excalidraw-skill
A toolkit for programmatic creation, editing, and management of Excalidraw diagrams via MCP tools or a REST API, featuring real-time canvas synchronization and iterative quality control workflows.
Is excalidraw-skill safe to install?
Review the source first: our audit of excalidraw-skill's source files found 10 shell commands, 5 external URLs, file reads and writes (high risk). Every command and URL listed appears verbatim in the skill's source. The skill executes shell commands, makes network requests to a local server, and performs file I/O for diagram imports and exports.
How we audit skills: our security review methodology.
Who is this skill for?
Developers and AI agents needing to generate, refine, or export technical diagrams and visual documentation programmatically.
What can you do with it?
- Drawing and laying out diagrams on a live canvas
- Iteratively refining diagrams using scene description and visual screenshots
- Exporting and importing .excalidraw files or PNG/SVG images
- Saving and restoring canvas snapshots
- Converting Mermaid diagrams to Excalidraw
- Performing element-level CRUD, alignment, distribution, grouping, duplication, and locking
How good is this skill?
Quality score: 5/10. The documentation is highly structured, provides clear workflows for both MCP and REST modes, and includes a mandatory quality gate to ensure diagram readability.
What does the skill file contain?
# Excalidraw Skill
## Step 0: Detect Connection Mode
Before doing anything, determine which mode is available. Run these checks **in order**:
### Check 1: MCP Server (Best experience)
```bash
mcp-cli tools | grep excalidraw
```
If you see tools like `excalidraw/batch_create_elements` → **use MCP mode**. Call MCP tools directly.
### Check 2: REST API (Fallback — works without MCP server)
```bash
curl -s http://localhost:3000/health
```
If you get `{"status":"ok"}` → **use REST API mode**. Use HTTP endpoints (`curl` / `fetch`) from the cheatsheet.
### Check 3: Nothing works → Guide user to ...Frequently asked questions
How do I determine if the skill is connected?
Run 'mcp-cli tools | grep excalidraw' to check for MCP mode, or 'curl -s http://localhost:3000/health' to check for REST API mode.
What is the mandatory quality check process?
After every batch of elements, you must verify text visibility, element overlap, arrow routing, spacing, and readability before proceeding.
How do I avoid arrow overlaps in complex diagrams?
Use curved arrows with waypoints or elbowed arrows with the 'elbowed: true' property to route around obstacles.
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