explaingit

lewish/asciiflow

5,697TypeScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A browser-based drawing tool that creates diagrams using plain text characters like dashes, pipes, and plus signs, so you can paste them directly into code comments, plain text files, or emails.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((asciiflow))
    What it does
      Draw text diagrams
      Export as plain text
      No server processing
    Output uses
      Code comments
      README files
      Emails and docs
    Tech
      TypeScript
      Bazel build tool
      Runs in browser
    Development
      Local dev server
      Live reload with ibazel
      Open source contributions
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Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Draw architecture or flow diagrams as ASCII art and paste them directly into code comments or README files.

USE CASE 2

Create text-based box-and-arrow diagrams for documentation that must remain readable in a plain text editor.

USE CASE 3

Embed diagrams in source code files where image files would be impractical to version control or maintain.

Tech stack

TypeScriptBazel

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Use it live at asciiflow.com with no install needed, local dev setup requires installing Bazel which takes additional time.

In plain English

ASCIIFlow is a web-based drawing tool for creating diagrams made entirely out of text characters. Instead of producing image files, it outputs diagrams using standard keyboard characters like dashes, pipes, and plus signs, which can then be pasted into code comments, plain text documents, emails, or anywhere else that accepts plain text. The live version of the tool is available at asciiflow.com. The application runs entirely in the browser with no server side processing involved. This means your diagrams are handled locally and nothing is sent to a server. The README is brief and focuses mainly on how to set up a local development environment for contributors. Developers who want to run the project locally need to install a build tool called Bazel, which the project uses to compile and serve the application. The README provides the commands to install Bazel and run a local development server. An optional companion tool called ibazel enables live reloading so the browser refreshes automatically as you edit code. The project is written in TypeScript. The README does not mention a software license.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I run the asciiflow project locally with Bazel so I can contribute to the codebase?
Prompt 2
What tools and shortcuts does asciiflow provide for drawing boxes, lines, and arrows on the canvas?
Prompt 3
How do I copy a finished ASCII diagram from asciiflow and paste it into a Python docstring or a Markdown file?
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