edd ◉‿ ◉

Fast, keyboard-driven diagram editing in your terminal. Create sequence diagrams and flowcharts with vim-like efficiency.

Why edd?

• Built for speed - Every action optimized for minimal keystrokes
• Jump navigation - Navigate and edit with single-key jumps (like EasyMotion for diagrams)
• Multi-format - Work with Mermaid, PlantUML, Graphviz, D2 using the same interface
• Terminal-native - No browser, no mouse, just your keyboard

Features

Instant Navigation with Jump Mode

Press any action key (connect, delete, edit) and jump labels appear on every element. Hit a single key to select - no arrow keys, no counting, no searching.

Diagram Types

• Sequence diagrams - Show interactions between participants over time

• Flowcharts - Box-and-arrow diagrams for processes and flows

Multi-Format Support

Edit multiple diagram formats with the same fast interface. Import from one format, export to another.

Supported Formats

• Import: Mermaid, PlantUML, Graphviz DOT, D2, JSON
• Export: ASCII/Unicode, Mermaid, PlantUML, JSON
• Convert: Between formats in one command

Editor Modes

• Interactive TUI - Vim-like modal editing with jump navigation
• Command-line - Render diagrams directly or convert between formats
• Batch processing - Convert entire directories of diagrams

Speed-Focused Commands

Every command designed for efficiency - no mouse needed, minimal keystrokes required.

Core Operations (with Jump Mode)

• c / C - Connect nodes (single/continuous)
• d / D - Delete elements (single/continuous)
• e - Edit any element
• i / I - Insert connections (single/continuous)

Instant Actions

• u - Undo
• Ctrl+r - Redo
• t - Toggle diagram type
• H - Edit style hints
• ? - Help
• : - Command mode

Vim-style Commands

• :w [filename] - Save
• :wq - Save and quit
• :q - Quit
• :export format [file] - Export to supported formats

Installation

go install github.com/kungfusheep/edd@latest

Usage

Quick Start

# Launch interactive editor
edd

# Edit supported diagram formats
edd -i diagram.mmd
edd -i flowchart.puml
edd -i graph.dot

Format Conversion - Seamless Translation Between Formats

# Mermaid to PlantUML
edd -format plantuml diagram.mmd

# PlantUML to ASCII art
edd -format ascii sequence.puml

# Graphviz to Mermaid
edd -format mermaid graph.dot

# Display various formats in terminal
edd diagram.mmd
edd flowchart.puml
edd graph.d2

Real-World Workflow Example

Transform diagram formats using edd's unified editing experience:

# Your team uses PlantUML, but you need Mermaid for GitHub
$ edd -i architecture.puml
# → Opens in TUI editor with full editing capabilities
# → Make your changes using jump navigation
# → Press :export mermaid architecture.mmd
# → Now you have both formats!

# Or do it in one command
$ edd -format mermaid architecture.puml > architecture.mmd

More Workflow Examples

# Edit a Mermaid diagram from your markdown docs
edd -i README.mmd

# Convert your team's PlantUML diagrams to Mermaid
for file in *.puml; do
  edd -format mermaid "$file" > "${file%.puml}.mmd"
done

# Quick ASCII diagram for documentation
edd -format ascii design.json > diagram.txt

# Import Graphviz, edit interactively, save as PlantUML
edd -i network.dot
# (edit with jump mode navigation)
# :export plantuml network.puml

Diagram Format

Diagrams are stored as JSON:

{
  "type": "sequence",
  "nodes": [
    {"id": 0, "text": ["Client"]},
    {"id": 1, "text": ["Server"]}
  ],
  "connections": [
    {"from": 0, "to": 1, "arrow": true, "label": "Request"},
    {"from": 1, "to": 0, "arrow": true, "label": "Response"}
  ]
}

How Jump Mode Works

The key to edd's speed - no arrow keys, no searching, just single-key selection:

1. Press an action key (c for connect, d for delete, e for edit)
2. Every selectable element gets a unique letter label
3. Press that letter to instantly select the element
4. For two-target operations (like connect), repeat for the second element

Example: To connect two nodes, just type c, then two letters. Three keystrokes total.

Text Input

• Direct typing in edit mode - no special insert command needed
• ESC instantly saves and returns to normal mode
• No confirmation dialogs to slow you down

Limitations

• Import support covers core features only (~20-30% of each format's syntax)
• No mouse support (keyboard-only)
• Terminal-based rendering (no image export)
• Sequence diagrams limited to simple message flows
• Flowcharts limited to basic box-and-arrow layouts

Requirements

• Go 1.19+
• Terminal with Unicode support
• 80+ column width recommended