Turn a description into a diagram you can edit as code
Tinkerly draws flowcharts, UML, ER diagrams, architecture diagrams and more from a plain description. The AI writes the diagram as PlantUML, Mermaid and Graphviz code, the app checks that it draws and is the kind you asked for, and you change it by asking or by editing the code. Download it as SVG, PNG, PDF or code.
Updated · By The Tinkerly team
How do you make a diagram with AI?
Pick the kind of diagram and the language, or let the AI choose, then describe it: who or what is in it and how they connect. The diagram is drawn and checked before it’s saved. Change it by asking, or edit its code with a live preview beside it.
Step 1: Pick the kind
A sequence diagram, an ERD, a flowchart, a Gantt chart… or “Let the AI choose”.
Step 2: Describe it
“Signing in with a password and a one-time code”. Name the people, systems and steps.
Step 3: Let it check
A diagram that doesn’t draw, or isn’t the kind asked for, goes back to the AI with what’s wrong.
Step 4: Change it
Ask (“add a payment service”) or edit the code; an error points to its line.
Which kinds of diagram can it draw?
64 kinds in 8 groups, from UML and database design to networks, algorithms and project plans, plus mind maps, timelines and git graphs. Each kind has its own rules, so a C4 container diagram has containers and a data flow diagram draws its processes as circles.
- UML diagrams: Use case diagram, Class diagram, Sequence diagram, Activity diagram and more.
- Database design: Entity relationship diagram (ERD), Enhanced ER diagram (EERD), Relational schema diagram and Database architecture diagram.
- System analysis & design: Data flow diagram (DFD), Context diagram, Flowchart, System flowchart and more.
- Software architecture: System architecture diagram, High-level design (HLD), Low-level design (LLD), C4 context diagram and more.
- Data structures & algorithms: Binary tree, Binary search tree (BST), Graph diagram, Linked list diagram and more.
- Computer networks & operating systems: Network topology diagram, OSI model diagram, TCP/IP architecture diagram, Gantt chart (CPU scheduling) and more.
- AI, machine learning & data science: Neural network architecture, ML pipeline diagram, Decision tree (ML), Data pipeline diagram and more.
- Project management: Gantt chart, PERT chart, Work breakdown structure (WBS), Critical path diagram and more.
PlantUML, Mermaid or Graphviz: which should you pick?
Pick the one your team already uses, or the one the kind suggests. PlantUML covers the most kinds, Mermaid is the one many Markdown tools display, and Graphviz suits trees and graphs. Only languages that can draw the kind you picked are offered.
| Question | Best for | Code file |
|---|---|---|
| PlantUML | UML, C4 architecture, Gantt, mind maps | .puml |
| Mermaid | Flowcharts, sequence, ER and git graphs in Markdown docs | .mmd |
| Graphviz | Trees, graphs, linked lists, recursion | .dot |
Can you start from a template or your own code?
Yes. The templates are well-known diagrams written in all three languages; opening one creates it with no AI and no credits, ready to change. You can also upload a code file or paste code you already have, and keep editing it here by hand or with the AI.
The editor shows the drawing, the code, or both, and remembers your choice in that browser.
What does a diagram cost?
Each AI request is billed at the chosen model’s price per message, plus a small fee per diagram, and the checks and retries are part of that one request. If the diagram still doesn’t draw, nothing is charged and your diagram stays as it was. Templates and hand edits are free.
A chat message costs from 1 to 11 credits today, depending on the model. Asking a chat for two diagrams at once shows what they’ll cost first. Every model’s price is on the pricing page.
What can’t it do yet?
There’s no drag-and-drop canvas: you change a diagram through its code or by asking the AI. Code is at most 50,000 characters and a request 4,000. Diagrams can’t load pictures or files from the web, so logos have to stay out.
On its last try, a diagram that draws but misses one of its kind’s rules is still kept, since the rules are a guide: look it over before you use it.
Keep reading
Draw your first AI diagram
Sign up free with no card, describe the diagram, and get code you can keep editing.