Is Kekonic Diagrams right for you?
Choose Kekonic Diagrams when the diagram is part of your technical documentation and should evolve like code. Choose something else when freeform drawing, broad diagram-type coverage, or an established ecosystem matters more than automatic software-system layout.
The short answer
Section titled “The short answer”| Your constraint | Best starting point |
|---|---|
| Architecture, event, workflow, ERD, or sequence diagrams that live in Git | Kekonic Diagrams |
| A coding agent drafting diagrams from the repository | Kekonic Diagrams |
| The largest ecosystem and the easiest default in Markdown platforms | Mermaid |
| UML breadth, mature sequence syntax, or server-side Java tooling | PlantUML |
| Workshops, visual exploration, and unrestricted composition | A drawing canvas |
This is not a scorecard. Each tool wins a different job.
Pick Kekonic Diagrams when
Section titled “Pick Kekonic Diagrams when”- You want semantic source and automatic placement rather than stored coordinates.
- Architecture boundaries, orthogonal routing, edge crossings, and readable labels matter.
- The same source must work in a README, generated docs, CI, and an interactive app.
- You want reviewers to discuss the system model in a text diff.
- You want a coding agent to draft from the repository and report what it could not find.
- You are willing to add a focused language instead of relying only on a platform’s built-in renderer.
Pick Mermaid when
Section titled “Pick Mermaid when”Your platform already renders Mermaid and the diagram is simple enough that the output is acceptable. Mermaid covers more diagram categories, has much broader adoption, and asks less of your toolchain.
Reach for Kekonic Diagrams only when you need its strengths: software-specific semantics, layout control, crossing treatment, portable themed SVG, interactive stories, or a grounded agent skill.
Kekonic Diagrams is not a Mermaid dialect and does not import Mermaid source.
Pick PlantUML when
Section titled “Pick PlantUML when”You need standardized UML notation, its mature sequence language, or you already have a PlantUML estate. Years of Java-centric tooling still matter for many teams.
Kekonic Diagrams has a smaller language and a JavaScript-first runtime. It focuses on software-system structure, automatic layout, and animation, not full UML coverage.
Pick a drawing canvas when
Section titled “Pick a drawing canvas when”Spatial exploration is the work: workshops, early ideation, custom visual metaphors, or precise art direction. Use Figma, Excalidraw, diagrams.net, or another canvas.
Kekonic Diagrams intentionally withholds pixel coordinates. Structural edits stay cheap; you cannot drag one box three pixels to the left.
What Kekonic Diagrams does not do
Section titled “What Kekonic Diagrams does not do”- Studio is a source editor with presentation controls, not a drag-and-drop canvas or collaborative whiteboard
- no arbitrary manual positioning
- no Mermaid compatibility layer
- no Gantt, mind-map, or general chart syntax
- no C4 code view (UML classes); Context, Container, and Component are ordinary diagrams using
person/system/container/component/external, not a Structurizr or C4-PlantUML dialect - hosted Studio stores no account data or cloud documents; collaboration stays file-based
- rendering targets outside SVG need a separate integration
- editor behavior depends on the integrations in your toolchain
Automatic layout has limits too. Dense or weakly structured graphs can still look poor. The fix is usually to clarify the model, split the view, or add real groups. Do not keep turning knobs until the page resembles a hand drawing.
A low-risk way to evaluate it
Section titled “A low-risk way to evaluate it”Take one real diagram that is painful to maintain. Rebuild it here and judge four things:
- Can a teammate understand the source without learning the whole language?
- Does a realistic edit produce a useful new layout?
- Is the SVG good enough for the place readers will see it?
- Can your build own the render step without operational friction?
If Kekonic Diagrams does not win that test, do not adopt it because the demo looks good. If it does, continue with the quickstart, open Studio, or browse real examples.