aws-drawio-architecture-diagrams

Design

Creates professional AWS architecture diagrams in draw.io XML format (.drawio files) using official AWS Architecture Icons (aws4 library). Use when the user asks for AWS diagrams, VPC layouts, multi-tier architectures, serverless designs, network topology, or draw.io exports involving Lambda, EC2, RDS, or other AWS services.

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AWS Architecture Diagram Creation with Draw.io

Overview

Creates pixel-perfect AWS architecture diagrams in draw.io XML format using official AWS4 shape library. Generates production-ready .drawio files for diagrams.net.

When to Use

AWS cloud architecture diagrams (VPC, subnets, services)
Multi-tier application architectures on AWS
Serverless designs (Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB)
Network topology diagrams with security groups
Infrastructure documentation for Well-Architected reviews

Instructions

File Structure

Every .drawio file follows this XML structure:

<mxfile host="app.diagrams.net" agent="Claude" version="24.7.17">
  <diagram id="aws-arch-1" name="AWS Architecture">
    <mxGraphModel dx="1434" dy="759" grid="1" gridSize="10" guides="1"
      tooltips="1" connect="1" arrows="1" fold="1" page="1"
      pageScale="1" pageWidth="1169" pageHeight="827" math="0" shadow="0">
      <root>
        <mxCell id="0" />
        <mxCell id="1" parent="0" />
        <!-- AWS shapes and connectors -->
      </root>
    </mxGraphModel>
  </diagram>
</mxfile>

Key rules:

IDs "0" and "1" are reserved for root cells
Use sequential integer IDs starting from "2"
Landscape orientation (pageWidth="1169" pageHeight="827")
All coordinates positive and aligned to grid (multiples of 10)

AWS4 Group Containers

Groups use container=1 with child shapes referencing via parent="groupId".

AWS Cloud (top-level boundary):

<mxCell id="2" value="AWS Cloud" style="points=[[0,0],[0.25,0],[0.5,0],[0.75,0],[1,0],[1,0.25],[1,0.5],[1,0.75],[1,1],[0.75,1],[0.5,1],[0.25,1],[0,1],[0,0.75],[0,0.5],[0,0.25]];outlineConnect=0;gradientColor=none;html=1;whiteSpace=wrap;fontSize=12;fontStyle=0;shape=mxgraph.aws4.group;grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_aws_cloud_alt;strokeColor=#232F3E;fillColor=none;verticalAlign=top;align=left;spacingLeft=30;fontColor=#232F3E;dashed=0;labelBackgroundColor=none;container=1;pointerEvents=0;collapsible=0;recursiveResize=0;" vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="100" y="40" width="1000" height="700" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Region:

<mxCell id="3" value="us-east-1" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_region;strokeColor=#00A4A6;fontColor=#147EBA;dashed=1;..." vertex="1" parent="2">
  <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="960" height="640" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

VPC:

<mxCell id="4" value="VPC (10.0.0.0/16)" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_vpc;strokeColor=#8C4FFF;fontColor=#AAB7B8;..." vertex="1" parent="3">
  <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="920" height="580" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Subnet styles:

Public: strokeColor=#7AA116;fillColor=#E9F3D2;fontColor=#248814
Private: strokeColor=#00A4A6;fillColor=#E6F6F7;fontColor=#147EBA

AWS4 Service Icons

Service icons use shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon with resIcon property.

CRITICAL: strokeColor=#ffffff is required for resourceIcon shapes to render white icon glyphs on colored backgrounds.

Standard service icon:

<mxCell id="10" value="Amazon S3" style="...gradientColor=#60A337;gradientDirection=north;fillColor=#277116;strokeColor=#ffffff;...shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.s3;" vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="100" y="100" width="60" height="60" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Dedicated shapes (Lambda, ALB, Users) use strokeColor=none. See references/aws-shape-reference.md for complete shape catalog.

Service Color Codes

Each AWS service category uses official colors. All resourceIcon shapes must use strokeColor=#ffffff and gradientDirection=north. See references/aws-shape-reference.md for full color table.

Quick reference:

Category	fillColor	gradientColor	Services
Compute	`#D05C17`	`#F78E04`	EC2, ECS, EKS, Fargate
Storage	`#277116`	`#60A337`	S3, EBS, EFS, Glacier
Database	`#3334B9`	`#4D72F3`	RDS, DynamoDB, Aurora, Redshift
Networking	`#5A30B5`	`#945DF2`	CloudFront, Route 53, API GW
Security	`#C7131F`	`#F54749`	IAM, Cognito, KMS, WAF
App Integration	`#BC1356`	`#F54749`	SQS, SNS, EventBridge

Connector Styles

Standard data flow:

edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=0;orthogonalLoop=1;jettySize=auto;html=1;endArrow=open;endFill=0;strokeColor=#545B64;strokeWidth=2;

Encrypted connection:

edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=0;orthogonalLoop=1;jettySize=auto;html=1;endArrow=classic;endFill=1;strokeColor=#DD344C;strokeWidth=2;dashed=1;dashPattern=5 5;

Async/event flow:

edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=0;orthogonalLoop=1;jettySize=auto;html=1;endArrow=open;endFill=0;strokeColor=#E7157B;strokeWidth=2;dashed=1;

Layout Best Practices

Hierarchy: External → Internet → AWS Cloud → Region → VPC → Subnets → Services
Flow: Left-to-right for user traffic, top-to-bottom for tiers
Sizes: Service icons 60x60, grid-aligned coordinates
Spacing: 30-40px between icons, 20px padding inside containers
Labels: Place below icons (verticalLabelPosition=bottom)

Examples

Three-Tier Architecture

User Request: "Create AWS three-tier architecture with VPC, public ALB, private EC2, RDS across 2 AZs."

Generated Output:

<mxfile host="app.diagrams.net" agent="Claude" version="24.7.17">
  <diagram id="three-tier-1" name="Three-Tier Web App">
    <mxGraphModel dx="1434" dy="759" grid="1" gridSize="10" guides="1" tooltips="1" connect="1" arrows="1" fold="1" page="1" pageScale="1" pageWidth="1169" pageHeight="827" math="0" shadow="0">
      <root>
        <mxCell id="0" />
        <mxCell id="1" parent="0" />
        <mxCell id="2" value="Users" style="...shape=mxgraph.aws4.users;fillColor=#232F3E;..." vertex="1" parent="1">
          <mxGeometry x="40" y="340" width="60" height="60" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="3" value="AWS Cloud" style="...shape=mxgraph.aws4.group;grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_aws_cloud_alt;..." vertex="1" parent="1">
          <mxGeometry x="160" y="40" width="960" height="720" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="4" value="us-east-1" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_region;strokeColor=#00A4A6;dashed=1;..." vertex="1" parent="3">
          <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="920" height="660" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="5" value="VPC (10.0.0.0/16)" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_vpc;strokeColor=#8C4FFF;..." vertex="1" parent="4">
          <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="880" height="600" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="6" value="Public Subnet" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_security_group;strokeColor=#7AA116;fillColor=#E9F3D2;..." vertex="1" parent="5">
          <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="400" height="160" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="7" value="Private Subnet" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_security_group;strokeColor=#00A4A6;fillColor=#E6F6F7;..." vertex="1" parent="5">
          <mxGeometry x="20" y="230" width="400" height="160" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="8" value="Data Subnet" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_security_group;strokeColor=#00A4A6;fillColor=#E6F6F7;..." vertex="1" parent="5">
          <mxGeometry x="20" y="420" width="400" height="160" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="12" value="Application&lt;br&gt;Load Balancer" style="...fillColor=#8C4FFF;shape=mxgraph.aws4.applicationLoadBalancer;" vertex="1" parent="6">
          <mxGeometry x="170" y="50" width="60" height="60" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="13" value="EC2 Instance" style="...gradientColor=#F78E04;fillColor=#D05C17;strokeColor=#ffffff;shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.ec2;" vertex="1" parent="7">
          <mxGeometry x="170" y="50" width="60" height="60" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="15" value="RDS Primary" style="...gradientColor=#4D72F3;fillColor=#3334B9;strokeColor=#ffffff;shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.rds;" vertex="1" parent="8">
          <mxGeometry x="170" y="50" width="60" height="60" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="20" style="...endArrow=open;strokeColor=#545B64;strokeWidth=2;" edge="1" parent="1" source="2" target="12">
          <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="21" value="HTTPS" style="...endArrow=open;strokeColor=#545B64;strokeWidth=2;fontSize=11;labelBackgroundColor=#FFFFFF;" edge="1" parent="1" source="12" target="13">
          <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="23" value="TCP 5432" style="...endArrow=open;strokeColor=#545B64;strokeWidth=2;fontSize=11;labelBackgroundColor=#FFFFFF;" edge="1" parent="1" source="13" target="15">
          <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
      </root>
    </mxGraphModel>
  </diagram>
</mxfile>

Opening Instructions:

Open in draw.io with AWS libraries enabled:
https://app.diagrams.net/?libs=aws4

Serverless API Architecture

User Request: "Create serverless architecture with API Gateway, Lambda, DynamoDB, S3 for REST API."

Generated Output: XML with API Gateway (violet), Lambda (orange), DynamoDB (blue), S3 (green). See references/aws-architecture-templates.md for complete template.

Reference Files

See references/ directory:

aws-shape-reference.md - Complete AWS4 shape catalog with styles for 50+ services
aws-architecture-templates.md - Ready-to-use templates (3-tier, serverless, data pipeline)

Constraints and Warnings

Validation Workflow

Always follow this validation checklist before saving:

Generate XML - Create complete .drawio file structure
Validate ID uniqueness - Ensure all IDs are unique integers (0, 1 reserved)
Check parent references - Verify all parent attributes reference existing cells
Verify XML well-formedness - Close all tags, escape special chars (&→&, <→<)
Test in draw.io - Open at https://app.diagrams.net/?libs=aws4
Fix rendering issues - Adjust positions if elements overlap or render incorrectly

Critical Constraints

XML well-formed: Invalid XML fails to open. Close all tags, escape special characters, use <br> for line breaks.
ID uniqueness mandatory: IDs "0" and "1" reserved. All others must be unique integers from "2". Duplicates cause loading failures.
Coordinate system: All coordinates positive integers, multiples of 10 for grid alignment.
AWS4 library only: Use official mxgraph.aws4.* shapes. Legacy mxgraph.aws3.* not supported.
Valid parent references: Parent must reference existing cell ID. Invalid refs cause elements to disappear.

Limitations

No dynamic layouts - Manual adjustment may be needed for complex diagrams
Single page only - Multi-page requires multiple <diagram> elements
No auto-routing - Rearranging elements requires manual edge adjustment

Security Considerations

No sensitive data - Avoid real IPs, ARNs, or resource IDs in labels
Review before sharing - XML exposes architecture details
Validate templates - Review XML before production documentation

Best Practices

Use official AWS4 shapes (mxgraph.aws4.*)
Follow AWS service category colors
Nest properly: AWS Cloud → Region → VPC → Subnet → Services
Label services, CIDR blocks, ports, protocols
Show data flow direction with labeled arrows
Include external actors (users, corporate DC)
Keep diagrams focused (15-20 icons max)
Add annotations for important notes ("Multi-AZ", "Auto Scaling")
Validate all IDs unique and parent references exist