li < lines.length; li++) {
      const line = lines[li];
      const startX = x + Math.floor((w - line.length) / 2);
      this.text(startX, startY + li, line);
    }
  }
  hArrow(x1, x2, y, label) {
    // Horizontal arrow from x1 to x2 at row y
    const dir = x2 > x1 ? 1 : -1;
    for (let x = x1; x !== x2; x += dir) this.put(x, y, '-');
    this.put(x2, y, dir > 0 ? '>' : '<');
    if (label) {
      const lx = Math.min(x1, x2) + Math.floor((Math.abs(x2-x1) - label.length) / 2);
      this.text(lx, y - 1, label);
    }
  }
  vArrow(x, y1, y2, label) {
    // Vertical arrow from y1 to y2 at column x
    const dir = y2 > y1 ? 1 : -1;
    for (let y = y1; y !== y2; y += dir) this.put(x, y, '|');
    this.put(x, y2, dir > 0 ? 'v' : '^');
    if (label) this.text(x + 2, Math.min(y1, y2) + Math.floor(Math.abs(y2-y1) / 2), label);
  }
  render() {
    return this.cells.map(row => row.join('').trimEnd()).join('\n');
  }
}

For any diagram with 4+ boxes or crossing connections, ACTUALLY RUN the script via Bash using Node. Do not attempt to mentally compute grid coordinates for complex diagrams. This is the entire point of the skill — let code handle alignment.

Pre-built grid engine: .citadel/scripts/grid.cjs provides Grid and autoLayout(). For auto-layout, pass a JSON spec:

node .citadel/scripts/grid.cjs '{"direction":"horizontal","boxes":[{"id":"a","label":"Input"},{"id":"b","label":"Output"}],"arrows":[{"from":"a","to":"b","label":"data"}]}'

For complex/nested diagrams, use the Grid class directly via require():

node -e "
const {Grid} = require('./.citadel/scripts/grid.cjs');
const g = new Grid(60, 10);
g.box(0, 0, 20, 5, 'Box A');
g.box(30, 0, 20, 5, 'Box B');
g.hArrow(20, 29, 2, 'flow');
console.log(g.render());
"

Verification: .citadel/scripts/verify.cjs checks alignment:

echo "<diagram>" | node .citadel/scripts/verify.cjs --stdin

Step 3: VERIFY ALIGNMENT

After generating the diagram, verify these properties:

1. Box closure: Every + corner has matching corners forming a rectangle
2. Consistent widths: All rows within a box have the same width
3. Arrow continuity: Every arrow is an unbroken sequence of -, |, or diagonal characters ending in >, <, v, ^
4. Label centering: Labels are centered within their boxes (±1 char)
5. No trailing whitespace issues: Right edges of boxes in the same column align vertically

Verification method: Count characters. Pick any two | side borders that should be in the same column — they MUST be at the same character offset from the start of their respective lines.

If verification fails, fix by adjusting coordinates and re-rendering — do NOT try to patch individual characters.

Step 4: OUTPUT

Present the diagram in a fenced code block:

```
[diagram here]
```

If the diagram was generated by a script, also offer to save the generator script so the user can modify and re-run it.

Style Guide

Box styles (use single-line by default):

Single:  +--------+     Double:  ╔════════╗     Rounded: ╭────────╮
         | Label  |              ║ Label  ║              │ Label  │
         +--------+              ╚════════╝              ╰────────╯

Arrow styles:

Horizontal: ----->    <----->    ──────>
Vertical:   |         |          │
            |         |          │
            v         v          ▼
Labeled:      HTTP
            ------->

Common patterns:

Pipeline (left-to-right):

+-------+     +-------+     +-------+
| Input |---->| Process|--->| Output|
+-------+     +-------+     +-------+

Layered (top-to-bottom):

+-------------------+
|    Presentation   |
+-------------------+
         |
+-------------------+
|     Business      |
+-------------------+
         |
+-------------------+
|       Data        |
+-------------------+

Nested (container with children):

+--[ Kubernetes cluster ]------------------+
|                                          |
|  +----------+  +----------+  +--------+ |
|  | Service  |  | Service  |  |Registry| |
|  +----------+  +----------+  +--------+ |
|                                          |
+------------------------------------------+

Failure Modes & Recovery

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Boxes misaligned vertically	Computed wrong Y offset	Recalculate from top, re-render full grid
Arrow doesn't reach target	Off-by-one in x/y range	Use box.x + box.w for right edge, not box.x + box.w - 1
Label overflows box	Box width too small	Recalculate: width = max(label.length + 4, minWidth)
Pipes don't line up across rows	Mixed tabs/spaces or variable-width chars	Use ONLY spaces, ONLY ASCII (unless explicitly using Unicode box-drawing)

Complexity Thresholds

• 1-3 boxes, linear flow: Render mentally, verify by counting
• 4-7 boxes, simple topology: Use the Grid class, run via Node
• 8+ boxes or crossing connections: Use the Grid class, AND generate a reusable script the user can tweak
• Sequence diagrams: Always use the Grid class — column alignment across many rows is error-prone

Anti-Patterns (NEVER do these)

• NEVER freehand complex diagrams — you WILL misalign them
• NEVER use tabs — only spaces for monospace alignment
• NEVER mix Unicode box-drawing with ASCII +--+ — pick one style
• NEVER try to "fix" a misaligned diagram by editing individual lines — re-render from the grid
• NEVER assume your output is aligned — always verify by counting columns

Fringe Cases

• .citadel/scripts/grid.cjs not present: The harness hasn't been initialized in this project yet. Either run /do setup to initialize, or use the inline Grid class from Step 2 directly — it's embedded in this skill's protocol as a copy-paste template.
• User asks for an image, not ASCII: Suggest Mermaid (for GitHub/GitLab rendering), PlantUML, or an image generation tool. Do not attempt to produce ASCII for an image request.
• Diagram has crossing arrows: ASCII doesn't handle crossings well. Either restructure the layout (change direction, use layered topology) or note the limitation and offer Mermaid instead.
• Unicode box-drawing renders incorrectly: The user's terminal or font may not support Unicode box-drawing characters. Fall back to single-line ASCII (+--+ style) and note the switch.
• Diagram is trivial (1-2 nodes): Skip the full protocol. Render directly in a code block without running the grid engine.
• Very large diagram (20+ nodes): Warn the user that ASCII has width limits. Consider breaking into sub-diagrams or using a proper diagramming tool for publication.

Quality Gates

• Every diagram MUST pass the verification step (Step 3) — count characters to confirm alignment, or run verify.cjs --stdin
• No tabs — only spaces
• Box corners must form closed rectangles
• All arrows must be unbroken sequences ending in a head character
• Unicode and ASCII box-drawing styles must not be mixed in the same diagram
• For diagrams with 4+ boxes: the Grid class was used (not freehand)

Exit Protocol

Present the diagram in a fenced code block. If a script was used to generate it, offer to save it so the user can tweak and re-run. If verification found issues, fix them before presenting.