Architecture Diagram Skill

Create AWS architecture diagrams using Draw.io. Supports two modes: XML direct writing and Draw.io MCP for real-time editing.

Trigger Keywords

Activated by the following keywords:

"architecture diagram", "draw architecture"
"AWS diagram", "create infrastructure diagram"
"system architecture", "cloud architecture"

Supported Modes

Mode	Method	Advantages	When to Use
XML Direct Writing	Create .drawio file with Write tool	No dependencies, stable	Default (always available)
Draw.io MCP	Real-time editing via MCP	Interactive, live preview	Optional (requires setup)

Provided Resources

references/

Reference Doc	Description
`aws-icons.md`	AWS icon shape names and styles
`best-practices.md`	Architecture diagram best practices
`layout-patterns.md`	Layout patterns
`drawio-xml-guide.md`	XML direct writing syntax guide
`mcp-setup-guide.md`	Draw.io MCP setup and tool usage
`snippets.md`	Copy-paste XML code snippets

templates/

Template	Description
`aws-basic.drawio`	VPC, Subnet, AZ basic structure
`aws-samples.drawio`	Data Lake architecture sample

Canvas Size (For PPT)

Purpose	Canvas Size (px)	Ratio
Full slide	1920 x 1080	16:9
Content area (recommended)	1600 x 900	16:9
Half slide	900 x 900	1:1
2/3 slide	1200 x 900	4:3

Draw.io XML Code Examples

Empty Canvas (PPT 1600x900)

<mxfile host="app.diagrams.net" agent="Claude Code" version="21.0.0">
  <diagram name="Architecture" id="arch-1">
    <mxGraphModel dx="1600" dy="900" grid="1" gridSize="10" guides="1"
                  tooltips="1" connect="1" arrows="1" fold="1" page="1"
                  pageScale="1" pageWidth="1600" pageHeight="900">
      <root>
        <mxCell id="0" />
        <mxCell id="1" parent="0" />
        <!-- Add elements here -->
      </root>
    </mxGraphModel>
  </diagram>
</mxfile>

AWS Cloud Container

<mxCell id="aws-cloud" value="AWS Cloud"
        style="points=[[0,0],[0.25,0],[0.5,0],[0.75,0],[1,0],[1,0.25],[1,0.5],[1,0.75],[1,1],[0.75,1],[0.5,1],[0.25,1],[0,1],[0,0.75],[0,0.5],[0,0.25]];outlineConnect=0;gradientColor=none;html=1;whiteSpace=wrap;fontSize=14;fontStyle=1;container=1;pointerEvents=0;collapsible=0;recursiveResize=0;shape=mxgraph.aws4.group;grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_aws_cloud_alt;strokeColor=#232F3E;fillColor=none;verticalAlign=top;align=left;spacingLeft=30;fontColor=#232F3E;fontFamily=Amazon Ember;dashed=0;"
        vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="20" y="20" width="1560" height="860" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

VPC Container

<mxCell id="vpc-1" value="Production VPC (10.0.0.0/16)"
        style="sketch=0;outlineConnect=0;gradientColor=none;html=1;whiteSpace=wrap;fontSize=11;fontStyle=1;container=1;pointerEvents=0;collapsible=0;recursiveResize=0;shape=mxgraph.aws4.group;grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_vpc;strokeColor=#879196;fillColor=none;verticalAlign=top;align=left;spacingLeft=30;fontColor=#879196;fontFamily=Amazon Ember;dashed=0;"
        vertex="1" parent="region">
  <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="500" height="400" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Public Subnet (Green)

<mxCell id="public-subnet" value="Public Subnet (10.0.1.0/24)"
        style="points=[[0,0],[0.25,0],[0.5,0],[0.75,0],[1,0],[1,0.25],[1,0.5],[1,0.75],[1,1],[0.75,1],[0.5,1],[0.25,1],[0,1],[0,0.75],[0,0.5],[0,0.25]];outlineConnect=0;gradientColor=none;html=1;whiteSpace=wrap;fontSize=10;fontStyle=0;container=1;pointerEvents=0;collapsible=0;recursiveResize=0;shape=mxgraph.aws4.group;grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_security_group;grStroke=0;strokeColor=#7AA116;fillColor=#F2F6E8;verticalAlign=top;align=left;spacingLeft=30;fontColor=#248814;fontFamily=Amazon Ember;dashed=0;"
        vertex="1" parent="vpc-1">
  <mxGeometry x="20" y="45" width="220" height="150" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Private Subnet (Blue)

<mxCell id="private-subnet" value="Private Subnet (10.0.10.0/24)"
        style="points=[[0,0],[0.25,0],[0.5,0],[0.75,0],[1,0],[1,0.25],[1,0.5],[1,0.75],[1,1],[0.75,1],[0.5,1],[0.25,1],[0,1],[0,0.75],[0,0.5],[0,0.25]];outlineConnect=0;gradientColor=none;html=1;whiteSpace=wrap;fontSize=10;fontStyle=0;container=1;pointerEvents=0;collapsible=0;recursiveResize=0;shape=mxgraph.aws4.group;grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_security_group;grStroke=0;strokeColor=#00A4A6;fillColor=#E6F6F7;verticalAlign=top;align=left;spacingLeft=30;fontColor=#147EBA;fontFamily=Amazon Ember;dashed=0;"
        vertex="1" parent="vpc-1">
  <mxGeometry x="20" y="210" width="220" height="170" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

EC2 Instance Icon

<mxCell id="ec2-1" value="Web Server"
        style="sketch=0;outlineConnect=0;fontColor=#232F3E;gradientColor=#F78E04;gradientDirection=north;fillColor=#D05C17;strokeColor=#ffffff;dashed=0;verticalLabelPosition=bottom;verticalAlign=top;align=center;html=1;fontSize=9;fontStyle=0;aspect=fixed;shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.ec2;fontFamily=Amazon Ember;"
        vertex="1" parent="private-subnet">
  <mxGeometry x="86" y="60" width="48" height="48" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Lambda Function Icon

<mxCell id="lambda-1" value="Lambda"
        style="sketch=0;outlineConnect=0;fontColor=#232F3E;gradientColor=#F78E04;gradientDirection=north;fillColor=#D05C17;strokeColor=#ffffff;dashed=0;verticalLabelPosition=bottom;verticalAlign=top;align=center;html=1;fontSize=9;fontStyle=0;aspect=fixed;shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.lambda;fontFamily=Amazon Ember;"
        vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="200" y="200" width="48" height="48" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Aurora Database Icon

<mxCell id="aurora-1" value="Aurora"
        style="sketch=0;outlineConnect=0;fontColor=#232F3E;gradientColor=#4D72F3;gradientDirection=north;fillColor=#3334B9;strokeColor=#ffffff;dashed=0;verticalLabelPosition=bottom;verticalAlign=top;align=center;html=1;fontSize=9;fontStyle=0;aspect=fixed;shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.aurora;fontFamily=Amazon Ember;"
        vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="400" y="200" width="48" height="48" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Connection Arrow

<mxCell id="conn-1" value=""
        style="endArrow=classic;startArrow=classic;html=1;rounded=0;strokeWidth=2;strokeColor=#545B64;"
        edge="1" parent="1" source="source-id" target="target-id">
  <mxGeometry width="50" height="50" relative="1" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Layout Patterns Detail

3-Tier Architecture Pattern

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Presentation Tier                        │
│  CloudFront → ALB → Web Servers                              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                      Application Tier                        │
│  API Gateway → Lambda/ECS → Application Logic                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                         Data Tier                            │
│  RDS/Aurora → DynamoDB → ElastiCache → S3                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Layout coordinates:

Presentation Tier: y = 50-200
Application Tier: y = 250-400
Data Tier: y = 450-600
Horizontal spacing between icons: 150px

Hybrid Cloud Pattern

┌─ On-Premise (IDC) ───────┐    ┌─ AWS Cloud ─────────────────┐
│                          │    │  ┌─ Region ───────────────┐ │
│  ┌────────┐  ┌────────┐  │    │  │  ┌─ VPC ────────────┐  │ │
│  │ Server │  │Firewall│  │════│  │  │ Private Subnet   │  │ │
│  └────────┘  └────────┘  │ DX │  │  │  ┌────┐ ┌────┐  │  │ │
│                          │    │  │  │  │EC2 │ │RDS │  │  │ │
│  Legacy Apps             │    │  │  │  └────┘ └────┘  │  │ │
│                          │    │  │  └──────────────────┘  │ │
└──────────────────────────┘    │  └────────────────────────┘ │
                                └─────────────────────────────┘

Key elements:

IDC box: x=20, width=350
AWS Cloud box: x=400, width=rest
Direct Connect arrow: thick orange (#FF9800), strokeWidth=4

Serverless Architecture Pattern

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Client → API Gateway → Lambda → DynamoDB                    │
│              ↓                                               │
│          Cognito ←─────────────────────────────────┐        │
│              ↓                                     │        │
│         Step Functions → Lambda → S3 → EventBridge │        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Recommended icon sizes:

API Gateway, Lambda, DynamoDB: 48x48
Cognito, Step Functions: 48x48
Arrows: strokeWidth=2, color=#545B64

AWS Icon Label Rules

Required

Display service name below all AWS icons.

┌─────────────┐
│   [Icon]    │
│             │
│ Lambda      │  ← Service name required
└─────────────┘

Label settings:

verticalLabelPosition=bottom
fontFamily=Amazon Ember
fontSize=12
fontColor=#FFFFFF (Dark theme)

AWS Color Guide

Purpose	Color Code	Description
AWS Cloud	#232F3E	Dark navy (background)
Region	#147EBA	Blue
VPC	#248814	Green
Public Subnet	#E7F4E8	Light green
Private Subnet	#E6F2F8	Light blue
Security Group	#DF3312	Red (border)

Service Category Colors

Category	fillColor	gradientColor
Compute	#D05C17	#F78E04
Storage	#277116	#60A337
Database	#3334B9	#4D72F3
Security	#C7131F	#F54749
Networking	#5A30B5	#945DF2
Management	#BC1356	#F34482
AI/ML	#116D5B	#4AB29A

Best Practices Checklist

Layout

Clear hierarchy (Cloud > Region > VPC > Subnet)
Consistent data flow direction (left to right)
Uniform icon sizes (recommended: 60x60)
Appropriate spacing maintained

Colors & Style

AWS official colors used
Amazon Ember font applied
Container colors are correct

Connections

Arrow directions are correct
Sync/async distinguished (solid/dashed)
No unnecessary line crossings

Completeness

All major components included
Legend present
Title and version info present
Labels below all AWS icons

PNG Export

# Basic PNG export
drawio -x -f png -o output.png input.drawio

# High-resolution PNG (2x scale, recommended for PPT)
drawio -x -f png -s 2 -o output.png input.drawio

# Transparent background (for dark theme PPT)
drawio -x -f png -s 2 -t -o output.png input.drawio

Usage Example

User: "Draw a 3-tier web architecture diagram"

architecture-diagram-agent called
Requirements analysis (VPC, Subnet, EC2, RDS, etc.)
Draw.io XML generation
PNG export
content-review-agent review

Draw.io MCP Setup (Optional)

Draw.io MCP enables real-time editing:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "drawio": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Prerequisites:

drawio-mcp-server running in HTTP mode
Browser Extension installed and connected
Draw.io app open

Quality Review (Required)

After diagram completion:

Call content-review-agent
Achieve PASS (85+ score) before completion

Validation Checklist

Amazon Ember font set for all text
AWS official colors used
Clear hierarchy (Cloud > Region > VPC > Subnet)
Consistent data flow direction
Uniform icon sizes (recommended: 60x60)
Labels placed below icons

Trigger Keywords​

Supported Modes​

Provided Resources​

references/​

templates/​

Canvas Size (For PPT)​

Draw.io XML Code Examples​

Empty Canvas (PPT 1600x900)​

AWS Cloud Container​

VPC Container​

Public Subnet (Green)​

Private Subnet (Blue)​

EC2 Instance Icon​

Lambda Function Icon​

Aurora Database Icon​

Connection Arrow​

Layout Patterns Detail​

3-Tier Architecture Pattern​

Hybrid Cloud Pattern​

Serverless Architecture Pattern​

AWS Icon Label Rules​

AWS Color Guide​

Service Category Colors​

Best Practices Checklist​

Layout​

Colors & Style​

Connections​

Completeness​

PNG Export​

Usage Example​

Draw.io MCP Setup (Optional)​

Quality Review (Required)​

Validation Checklist​