obsidian-excalidraw
Skill0 starsChanged 4 months agoMITView on GitHub
Draw and modify Excalidraw diagrams inside an open Obsidian vault by creating elements via the ExcalidrawAutomate API and invoking Downloaded scripts. Use when the user wants to create diagrams, concept graphics, mindmaps, sketches, visual metaphors, or annotate existing Excalidraw drawings through conversation — especially for YouTube AI-education visuals. Triggers on "draw", "diagram", "sketch", "visualize", "graphic", "metaphor", "mindmap", "concept art", or modifying an open `.excalidraw` file.
1 other project uses a version of this.
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- rubber-ducks-syndicate/obsidian-documentation-skilltheir own version, first seen Oct 15, 2026
Other versions1 project uses a version of this.
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In this repository7 other files it gives its agents.
- apify-scraperSkill
- lessons-pruneSkill
- lessonsSkill
- obsidian-canvas-creatorSkill
- recallSkill
- taste-pruneSkill
- tasteSkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
2 rules. About 0 are common, 2 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈2
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
0
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 15
ea API is source of truth: No direct JSON edits, no standalone renderer — everything happens in the open vault.
- Distinctive: line 89
In scope: create/modify drawings in open vault.
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 350,495 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
obsidian-excalidraw
Draw into live Obsidian Excalidraw files by chatting, via obsidian CLI + ExcalidrawAutomate (ea) API.
Prerequisite: Obsidian running with the Excalidraw plugin loaded.
Principles
- ea API is source of truth. No direct JSON edits, no standalone renderer — everything happens in the open vault.
- Visual verification is mandatory. Ship nothing you haven't inspected element-by-element.
- Archetypes, palettes, and sizes are starting scaffolds — not a cage. Hybridize or invent when the material calls for it. Make it tasteful; the rules below are the floor, not the ceiling.
Hard Rules
Deviation produces silent failures.
- Never write
.excalidrawJSON directly for authoring — use the ea API. (Clobbers live view, races with Obsidian's save, loses undo.) - Target drawings by path, not basename — e.g.
Excalidraw/foo.excalidraw.md. - Always call
await ea.addElementsToView(false, true)withsave=true. (Otherwise: renders but doesn't persist; next Cmd+Z wipes it.) - Reset
ea.stylebetween differently-styled elements.ea.styleis shared mutable state — any property you ever set per-element must also be in the reset helper, or it sticks. (See LESSONS: strokeStyle bleed.) - Visually verify before declaring done. Read the sidecar PNG at
<drawing-path>.excalidraw.png(plugin writes it on save); fall back toobsidian dev:screenshot /tmp/check.pngonly if no sidecar. Inspect element-by-element, not overall vibe — check each for: alignment (grid-snapped, same-axis elements share coords), overflow (text fits container; use Virgil width formula), style bleed (no unintended dashed/colored leaks), font-size minimums (26pt+ for secondary labels on YouTube), container fit (no wrap past text-height cap). Cap at 3 verify-fix cycles — if issues remain after 3, flag to the user rather than looping. - For any drawing above ~5 primitives, propose plan in plain English first, wait for confirmation, then execute. Skip for SKETCH.
- Before invoking any Downloaded script, check its classification in
SCRIPTS.md. Selection-only scripts fail silently without a selection (use Pattern 2 to select first). Hard-interactive scripts (in_scope: no) block on a modal and return false success — ask the user to run them manually or fall back to ea primitives.
Archetype menu
Pick the archetype whose triggers match. Default: DIAGRAM. Archetypes are scaffolds, not a cage — hybridize freely, or compose primitives directly when nothing fits. The ea API is complete; don't wait for permission to invent.
| Archetype | Triggers | Load |
| DIAGRAM | diagram, architecture, system, flow, pipeline | references/archetypes/diagram.md |
| LAYERED-ARCHITECTURE | enterprise architecture, layered, n-tier, trust zone, service architecture, system topology, tenant architecture, cloud architecture | references/archetypes/layered-architecture.md |
| METAPHOR | metaphor, visualize X as Y, concept art, thumbnail | references/archetypes/metaphor.md |
| CHART | chart, graph, plot, data viz, histogram | references/archetypes/chart.md |
| MINDMAP | mindmap, brainstorm, radial, concept map | references/archetypes/mindmap.md |
| COMPARISON | vs, compare, before/after | references/archetypes/comparison.md |
| FRAMEWORK | 2x2, quadrant, matrix, decision tree | references/archetypes/framework.md |
| SKETCH | sketch, rough, just, quick, draft | references/archetypes/sketch.md |
| ANNOTATION | annotate, mark up, add to, label | references/archetypes/annotation.md |
Commands cheat sheet
Simple ops use obsidian CLI directly. (For broader CLI usage, see obsidian-cli skill.)
| Purpose | Command |
| Create new drawing at known path + draw into it | Pattern 0 in references/eval-templates.md |
| Run a JS payload >2KB | scripts/obsidian-draw <file.js> [--target <path> --create] |
| Read saved drawing PNG (preferred) | Read <drawing-path>.excalidraw.png |
| Screenshot active view (fallback) | obsidian dev:screenshot /tmp/check.png |
| Run Downloaded script (no selection needed) | obsidian command id="obsidian-excalidraw-plugin:Downloaded/<Script Name>" |
| List drawings in vault | obsidian files folder=Excalidraw ext=md |
| Get active Excalidraw file path | obsidian eval code="app.workspace.getLeavesOfType('excalidraw').map(l => l.view.file?.path)" — not activeLeaf (that's often the terminal pane) |
For inline JS, use an obsidian eval block — see references/eval-templates.md. For anything over a couple of KB, write the JS to a file and run it via scripts/obsidian-draw to skip the shell-quoting + readFileSync boilerplate. Don't use excalidraw-autocreate for scripted flows; Pattern 0 replaces it.
Eval patterns
Three copy-adapt templates in references/eval-templates.md:
- Draw primitives — add new elements via
ea.add*. Most common. - Select + invoke script — programmatic selection then run a script.
- Query state — read current elements.
Load the template file when writing an eval block. Don't write one from memory.
Progressive disclosure
| When to load | File |
| Start of every session | LESSONS.md |
Before writing any ea.* code | references/EA_API.md |
| Before invoking any Downloaded script | references/SCRIPTS.md |
Before writing any obsidian eval block | references/eval-templates.md |
| Before any drawing with 3+ aligned elements | references/layout-helpers.js (require + use; eliminates coordinate math + style-reset boilerplate) |
| Archetype matching user's triggers | references/archetypes/<name>.md |
| User's idea maps cleanly to a flywheel / 3-step / 3-col comparison / 4-frame storyboard / grid backdrop | references/templates.md |
| Adding cloud-service icons (Azure / AWS / etc.) to a diagram | references/icons/manifest.json (logical name → file path; use H.serviceIcon(name, {x,y,size}) from layout-helpers) |
| User wants PNG/SVG output | references/export.md |
Scope boundaries
In scope: create/modify drawings in open vault; 21 of 33 Downloaded scripts; PNG/SVG export; screenshot-verify loop.
Out of scope: offline .excalidraw JSON (that's excalidraw-diagram); cross-vault; multiplayer; mouse-event-reactive; plugin install/config; 12 hard-interactive scripts (see SCRIPTS.md).
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