PlugWiki

diagramming-processes skill (riekelt) for Claude Code: process and sequence diagrams as source

Makes Claude draw business processes, state machines and message flows as text source you commit, with PlantUML as the default tool.

Installs
20.2K
on skills.sh
Stars
36
on GitHub
Updated
Sep 2026
last repo commit

diagramming-processes treats a diagram as a set of claims drawn instead of written. Claude picks the diagram kind from the reader's question: a process view, an activity diagram, a state machine, a sequence diagram or a concept diagram. The source is committed text, one diagram per file, and PlantUML is the default when no tool is established. Participants are systems, roles and business objects, never classes or methods. With more than five diagrams it keeps an index. It lists technical-writing as required background.

Good for

  • Engineers documenting a process that prose describes badly
  • Architects who need enterprise process views in ArchiMate
  • Teams that keep diagram source in version control

Install diagramming-processes

Claude Code

  1. 1

    Copy this prompt.

    Install the diagramming-processes skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

/plugin marketplace add riekelt/technical-writer
/plugin install technical-writer@technical-writer

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.
  2. 2

    Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Pick one route, not both, or you get every skill twice. The skills CLI route must include technical-writing, which diagramming-processes lists as REQUIRED BACKGROUND in its SKILL.md.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Use when a business process, workflow, lifecycle, or interaction between systems needs a diagram - a flow that prose serializes badly, a state machine, a message sequence, an enterprise process map - or when drawing the process documentation of a legacy campaign. Encodes diagrams-as-source, the notation ladder from ArchiMate to PlantUML, the kind-per-question table, behavior-level participants, the diagram index, and the same-change maintenance rule. Use whenever a document needs a graph rather than more paragraphs, even if nobody says "PlantUML".

Sections in SKILL.md

  1. Overview
  2. When to invoke, and not
  3. The notation ladder
  4. Source, not pictures
  5. The kind answers the reader's question
  6. Behavior, never implementation
  7. The diagram index
  8. Maintenance
  9. Verification

Key facts

Author
riekelt (owner of the GitHub repo)
License
MIT (LICENSE file and plugin manifest)
Installs on skills.sh
20,186 as of 2026-11-02
GitHub stars
36 for the whole riekelt/technical-writer repo, 2026-11-02
What is inside
1 file: SKILL.md
Needs
The technical-writing skill (SKILL.md lists it as REQUIRED BACKGROUND)
Part of
The technical-writer plugin: 11 skills, 2 agents and 2 commands
Last repo commit
2026-09-13
Works in
Claude Code per the README install section. The repo also ships Codex and Cursor plugin manifests.

What it includes

  • ArchiMate for business, PlantUML for systems, no code diagrams

    Business-layer processes use ArchiMate. Flows, state machines and sequences within and between systems use PlantUML. Class and package structure is left to the code.

    Read · Notation ladder

  • Committed text source, one diagram per file, renders derived

    Rendering needs tooling the repository owns. An outdated render is deleted in the same change as the source, and a picture with no source is a finding.

    Write · Source, not pictures

  • Five diagram kinds keyed to what the reader asks

    A process view, an activity diagram, a state machine, a sequence diagram or a concept diagram. A diagram answering two questions is split.

    Try: “Draw the order lifecycle as a PlantUML state machine.”

    Write · Kind per question

  • Edges carry domain events, errors are drawn, quirks are content

    Participants are systems, roles and business objects. Edges name the event or condition in the domain's words, and failure branches are drawn where behaviour differs.

    Write · Behavior, never implementation

  • One index for more than five diagrams

    A coverage table, the module each diagram describes, the render command and the pending renders.

    Write · Diagram index

  • Update source in the same change, verify every box against code

    The author renders before shipping an edit, and each box, arrow and guard is checked against the code. An inferred flow is labelled as inference.

    Runs code · Maintenance and verification

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

Claude writes diagram files and may run your repository's render command, so check that command before you approve it.

What it can do

  • Read your data
  • Create and change things
  • Delete things
  • Read-only mode

Watch out for

  • It may run your render command

    SKILL.md has the author render before shipping an edit, using a repo script, make target or a local one-off run of the diagram tool. Check what that command does before approving it. github.com

  • The plugin route adds 2 agents and 2 commands

    The plugin ships agents prose-reviewer and doc-grounder (both with Read, Glob, Grep and Bash tools) and the commands /prose-review and /ground-docs. The plugin folder has no hooks or MCP config. Use the skills command in the install box if you want only this skill. github.com

Technical details
Turning on read-onlyNo read-only mode. The skill tells Claude to write or edit documents.
Sign-in and keysSKILL.md names no account or API key.
Data retentionSKILL.md names no logging or telemetry.
Scopes

  • Claude writes diagram source files and an index in your repo

  • May run your repository's render command to check syntax

Questions

What does diagramming-processes do?

It makes Claude produce process, lifecycle and interaction diagrams as committed source text, with the diagram kind chosen from the reader's question and every box checked against the code.

How do I install diagramming-processes?

Use the install box at the top of this page. The plugin route installs the whole set. The skills command route names technical-writing as well, because this skill lists it as required background.

Does it need PlantUML installed?

SKILL.md says rendering requires tooling the repository owns, such as a script, a make target or a build step, set up by the owner and not by the diagram's author. It tells the author to tell the owner when that tooling is missing. PlantUML is the default tool where the repository has none established.

Does it draw class diagrams?

No. SKILL.md puts class and package structure at the code layer, where no diagrams are drawn because the IDE generates a fresher picture on demand.

When should I skip it?

SKILL.md says a linear flow of three or four steps is a numbered list, and a diagram restating one is furniture. Charts generated from data are also out of scope.

Is diagramming-processes safe to install?

The skill folder holds only SKILL.md, so it bundles no scripts. Rendering uses tools your repository provides, and the skill has Claude run them to check syntax. Review the changes it makes to your documents, as you would any edit.

Can I use diagramming-processes in the Claude app or Cursor?

The README documents Claude Code, and the repo also ships Codex and Cursor plugin manifests. It does not mention the Claude app. Our advice: this page offers no Claude app upload because the skill works on documents inside a repository, so use Claude Code or Codex.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository
riekelt/technical-writer
Folder
plugins/technical-writer/skills/diagramming-processes

riekelt/technical-writerskills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 5
  1. README · github.com
  2. marketplace.json · github.com
  3. diagramming-processes on skills.sh · skills.sh
  4. SKILL.md · github.com
  5. LICENSE · github.com

Updated Nov 2, 2026.