Question 1

Gantt Charts

Accepted Answer

are a project management staple supported natively by Mermaid. They allow users to visualize project schedules, dependencies, and timelines. A Gantt chart begins with the gantt keyword, followed by a title, date formats, and specific tasks grouped into sections. You define a task by giving it a name, an ID, a start date, and a duration (e.g., Design Phase :des1, 2023-10-01, 5d). The engine automatically calculates the layout on a horizontal time axis.

Question 2

Scenario 1: E-Commerce Checkout Architecture (Sequence Diagram)

Accepted Answer

Imagine a software architect designing a checkout flow for an e-commerce platform that processes $50,000 in daily transactions. The system involves a Web Frontend, a Payment Gateway, and an Inventory Database. The architect needs to document how these systems interact to prevent race conditions where an item is sold twice. Using the Live Editor, they write a Sequence Diagram:

Question 3

Scenario 2: Startup Database Schema (Entity-Relationship Diagram)

Accepted Answer

A data engineer at a SaaS startup needs to design a relational database for a new user management system anticipating 10,000 active users. They need to visualize the relationship between Users, Subscriptions, and Invoices. Instead of using a clunky GUI, they use the Live Editor:

Question 4

Scenario 3: Software Release Timeline (Gantt Chart)

Accepted Answer

A project manager is overseeing a 4-week sprint to release a new mobile application feature. They need to communicate the schedule to a team of 15 developers and stakeholders. They use the Live Editor to generate a Gantt chart:

Question 5

Semantic Directionality

Accepted Answer

is another critical strategy. When defining a flowchart, you must choose a direction: Top-Down (TD) or Left-Right (LR). Experts do not choose this arbitrarily. Top-Down layouts are best suited for hierarchical data, organizational charts, or rigid step-by-step algorithms where gravity implies progression. Left-Right layouts are vastly superior for process pipelines, data transformations, or user journeys, as they align with the natural reading direction of Western languages. Furthermore, experts strictly organize their code blocks. Rather than defining nodes and connections randomly as they think of them, professionals separate their definitions from their relationships. An expert's code looks like this:

Question 6

Mermaid Live Editor vs. WYSIWYG Tools (Visio, Lucidchart, Draw.io)

Accepted Answer

Tools like Microsoft Visio or Lucidchart operate on a "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) paradigm. You manually drag shapes onto a grid.

Question 7

Mermaid Live Editor vs. PlantUML

Accepted Answer

PlantUML is the oldest and most direct competitor to Mermaid in the Diagramming-as-Code space. It uses a very similar text-to-image philosophy.

Question 8

Mermaid Live Editor vs. Graphviz (DOT language)

Accepted Answer

Graphviz is a 30-year-old open-source graph visualization software that uses the DOT language.

Question 9

Is the Mermaid Live Editor truly free, and is my data secure when I use it?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the Mermaid Live Editor is 100% free and open-source. Regarding data security, the tool operates entirely client-side within your web browser. When you type code into the editor, it is not being sent to a remote server to be processed or saved into a database. The rendering happens using your local machine's resources, and the "save" state is simply encoded into the URL on your screen. However, if you use the specific "Save to Gist" feature, your code will be uploaded to GitHub's public or secret Gist servers, so you should ensure you are logged into a secure GitHub account if handling proprietary architecture.

Question 10

Can I export the diagrams I make in the Live Editor to use in Word or PowerPoint?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. The Live Editor provides multiple export options located in the Actions menu. You can export your diagram as a high-resolution PNG image, which can be pasted directly into Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Google Docs. More importantly, you can export the diagram as an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphic). SVGs are highly recommended for professional presentations because they will never pixelate or become blurry, regardless of how large you stretch them on a presentation slide.

Question 11

Why is my flowchart rendering from top to bottom when I want it to go left to right?

Accepted Answer

This is controlled by the direction declaration in the very first line of your code. If your code starts with graph TD or flowchart TD, the engine reads "Top Down" and forces a vertical layout. To change this to a horizontal layout, simply change the first line to graph LR (Left to Right). You can also use RL (Right to Left) or BT (Bottom to Top) depending on your specific visual requirements.

Question 12

How do I add a hyperlink to a node so users can click it?

Accepted Answer

Mermaid supports interactive elements like hyperlinks, which is a massive advantage over static image tools. To add a link, you first define your node, and then use the click command followed by the node ID and the URL in double quotes. For example: A[Visit Google]; click A "https://www.google.com". When exported as an SVG or rendered in a supported Markdown environment, clicking the node will redirect the user to the specified web page.

Question 13

Why does the Live Editor say "Syntax Error" when I try to use parentheses in my node text?

Accepted Answer

Parentheses, brackets, and semicolons are reserved characters in the Mermaid parser used to define the shape of nodes. If you type A[Step 1 (Testing)], the parser thinks you are trying to open a new shape definition inside an existing one, causing a crash. To fix this, you must escape the text by wrapping the entire label in double quotation marks. The correct syntax is A["Step 1 (Testing)"]. This tells the parser to treat the parentheses as plain text.

Question 14

Can I use custom brand colors for my company in the Live Editor?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can heavily customize the colors to match your corporate branding using Mermaid's theming engine. You can do this inline using directives. By adding %%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'primaryColor': '#ff0000', 'lineColor': '#0000ff'}}}%% to the very top of your code, you override the default colors. You can use standard hex codes to match your company's exact brand guidelines, ensuring your diagrams look professional and cohesive in official reports.

Mermaid Live Editor

Command Palette