visual-explainer

What this skill does

# Visual Explainer

Generate self-contained HTML files for technical diagrams, visualizations, and data tables. Always open the result in the browser. Never fall back to ASCII art when this skill is loaded.

**Proactive table rendering.** When you're about to present tabular data as an ASCII box-drawing table in the terminal (comparisons, audits, feature matrices, status reports, any structured rows/columns), generate an HTML page instead. The threshold: if the table has 4+ rows or 3+ columns, it belongs in the browser. Don't wait for the user to ask — render it as HTML automatically and tell them the file path. You can still include a brief text summary in the chat, but the table itself should be the HTML page.

## Workflow

### 1. Think (5 seconds, not 5 minutes)

Before writing HTML, commit to a direction. Don't default to "dark theme with blue accents" every time.

**Who is looking?** A developer understanding a system? A PM seeing the big picture? A team reviewing a proposal? This shapes information density and visual complexity.

**What type of diagram?** Architecture, flowchart, sequence, data flow, schema/ER, state machine, mind map, data table, timeline, or dashboard. Each has distinct layout needs and rendering approaches (see Diagram Types below).

**What aesthetic?** Pick one and commit:
- Monochrome terminal (green/amber on black, monospace everything)
- Editorial (serif headlines, generous whitespace, muted palette)
- Blueprint (technical drawing feel, grid lines, precise)
- Neon dashboard (saturated accents on deep dark, glowing edges)
- Paper/ink (warm cream background, hand-drawn feel, sketchy borders)
- Hand-drawn / sketch (Mermaid `handDrawn` mode, wiggly lines, informal whiteboard feel)
- IDE-inspired (borrow a real color scheme: Dracula, Nord, Catppuccin, Solarized, Gruvbox, One Dark)
- Data-dense (small type, tight spacing, maximum information)
- Gradient mesh (bold gradients, glassmorphism, modern SaaS feel)

Vary the choice each time. If the last diagram was dark and technical, make the next one light and editorial. The swap test: if you replaced your styling with a generic dark theme and nobody would notice the difference, you haven't designed anything.

### 2. Structure

**Read the reference template** before generating. Don't memorize it — read it each time to absorb the patterns.
- For text-heavy architecture overviews (card content matters more than topology): read `./templates/architecture.html`
- For flowcharts, sequence diagrams, ER, state machines, mind maps: read `./templates/mermaid-flowchart.html`
- For data tables, comparisons, audits, feature matrices: read `./templates/data-table.html`

**For CSS/layout patterns and SVG connectors**, read `./references/css-patterns.md`.

**For pages with 4+ sections** (reviews, recaps, dashboards), also read `./references/responsive-nav.md` for section navigation with sticky sidebar TOC on desktop and horizontal scrollable bar on mobile.

**Choosing a rendering approach:**

| Diagram type | Approach | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture (text-heavy) | CSS Grid cards + flow arrows | Rich card content (descriptions, code, tool lists) needs CSS control |
| Architecture (topology-focused) | **Mermaid** | Visible connections between components need automatic edge routing |
| Flowchart / pipeline | **Mermaid** | Automatic node positioning and edge routing; hand-drawn mode available |
| Sequence diagram | **Mermaid** | Lifelines, messages, and activation boxes need automatic layout |
| Data flow | **Mermaid** with edge labels | Connections and data descriptions need automatic edge routing |
| ER / schema diagram | **Mermaid** | Relationship lines between many entities need auto-routing |
| State machine | **Mermaid** | State transitions with labeled edges need automatic layout |
| Mind map | **Mermaid** | Hierarchical branching needs automatic positioning |
| Data table | HTML `<table>` | Semantic markup, accessibility, copy-paste behavior |
| Timeline | CSS (central line + cards) | Simple linear layout doesn't need a layout engine |
| Dashboard | CSS Grid + Chart.js | Card grid with embedded charts |

**Mermaid theming:** Always use `theme: 'base'` with custom `themeVariables` so colors match your page palette. Use `look: 'handDrawn'` for sketch aesthetic or `look: 'classic'` for clean lines. Use `layout: 'elk'` for complex graphs (requires the `@mermaid-js/layout-elk` package — see `./references/libraries.md` for the CDN import). Override Mermaid's SVG classes with CSS for pixel-perfect control. See `./references/libraries.md` for full theming guide.

**Mermaid zoom controls:** Always add zoom controls (+/−/reset buttons) to every `.mermaid-wrap` container. Complex diagrams render at small sizes and need zoom to be readable. Include Ctrl/Cmd+scroll zoom on the container. See the zoom controls pattern in `./references/css-patterns.md` and the reference template at `./templates/mermaid-flowchart.html`.

**AI-generated illustrations (optional).** If [surf-cli](https://github.com/nicobailon/surf-cli) is available, you can generate images via Gemini and embed them in the page for creative, illustrative, explanatory, educational, or decorative purposes. Check availability with `which surf`. If available:

```bash
# Generate to a temp file (use --aspect-ratio for control)
surf gemini "descriptive prompt" --generate-image /tmp/ve-img.png --aspect-ratio 16:9

# Base64 encode for self-containment (macOS)
IMG=$(base64 -i /tmp/ve-img.png)
# Linux: IMG=$(base64 -w 0 /tmp/ve-img.png)

# Embed in HTML and clean up
# <img src="data:image/png;base64,${IMG}" alt="descriptive alt text">
rm /tmp/ve-img.png
```

See `./references/css-patterns.md` for image container styles (hero banners, inline illustrations, captions).

**When to use:** Hero banners that establish the page's visual tone. Conceptual illustrations for abstract systems that Mermaid can't express (physical infrastructure, user journeys, mental models). Educational diagrams that benefit from artistic or photorealistic rendering. Decorative accents that reinforce the aesthetic.

**When to skip:** Anything Mermaid or CSS handles well. Generic decoration that doesn't convey meaning. Data-heavy pages where images would distract. Always degrade gracefully — if surf isn't available, skip images without erroring. The page should stand on its own with CSS and typography alone.

**Prompt craft:** Match the image to the page's palette and aesthetic direction. Specify the style (3D render, technical illustration, watercolor, isometric, flat vector, etc.) and mention dominant colors from your CSS variables. Use `--aspect-ratio 16:9` for hero banners, `--aspect-ratio 1:1` for inline illustrations. Keep prompts specific — "isometric illustration of a message queue with cyan nodes on dark navy background" beats "a diagram of a queue."

### 3. Style

Apply these principles to every diagram:

**Typography is the diagram.** Pick a distinctive font pairing from Google Fonts. A display/heading font with character, plus a mono font for technical labels. Never use Inter, Roboto, Arial, or system-ui as the primary font. Load via `<link>` in `<head>`. Include a system font fallback in the `font-family` stack for offline resilience.

**Color tells a story.** Use CSS custom properties for the full palette. Define at minimum: `--bg`, `--surface`, `--border`, `--text`, `--text-dim`, and 3-5 accent colors. Each accent should have a full and a dim variant (for backgrounds). Name variables semantically when possible (`--pipeline-step` not `--blue-3`). Support both themes. Put your primary aesthetic in `:root` and the alternate in the media query:

```css
/* Light-first (editorial, paper/ink, blueprint): */
:root { /* light values */ }
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) { :root { /* dark values */ } }

/* Dark-first (neon, IDE-inspired, terminal): */
:root { /* dark values */ }
@media (prefers-color-scheme: light) { :root { /* light values */ } }
```

**Surfaces whisper