Excalidraw

---
name: excalidraw
description: Generate Excalidraw diagrams from a compact DSL with brand-resolved colors. Use for boxes/arrows flow diagrams.
---

# feinbild — Excalidraw diagrams

## Quick Start

```
/excalidraw flow.exc.dsl
```

`feinbild` is a command on your PATH. Expand a `.exc.dsl` to `.excalidraw`
(brand colors resolved), then render to PNG.

```bash
feinbild excalidraw expand flow.exc.dsl --brand feinschliff   # -> flow.excalidraw
feinbild excalidraw render flow.excalidraw                    # -> flow.png
feinbild verify flow.excalidraw                               # lint: overflow, overlap, label collision
```

Primitives: `box ellipse diamond dot line zone lane text` and
`arrow <from> -> <to> [label:"…"]`. Set `theme dark` in the DSL for a dark
canvas. `--brand` selects the brand; `render` is brand-agnostic.

## Default to clean

- **≤3 arrows per flow.** More than that means the layout is wrong — re-chunk or pick another visualization.
- **No text over shapes.** Labels live inside boxes or adjacent via a connector — never on a border.
- **Aspect-aware.** Default 16:9 (1920×1080). If the brief specifies a target slot match it; otherwise embeds get squished.
- **Metaphor, not clutter.** Briefs saying "messy" / "tangled" / "stitched" describe a CONCEPT — convey via composition (overlap, dim color, tight grouping), not by drawing actual chaos.

## References

- [Methodology](references/methodology.md) — argue-not-display patterns, depth assessment, hierarchy & arrow-routing rules
- [DSL syntax](references/dsl-syntax.md) — full grammar: primitives, zone/lane, arrow flags, ports, colors, text levels
- [Design system](references/design-system.md) — audience-calibrated complexity, visual vocabulary, 10 arrow-discipline principles
- [Examples](references/examples.md) — fan-out / pipeline-with-decision / multi-zoom blueprints
- [Deep examples](references/examples-deep.md) — large layered architectures (MCU/Linux stacks, OTA flows, audience-contrast pairs); source DSL in `examples/`
- Eval fixtures live in `evals/evals.json`; reusable DSL fixtures in `examples/*.exc.dsl`

### Brand override

Override: inline `@brand <name>`, then `--brand`, then `FEINSCHLIFF_BRAND`. `expand` resolves brand colors; `render` is brand-agnostic.