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flowchart

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Turn a process, workflow, or decision logic into a clean flowchart. Use when asked to diagram a process, map a workflow, visualize steps/branches, or show 'how this works' as a chart. Produces a ready-to-render Mermaid flowchart (renders live in the playground, exportable as PNG/SVG) plus a short legend and the assumptions made.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/flowchart/SKILL.md

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Copying this prompt does not install or run the skill. Review third-party files before use. Codex skill guide

Flowchart Skill

A wall of prose describing a process is hard to follow; a flowchart makes the steps, branches, and dead-ends obvious at a glance. This skill turns a described process into a clean, correctly-structured Mermaid flowchart — with real decision diamonds, parallel paths, and end states — not a vague box-and-arrow sketch.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

  • The process — what happens, roughly in order (steps, who does what).
  • Decision points — where the path branches, and on what condition.
  • Start and end states — where it begins and the possible outcomes (success, rejection, error).
  • Direction preference (optional) — top-down (TD) for most processes, left-right (LR) for pipelines.

If the process is ambiguous, state the assumption you made rather than inventing steps.

Output Format

[Process name] — flowchart

A one-line summary of what the chart shows.

flowchart TD
    A([Start]) --> B[First step]
    B --> C{Decision?}
    C -->|Yes| D[Path A]
    C -->|No| E[Path B]
    D --> F([Done])
    E --> F

Legend / notes

  • Rounded nodes ([ ]) = start/end, rectangles [ ] = actions, diamonds { } = decisions.
  • Call out any swimlane/owner, SLA, or branch that needs attention.

Assumptions — anything you inferred about the process.

Mermaid Rules (so it renders)

  • Start with flowchart TD (or LR). Give every node a short ID (A, step1) and a label.
  • Decisions are { } with labelled edges: C -->|Yes| D.
  • Keep labels short; put detail in the notes, not inside the node.
  • Avoid unescaped parentheses/quotes inside labels — they break parsing. Use plain text.
  • One concept per node; don't cram a sentence into a box.

Quality Checks

  • Every decision diamond has all its branches labelled and leading somewhere (no dangling paths)
  • There is a clear start and at least one explicit end state
  • Node shapes are used meaningfully (action vs decision vs start/end)
  • The Mermaid block is syntactically valid and renders without edits
  • Assumptions about ambiguous steps are stated, not silently invented

Anti-Patterns

  • Do not produce a linear chain when the real process has branches — capture the decisions
  • Do not stuff full sentences into nodes — keep labels short, move detail to notes
  • Do not leave a decision with only one labelled branch — show what happens on every condition
  • Do not use parentheses or quotes inside labels in a way that breaks Mermaid
  • Do not invent steps to fill gaps — flag what you assumed

Based On

Process mapping / flowcharting practice (ANSI flowchart conventions), expressed as renderable Mermaid.