diagram-design
cathrynlavery/diagram-designA diagram skill that writes 45 diagram types as one self-contained HTML and SVG file in your brand, with onboarding, import and PNG export.
Recommended
Check first Depth 4/5
Archify Claude skills
A skill that turns a description or a codebase into a validated, interactive standalone HTML diagram or one-page explainer.
Our verdict Recommended
A deep, Apache-2.0 diagram pipeline with validators and a visual check; the one outbound call is an update reminder you can switch off.
What Archify does
Archify gives a coding agent a pipeline for producing diagrams as self-contained HTML files rather than ASCII sketches or Mermaid blocks in chat. You describe a system (or ask the agent to read a repository), and the agent picks one of the supported diagram types: architecture, workflow, sequence, data flow, lifecycle or state, ERD, class, tree, timeline and waterfall. It writes a JSON description, and Archify's Node tooling validates it, lays it out, renders explorable HTML with dark and light themes, and can export images, SVG or WebM. A second mode, 'explainer', answers a question as a single shareable page with a conclusion, reasons and optional embedded diagrams.
The main SKILL.md is about 19 KB and points to ten reference files (authoring contract, repository authoring, delivery contract, explainer authoring, update awareness and others). The skill folder includes a CLI with finalize, preview and visual-check commands, JSON schemas, recipes, locale files and a gallery of examples, and the repo carries 27 eval-related files. Output goes to a .archify/<type>-<slug>-<timestamp>/ folder in your working directory. The same repo has three internal maintainer skills (review, tuning, simplify-codebase) marked internal. It needs Node 18 or newer, and the README lists Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode and Hermes Agent.
Good for
- Mapping an unfamiliar repository as an interactive, source-linked architecture diagram
- Producing shareable HTML explainers and system diagrams from a prompt
- Teams that want diagrams checked by a validator instead of hand-drawn
Not for
- Quick throwaway diagrams where a Mermaid block in chat is enough
- Environments without Node 18 or newer
What's inside depth 5/5
A 19 KB main skill with ten references, a Node CLI with validate, finalize and visual-check steps, schemas, 26 example files and 27 eval-related files in the repo.
- Skills
- 5
- Reference docs
- 20
- Scripts
- 109
- Tests / evals
- 27
- Templates
- 50
- Avg SKILL.md
- 9 KB
Counted from the repository file tree. How we score depth.
Dependencies and costs
- Node.js 18 or newer
- A local Chrome or Chromium-based browser for the visual check
- Telemetry: An update checker may GET a fixed stable manifest about once a day to show a reminder; the README says the server sees only normal HTTP metadata (IP and time), no version, agent or project data. Disable it with ARCHIFY_UPDATE_CHECK_DISABLED=1.
Step by step: your first Archify diagram
- Install the skill with
npx skills add tt-a1i/archify -g. The README says this works with Cursor, Claude Code, Codex CLI and OpenCode. - Send the agent a plain-language description. The README's full example prompt is:
Use Archify to diagram a web request: Browser calls the API, the API checks Redis, and a cache miss queries PostgreSQL and fills the cache. - Refine the result in follow-up messages instead of starting over. The README suggests prompts like "Add authentication", "Highlight the cache-miss path" or "Switch to the light theme".
- For a source-backed architecture diagram, ask the agent to read a repository. You don't need one, though. A description alone is enough for workflows, plans or anything else with steps.
- Have a local Chrome or Chromium-based browser installed if you want the visual check step to run. The CLI uses a headless browser for that check.
A useful habit is to keep each follow-up to one change, such as adding a component, highlighting a path or switching theme. That way the validate-and-repair loop only has a small edit to verify each time.
Installing on Hermes Agent and DeepSeek Harness
Both integrations are opt-in, and the README lists separate commands for each.
For Hermes Agent:
hermes skills install skills-sh/tt-a1i/archify/archify -y
The README calls this a community, skill-only integration that needs Node 18 or newer. It also says Hermes support is not an official Nous product.
For DeepSeek Harness, Archify ships as a dsh plugin pinned to a version:
dsh plugin --profile web add @tt-a1i/archify-dsh@1.0.0
The suggested invocation is Use the archify skill to map this repository's runtime architecture. The README also gives a matching dsh plugin --profile web remove command for uninstalling.
What the other skills in the repo do
The repository counts five skill folders. Only archify is the user-facing skill. The rest sit under .agents/skills/ and are marked internal: true, so they exist for people maintaining Archify itself:
- archify-review triages issues, pull requests and code changes by weighing value, cost and impact. It points to the repo's REVIEWING.md and CONTRIBUTING.md.
- archify-tuning helps evaluate changes to layout, routing, diagnostics and authoring instructions against real diagrams and agent traces. Its priorities, in order, are accuracy, then readability, then authoring speed with fewer failed repairs.
- simplify-codebase runs a simplification audit (read-only "Survey" mode) or an authorized cleanup ("Change" mode) to remove dead code, duplicate state and redundant layers.
- test-value is a fourth internal folder. The material reviewed here does not describe what it does.
If you only want diagrams, you can ignore these. They are mainly worth a look if you plan to contribute.
Security review
Review before installingA diagram generator skill with a sizeable Node toolchain that renders architecture, sequence, data-flow and other diagrams to standalone HTML and can check them in a local headless Chrome. By default it makes a small once-a-day GET to the project's GitHub Pages manifest for an update reminder (opt out with ARCHIFY_UPDATE_CHECK_DISABLED=1). The scripts are too large to have been read line by line, and much of the repo was not available.
Worth knowing
- Makes network requestsDuring delivery the skill makes a bounded GET (1 s timeout, 32 KB cap) to https://tt-a1i.github.io/archify/skill-updates/archify/stable.json to show an optional update reminder, about once per 24 hours; it never downloads or installs updates, and ARCHIFY_UPDATE_CHECK_DISABLED=1 turns it off.archify/scripts/check-update.mjs:1385
- Changes files outside your projectThe update checker keeps a cache and lock state under the user's home/cache directory (LOCALAPPDATA or XDG_CACHE_HOME).archify/scripts/check-update.mjs:1432
What we checked
The repository (1184 files) on Oct 29, 2026. Not a full review: 879 of 1184 files were not downloaded (large repository; we reviewed the skill folders); it contains compiled binaries or archives we cannot read; we read 1 of 50 code files; it relies on code outside the repository: Chrome/Chromium used by visual-check and browser-check; About 880 of the 1,184 repo files (docs, examples, CI, assets) are not in our copy; archify.zip is a binary that cannot be read; The 50 listed code files (about 1.4 MB, including a 289 KB archify.mjs and a 120 KB visual-check.mjs) were checked only with pattern searches for process spawning, network calls and credential handling, not read in full.
NVIDIA SkillSpector static scan: 11 pattern hits (MCP Rug Pull 4, Supply Chain 3, Privilege Escalation 2, Anti-Refusal 1, analysis-evasion 1). Credential-looking hits are the explainer's own secret-redaction code (regexes that refuse to render diffs or sources containing secrets) and URL checks that reject credentialed links. No obfuscated payloads were found by pattern search.
A review, not a certification. Skills change after we check them — read the files before installing.
License
Apache-2.0 — commercial use allowed. Earlier releases keep their original MIT grants (see NOTICE).
Can it run unattended?
Not really. It is built to produce one diagram or page per request with a validate-and-repair loop; there is no multi-hour unattended workflow.
Alternatives to Archify
drawio-skill
Agents365-ai/drawio-skillSkill that turns natural language, Terraform, SQL, OpenAPI and other sources into editable draw.io diagrams, with incremental sync, drift detection and CI tests.
Recommended
Broad access Depth 4/5
Mermaid Architect (design-doc-mermaid)
SpillwaveSolutions/design-doc-mermaidA Mermaid diagram and design-doc skill with a 23 KB router, 11 document templates, guides and scripts to validate and render diagrams with mermaid-cli.
With caveats
Check first Depth 3/5
Understand Anything
Egonex-AI/Understand-AnythingA 9-skill plugin that maps a codebase, docs or wiki into an interactive knowledge graph with a dashboard, guided tours and Q&A.
Recommended
Check first Depth 4/5
FAQ
What is Archify?
Archify is an open-source agent skill by tt-a1i that creates validated, interactive HTML diagrams and one-page explainers from a description or a repository. It supports architecture, sequence, data-flow, ERD and several other diagram types.
How do I install Archify?
Run npx skills add tt-a1i/archify -g, then ask your agent something like 'Use Archify to diagram a web request: browser, API, Redis, PostgreSQL'. The README also shows commands for Hermes Agent and DeepSeek Harness.
Does Archify send my data anywhere?
Its only network feature is an optional update-reminder check that fetches a fixed manifest about once a day; the README says no project data or version is sent. Set ARCHIFY_UPDATE_CHECK_DISABLED=1 to turn it off.
Archify vs Mermaid diagrams: what is the difference?
Mermaid renders a text description into a static diagram. Archify has the agent author a validated JSON description and produces standalone interactive HTML with themes, source links and export, and it can also accept Mermaid as input.
Do I need a codebase to use Archify?
No. The README says no repository is required. You can start from a description, a question or a plan, or point the agent at a repository when you want a source-backed architecture diagram.
What is the current Archify version?
The README badge lists stable version 3.2.0, with a changelog entry dated 2026-10-18.
Is archify.si the official Archify site?
Yes. The README names archify.si and the GitHub repo as the official channels. It also says third-party online services and paid plans are run by their own providers and do not represent Archify, and that a similar name or domain does not mean an official affiliation.
Sources: GitHub repository (stars, license, file tree, last push Oct 29, 2026); install counts from skills.sh via Best Skills (CC BY 4.0). Review based on the README and SKILL.md files as published.