DiagramDodo is a simple way to make a clear, colorful diagram. You tell an AI chatbot what you want to show, it writes the diagram for you, and DiagramDodo draws it on screen so you can tweak it and save it as an image or PDF. No account, no fiddling with boxes and arrows, and everything stays on your own computer.
What it does
Most diagram tools ask you to drag every box, draw every arrow, and line everything up yourself. DiagramDodo works differently. You describe the process or structure you want to show, and an AI writes a tidy description of the diagram. DiagramDodo reads that and lays it out for you — choosing the shapes, the connecting lines, and the spacing — so you end up with a finished, colorful diagram instead of a blank canvas.
You can use whichever AI chatbot you prefer, such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot. DiagramDodo gives you a set of instructions to hand the chatbot, the chatbot builds your diagram, and you paste the result back into the app. It's built for workflow and process diagrams — flows, steps, decisions, and how things connect.
Making a diagram with AI
Follow these four steps:
- Click the Generate with AI button at the top. This copies a set of instructions to your clipboard.
- Open your AI chatbot, paste the instructions in, and then tell it what your diagram should show. There are a few ways to do this, shown below.
- The chatbot writes the diagram and gives it back to you. Copy its response.
- Return to DiagramDodo and paste it into the box on the left. Your diagram appears on the right.
Telling the AI what to show
You can describe your diagram to the chatbot in a few different ways:
Name a process or topic
Give a short description and let the chatbot work out the steps. For example: "the journey of a customer support ticket, from received to resolved."
Point to your current chat
If you have already been working something out with the chatbot, say "Turn the process we have been discussing into a diagram," and it will build it from that.
Point to files you attach
If your chatbot lets you upload documents, attach them and say "Diagram the process described in the documents I attached." It will read them and lay out the flow.
To change the diagram, tell the chatbot what you want different (for example, "add a step for manager approval" or "split the last box into two"), then copy its new version and paste it back in. Repeat until the diagram looks right.
What a diagram is made of
You don't need to know any of this to use the app — the AI handles it. But it helps to know what the chatbot is choosing for you, so you can ask for changes. A diagram is built from three things: nodes, the lines between them, and optional groups.
Nodes — the boxes and shapes
Each step is a node. Rather than making everything a plain box, the app gives each node a shape and color based on its role, so the diagram reads at a glance. You can ask the chatbot for any of these:
- start the entry point
- end a finish point
- process a step or action
- subprocess a step that stands for a bigger sub-flow
- decision a branch or question
- input something entering the flow
- output something leaving the flow
- data a data store or database
So you can say "make the approval step a decision," and its shape changes to match.
Connections — the lines and arrows
Nodes are joined by edges. These also carry meaning: a plain arrow for the normal flow, a labeled arrow for the outcome of a decision ("yes" / "no"), a dashed line for something optional or weaker, and distinct styles for asynchronous or loop-back-to-an-earlier-step connections. Just describe the link — "add a 'rejected' arrow from the review step back to the start" — and the chatbot picks the right style.
Groups — boxes around related steps
Related nodes can be gathered into a labeled group — a tinted container drawn around them, useful for marking a phase or a team's part of the flow. Ask for "put the billing steps in their own group."
What you're looking at
The screen is split in two. The left side holds the text description of your diagram. The right side shows the finished, drawn diagram. When you change the text, the diagram updates right away, so you can always see the result.
You can move around the diagram freely: drag to pan, and zoom with the + / − buttons in the corner or by holding Ctrl (or ⌘) while you scroll. Those buttons also snap the view to Fit (the whole diagram), Width, or 100%. On a large diagram a small map appears in the corner — drag the highlighted box on it to jump around. Zooming only changes what you see; your saved file and exports are always the full, original diagram.
If you type something the app cannot read, a short message appears at the bottom of the left side and explains the problem.
Editing it yourself
You do not have to touch the text on the left, but you can. The description is written in JSON, a simple structured format. Click into it and type to rename a step, fix a typo, or rewire a connection, and the diagram updates as you go.
The editor helps while you work: colour-coded syntax, matching-bracket highlights, fold arrows in the left margin to collapse long sections, find with Ctrl+F, and undo with Ctrl+Z. Tab indents.
"name" needs its quotes, and items
in a list are separated by commas. If something is off, the editor underlines the
exact spot and adds a red mark in the margin — hover it for the details — and the
message at the bottom sums it up. When in doubt, let the chatbot make the change for you.Changing the look
Use the Theme menu at the top to switch between different color palettes: Fresh, Dusk, Blueprint, and Mono. Click through them to preview each one on your diagram, and keep the one that fits.
A diagram can also carry its own theme baked in. If the chatbot set one, that choice wins and the Theme menu is locked to it, so the diagram always looks the way it was designed. Ask the chatbot to "use the blueprint theme" and it travels with the diagram.
The Design panel
Click Design in the top bar to open a side panel for shaping the diagram. It slides in on the left so your diagram stays in view and updates live as you try things. When you like what you see, click Apply to bake the choices into the diagram (so they're saved and travel with it); click Cancel or press Esc to discard and go back. It has three controls:
- Layout — how tightly the diagram is packed. Compact (the default) keeps it tidy and space-saving; Spacious opens up the gaps for a roomier, easier-to-read result.
- Direction — which way the diagram reads: Down (the default, top to bottom), Right (left to right — handy for wide, shallow flows, or if you just think better sideways), Up, or Left.
- Start/end markers — turn this on to mark the start node with a small play and the end node with a stop , so there's no doubt where things begin and end. Off by default.
Each of these can also be baked in by the chatbot — ask it to "lay it out spacious", "make it flow left to right", or "turn on start/end markers", and that travels with the diagram.
Saving and reopening
Click Save to store your diagram as a small .json file on
your computer. Click Open to load that file again and continue where you
left off. This file is your editable copy — keep it somewhere safe, and you can re-open it
any time to make changes.
Exporting an image or PDF
When the diagram is ready, use the Export buttons to save a picture of it:
- SVG — a crisp, infinitely scalable image. Best for dropping into other documents or the web, since it stays sharp at any size.
- PNG — an ordinary image file that pastes anywhere — chat, slides, email.
- PDF — a single-page document that looks the same on any computer, good for printing or sharing.
The SVG and PDF stay sharp because they're drawn as true vector art, not a screenshot.
Is my stuff private?
The only step that involves the internet is the chatbot part, and that happens in your own AI tool of choice — DiagramDodo itself only ever sees the diagram once you paste it in.
About
DiagramDodo is made by Ibrahim Boudiaf at IbexStudio. It's the diagram-making sibling of SlideWareBear, built on the same idea: let an AI do the writing and the layout, and keep your work entirely on your own machine.