explaingit

tch1001/jarbobo

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

★ 4JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

Jarbobo is an MCP tool that lets an AI assistant draw interactive, code-linked diagrams directly inside VS Code or Cursor instead of plain text.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((jarbobo))
    What it does
      AI drawn diagrams
      Lives inside editor
      Links nodes to code
    Tech stack
      JavaScript
      MCP
      VS Code
    Use cases
      Draw architecture graphs
      UML sequence and class diagrams
      Export to Mermaid or HTML
    Audience
      Developers

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

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Ask an AI assistant to draw an architecture or call graph diagram that links each node to its source file and line.

USE CASE 2

Generate a UML sequence or class diagram of a codebase directly inside your editor.

USE CASE 3

Click a diagram element to jump straight to the relevant line of code instead of searching for it manually.

USE CASE 4

Export a diagram created by the AI to formats like Mermaid, draw.io, or interactive HTML for sharing.

What is it built with?

JavaScriptMCPVS CodeCursor

How does it compare?

tch1001/jarboboanil-matcha/open-poe-aiarata-ae/purupurupngtuber
Stars444
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript
Last pushed—2026-06-25—
Maintenance—Active—
Setup difficultymoderatemoderatemoderate
Complexity3/53/53/5
Audiencedeveloperdevelopergeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires building the extension from source with npm and packaging it as a VS Code extension, Cursor and Claude Code need manual MCP config.

In plain English

Jarbobo is an editor extension that lets an AI assistant like Claude draw real, interactive diagrams directly inside your code editor instead of describing systems with plain text or mermaid style diagrams. It connects through MCP, a protocol that lets AI tools call outside tools, and works with editors like VS Code and Cursor. The diagrams it produces are not static pictures. Every node in a diagram can carry a tooltip that shows on hover, a detail panel that opens on click, and a link to an actual file and line number in your code, so clicking an element jumps your editor straight to that source location. Nodes can also carry an ordered list of code references, each shown with syntax highlighted code pulled from disk, or a link out to documentation or a pull request. The tool offers several diagram types through separate commands: general graphs for architecture and dataflow, UML sequence diagrams with activation bars and loop or conditional frames, UML class diagrams with proper inheritance and composition relationships, swimlane diagrams for cross functional processes divided by owner, and timeline diagrams for milestones and phases. Diagrams can be listed and reopened later, and every edit to a diagram is saved as a new version rather than overwriting the old one, with a version picker to flip back through history. Finished diagrams can be exported to formats like Mermaid, draw.io, Graphviz DOT, LaTeX, JSON, SVG, PNG, or a self contained interactive HTML file. By default, the tool requires that diagram elements include a code reference, and it rejects a draw request that leaves this out with a message telling the AI exactly what to fix, though this check can be turned off for diagrams unrelated to code. Installing it involves cloning the repository, running an npm build, and packaging it as a VS Code extension. In stock VS Code it registers its bundled MCP server automatically, while Cursor and Claude Code currently require adding the server manually to their MCP configuration. The project is released under the MIT license.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Ask my AI assistant to draw a sequence diagram of what happens on import in this codebase, linked to source lines.
Prompt 2
Walk me through installing Jarbobo as a VS Code extension and registering its MCP server.
Prompt 3
How do I export a diagram made with Jarbobo to draw.io or interactive HTML?
Prompt 4
Explain how Jarbobo's required code references work and how to turn that check off.
Prompt 5
Show me how Jarbobo's diagram versioning lets me go back to an earlier version.

Frequently asked questions

What is jarbobo?

Jarbobo is an MCP tool that lets an AI assistant draw interactive, code-linked diagrams directly inside VS Code or Cursor instead of plain text.

What language is jarbobo written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, MCP, VS Code.

How hard is jarbobo to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is jarbobo for?

Mainly developer.

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