diagram-design vs Kami
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
An agent skill that draws editorial diagrams as one self-contained HTML + SVG file.
Open source · MIT
Layout rules and templates that let AI agents export documents as PDF, PNG, or editable PowerPoint.
The short answer
Choose diagram-design if you need…
- Developers who already use a supported coding agent and want architecture or flow diagrams without learning a diagram language
- Teams that want diagrams to follow their own brand colors and fonts
- People who want diagrams they can open by double-clicking, with no server needed
- Anyone who wants to import existing Mermaid, draw.io, or Excalidraw files and redraw them
Choose Kami if you need…
- People who use Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor and want polished documents without manual layout work
- Writers or founders who need one-pagers, resumes, or formal letters in a consistent style
- Developers who want technical reports or changelogs rendered as clean PDFs
- Users who write in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean and need proper font handling
Side-by-side
| diagram-design | Kami | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | AI model / agent | AI model / agent |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 64.2k | 12.2k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | HTML | HTML |
| Last code update | 5 days ago | 5 days ago |
What each one is
diagram-design
Diagram Design is a skill you add to a coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or GitHub Copilot. You describe the diagram you want in plain words, and the agent produces a single HTML file containing SVG that you can open in a browser. The README says it supports 45 diagram types and can match your site's palette and fonts after you run an onboarding step.
Kami
Kami is a set of layout rules and document templates for AI coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex. You ask the agent for a one-pager, letter, resume, report, or slide deck, and Kami helps it produce a styled file as PDF, PNG, or editable PowerPoint. The README describes eight built-in document templates plus a landing page system, with English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean support.
Best for
diagram-design
- Developers who already use a supported coding agent and want architecture or flow diagrams without learning a diagram language
- Teams that want diagrams to follow their own brand colors and fonts
- People who want diagrams they can open by double-clicking, with no server needed
- Anyone who wants to import existing Mermaid, draw.io, or Excalidraw files and redraw them
Kami
- People who use Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor and want polished documents without manual layout work
- Writers or founders who need one-pagers, resumes, or formal letters in a consistent style
- Developers who want technical reports or changelogs rendered as clean PDFs
- Users who write in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean and need proper font handling
Strengths
diagram-design
- Output is one self-contained HTML and SVG file that opens without extra tooling
- Works across many agent hosts, with installation steps documented for each
- Licensed under MIT
Kami
- Installs through a single documented command for several major agents
- Covers multiple languages with language-specific font fallbacks
- Optional brand profile file lets you reuse your color, name, and tone settings
Not ideal for
diagram-design
- People without a supported AI coding agent, since the project is delivered as an agent skill and the README does not describe a standalone app
- Anyone who needs live, collaborative diagram editing, which the README does not mention
- Teams that need a fully manual drag-and-drop editor, because the agent chooses the diagram type and writes the file
Kami
- People who need precise pixel-level control in a visual editor, since Kami works through an agent and templates rather than a drag-and-drop interface
- Windows users who do not want to use WSL, because the README says helper scripts are Bash and native Windows needs separate GTK/Pango setup
- Anyone who cannot run an AI agent, since the skill is designed to be triggered by agent requests
Trade-offs
diagram-design
- The README does not state a release version, so update behavior depends on each host's install path
- Quality and type choice depend on the agent that runs the skill, which the README does not evaluate
- Some install paths (such as the Cowork organization marketplace) require extra setup like mirroring the repository
Kami
- Setup depends on external tools such as WeasyPrint, and the README says native Windows needs extra GTK/Pango runtime installation
- Some features, like syntax highlighting, degrade gracefully when optional packages such as Pygments are missing
- Output quality and layout depend on the AI agent driving it, which the README does not fully detail
Getting started
diagram-design
Install the skill with the cross-agent skills CLI
npx skills add cathrynlavery/diagram-designAdd the Claude Code plugin marketplace
/plugin marketplace add cathrynlavery/diagram-designKami
Install the skill for Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor
npx skills add tw93/kami -a claude-code codex cursor -g -yUpdate the skill
npx skills update -g -yFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between diagram-design and Kami?
diagram-design: An agent skill that draws editorial diagrams as one self-contained HTML + SVG file. Kami: Layout rules and templates that let AI agents export documents as PDF, PNG, or editable PowerPoint. diagram-design suits developers who already use a supported coding agent and want architecture or flow diagrams without learning a diagram language, while Kami suits people who use claude code, codex, or cursor and want polished documents without manual layout work.
Are diagram-design and Kami free?
diagram-design: Free and open source. Kami: Free and open source.
Is diagram-design or Kami more popular?
diagram-design has more GitHub stars (64.2k) than Kami (12.2k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to diagram-design and Kami?
Other options people compare them with include Mermaid, Excalidraw, drawio-skill, fireworks-tech-graph, Taste Skill.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.