drawio Diagrams

March 16, 2026 · View on GitHub

drawio (also known as diagrams.net) is a powerful diagramming tool that uses XML format. Markdown Viewer supports rendering drawio diagrams directly in Markdown, making it ideal for architecture diagrams, network topologies, and complex technical documentation.

Use Cases

Architecture Diagrams — System design, cloud infrastructure
Network Topologies — Network layouts, connectivity maps
UML Diagrams — Class diagrams, sequence diagrams, use cases
Flowcharts — Complex process flows with custom shapes
Technical Documentation — Pixel-perfect diagrams with rich styling

Basic Syntax

Wrap your drawio XML in a code block with the drawio language identifier:

```drawio
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mxfile>
  <diagram name="Page-1" id="page1">
    <mxGraphModel dx="800" dy="600" grid="1" gridSize="10">
      <root>
        <mxCell id="0"/>
        <mxCell id="1" parent="0"/>
        <!-- Your shapes here -->
      </root>
    </mxGraphModel>
  </diagram>
</mxfile>
```

Document Structure

Every drawio diagram requires this basic structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mxfile>
  <diagram name="Page-1" id="unique-id">
    <mxGraphModel dx="800" dy="600" grid="1" gridSize="10">
      <root>
        <mxCell id="0"/>                    <!-- Root cell (required) -->
        <mxCell id="1" parent="0"/>         <!-- Default parent (required) -->
        <!-- Your content here -->
      </root>
    </mxGraphModel>
  </diagram>
</mxfile>

Important: The two root <mxCell> elements with id="0" and id="1" are required for the diagram to render.

Creating Shapes

Shapes are created using <mxCell> with vertex="1":

<mxCell id="shape1" value="My Box" style="rounded=0;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;" 
        parent="1" vertex="1">
  <mxGeometry x="100" y="100" width="120" height="60" as="geometry"/>
</mxCell>

Common Shapes

Shape	Style
Rectangle	`rounded=0;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;`
Rounded Rectangle	`rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;`
Ellipse/Circle	`ellipse;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;`
Diamond	`rhombus;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;`
Cylinder (Database)	`shape=cylinder;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;`
Cloud	`ellipse;shape=cloud;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;`

Creating Edges

Edges connect shapes using <mxCell> with edge="1":

<mxCell id="edge1" style="edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=0;endArrow=classic;" 
        parent="1" source="shape1" target="shape2" edge="1">
  <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry"/>
</mxCell>

Arrow Types

Arrow	Value
Classic	`endArrow=classic;`
Block	`endArrow=block;`
Open	`endArrow=open;`
Oval	`endArrow=oval;`
Diamond	`endArrow=diamond;`
None	`endArrow=none;`

Style Properties

Styles are semicolon-separated key-value pairs:

style="key1=value1;key2=value2;key3=value3;"

Shape Styles

Property	Values	Description
`fillColor`	`#FFFFFF`, `none`	Background color
`strokeColor`	`#000000`, `none`	Border color
`strokeWidth`	`1`, `2`, `3`...	Border width
`rounded`	`0`, `1`	Rounded corners
`fontColor`	`#000000`	Text color
`fontSize`	`12`, `14`, `16`...	Font size
`fontStyle`	`0`=normal, `1`=bold, `2`=italic	Text style
`align`	`left`, `center`, `right`	Horizontal alignment
`verticalAlign`	`top`, `middle`, `bottom`	Vertical alignment

Edge Styles

Property	Values	Description
`edgeStyle`	`orthogonalEdgeStyle`, `elbowEdgeStyle`	Edge routing
`curved`	`0`, `1`	Curved edges
`dashed`	`0`, `1`	Dashed line

Example: Simple Architecture

```drawio
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mxfile>
  <diagram name="Architecture" id="arch1">
    <mxGraphModel dx="800" dy="600" grid="1" gridSize="10">
      <root>
        <mxCell id="0"/>
        <mxCell id="1" parent="0"/>
        
        <!-- Client -->
        <mxCell id="client" value="Client" 
                style="rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#dae8fc;strokeColor=#6c8ebf;" 
                parent="1" vertex="1">
          <mxGeometry x="50" y="100" width="100" height="60" as="geometry"/>
        </mxCell>
        
        <!-- Server -->
        <mxCell id="server" value="Server" 
                style="rounded=1;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#d5e8d4;strokeColor=#82b366;" 
                parent="1" vertex="1">
          <mxGeometry x="250" y="100" width="100" height="60" as="geometry"/>
        </mxCell>
        
        <!-- Database -->
        <mxCell id="db" value="Database" 
                style="shape=cylinder;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#ffe6cc;strokeColor=#d79b00;" 
                parent="1" vertex="1">
          <mxGeometry x="450" y="90" width="80" height="80" as="geometry"/>
        </mxCell>
        
        <!-- Edges -->
        <mxCell id="e1" style="edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=0;endArrow=classic;" 
                parent="1" source="client" target="server" edge="1">
          <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry"/>
        </mxCell>
        
        <mxCell id="e2" style="edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=0;endArrow=classic;" 
                parent="1" source="server" target="db" edge="1">
          <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry"/>
        </mxCell>
      </root>
    </mxGraphModel>
  </diagram>
</mxfile>
```

Color Palette

Recommended colors for professional diagrams:

Color	Fill	Stroke	Usage
Light Blue	`#dae8fc`	`#6c8ebf`	Information, clients
Light Green	`#d5e8d4`	`#82b366`	Success, servers
Light Yellow	`#fff2cc`	`#d6b656`	Warning
Light Orange	`#ffe6cc`	`#d79b00`	Databases
Light Red	`#f8cecc`	`#b85450`	Danger, external
Light Purple	`#e1d5e7`	`#9673a6`	Special

Containers/Swimlanes

Group related elements:

<mxCell id="container1" value="Backend Services" 
        style="swimlane;whiteSpace=wrap;html=1;fillColor=#f5f5f5;" 
        parent="1" vertex="1">
  <mxGeometry x="50" y="50" width="300" height="200" as="geometry"/>
</mxCell>

Place child elements inside by setting their parent to the container's ID.

Best Practices

Use meaningful IDs — Makes edges easier to connect
Align to grid — Use gridSize="10" and position on multiples of 10
Consistent styling — Use the same colors for similar elements
Add labels — Use the value attribute for shape labels
Test incrementally — Build complex diagrams step by step

Common Issues

Issue	Solution
Diagram not rendering	Check for missing root cells (id="0" and id="1")
Shapes not visible	Verify `vertex="1"` on shape cells
Edges not connecting	Check `source` and `target` match shape IDs
XML parse error	Validate XML syntax, check for unclosed tags