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    Quick Start

    5 min read

    Create your first diagram in under five minutes.

    Archgram is an AI-assisted architecture diagramming platform. You write or generate a diagram as text (or draw it), see it render live, convert it between formats, and share, sync or present it. This guide gets you from nothing to a shared diagram in about five minutes.

    1. Open the Editor

    Go to archgram.io and click Open Editor. You can start as a guest; sign in with Google or email to save diagrams, use AI features and collaborate. The editor shows a short onboarding checklist the first time you sign in.

    2. Your First Diagram

    The editor is split in two: the code pane on the left and the live preview on the right. Edit the code and the preview updates as you type; click a node or an arrow in the preview to rename, restyle or delete it. For flowcharts, the preview's Visual edit tab gives you a form. Press Ctrl/⌘+K at any time to open the command palette.

    graph TD
    A[Client] --> B[API Gateway]
    B --> C[Auth Service]
    B --> D[Product Service]
    D --> E[(PostgreSQL)]

    3. Pick a Format

    The language bar above the editor switches between formats:

    • Mermaid — flowcharts, sequence, class, ER, state, C4, Gantt and every other Mermaid type
    • D2 — declarative diagrams with containers, sequence, class and SQL-table shapes
    • Excalidraw — a hand-drawn style whiteboard canvas
    • Draw.io and PlantUML — switch them on under Settings → Experimental Features

    Switching format converts your diagram and shows what was simplified before you commit. See Formats & Conversion.

    You can also open the Template Gallery to start from a ready-made pattern — three-tier web, microservices, C4, cloud reference architectures for AWS, GCP and Azure, DevOps pipelines and more.

    4. Generate with AI

    Type a description in the AI prompt bar and press Ctrl/⌘+Enter (or open the command palette and choose Generate with AI…):

    A microservices architecture for an e-commerce platform with a React frontend,
an API gateway, separate order and inventory services, a PostgreSQL database,
and a Kafka message bus between services

    Archgram writes the diagram in the format you are using. Then use Refine, Refine Styles or Explain, or just keep editing. Basic accounts include 20 AI credits a month, and you can bring your own AI key — see AI Features.

    5. Save and Export

    Signed-in accounts save with Ctrl/⌘+S; saved diagrams also auto-save and keep a version history you can step through and compare. The Export menu offers:

    • SVG and PNG (2× resolution) and Copy to clipboard
    • The diagram's own source file (.mmd, .d2, .excalidraw, .drawio, .puml) and a Markdown file
    • Convert & export into any of the other formats
    • Draw.io and Visio (.vsdx) files (Pro)

    6. Share a Diagram

    Save the diagram, click Share and make it public to get a read-only link and an embed URL. Anyone with the link can view it without signing in, and you can turn the link off at any time.

    Next Steps