Table of Contents
What does D2 look like?
vars: {
d2-config: {
layout-engine: elk
# Terminal theme code
theme-id: 300
}
}
network: {
cell tower: {
satellites: {
shape: stored_data
style.multiple: true
}
transmitter
satellites -> transmitter: send
satellites -> transmitter: send
satellites -> transmitter: send
}
online portal: {
ui: {shape: hexagon}
}
data processor: {
storage: {
shape: cylinder
style.multiple: true
}
}
cell tower.transmitter -> data processor.storage: phone logs
}
user: {
shape: person
width: 130
}
user -> network.cell tower: make call
user -> network.online portal.ui: access {
style.stroke-dash: 3
}
api server -> network.online portal.ui: display
api server -> logs: persist
logs: {shape: page; style.multiple: true}
network.data processor -> api server
Open in playground
For more examples, see ./docs/examples.
Quickstart
The most convenient way to use D2 is to just run it as a CLI executable to
produce SVGs from .d2 files.
# First, install D2
curl -fsSL https://d2lang.com/install.sh | sh -s --
echo 'x -> y -> z' > in.d2
d2 --watch in.d2 out.svg
A browser window will open with out.svg and live-reload on changes to in.d2.
Install
The easiest way to install is with our install script:
curl -fsSL https://d2lang.com/install.sh | sh -s --
You can run the install script with --dry-run to see the commands that will be used
to install without executing them.
Or if you have Go installed you can install from source though you won't get the manpage:
go install github.com/d2lang/d2@latest
You can also install a release from source which will include manpages.
See ./docs/INSTALL.md#source-release.
To uninstall with the install script:
curl -fsSL https://d2lang.com/install.sh | sh -s -- --uninstall
For detailed installation docs, see ./docs/INSTALL.md.
We demonstrate alternative methods and examples for each OS.
As well, the functioning of the install script is described in detail to alleviate any
concern of its use. We recommend using your OS's package manager directly instead for
improved security but the install script is by no means insecure.
D2 as a library
In addition to being a runnable CLI tool, D2 can also be used to produce diagrams from
Go programs.
For examples, see ./docs/examples/lib.
Themes
D2 includes a variety of official themes to style your diagrams beautifully right out of
the box. See ./d2themes to browse the available themes and make or
contribute your own creation.
Fonts
D2 ships with "Source Sans Pro" as the font in renders. If you wish to use a different
one, please see ./d2renderers/d2fonts.
Export file types
D2 supports SVG, PNG, GIF, PDF, and PPTX exports.
D2 is designed with language tooling in mind. D2's parser can parse multiple errors from a
broken program, has an autoformatter, syntax highlighting, and we have plans for LSP's and
more. Good language tooling is necessary for creating and maintaining large diagrams.
The extensions for VSCode and Vim can be found in the Related section.
Layout engines
D2 bundles three layout engines. Select one with --layout=dagre, --layout=elk, or
--layout=tala. You can also set D2_LAYOUT or vars.d2-config.layout-engine in D2 source.
Run d2 layout to list the engines or d2 layout <name> for their configuration options.
- Dagro (default, bundled): A native Go port of the
Dagre directed graph layout engine that produces layered/hierarchical layouts. Based
on Graphviz's DOT algorithm.
- elk-go (bundled): A native Go port of the ELK
directed graph layout engine, particularly suited for node-link diagrams with an
inherent direction and ports.
- TALA (bundled, opt-in): Native layout and edge-routing engine designed
specifically for software architecture diagrams. Select it with
--layout=tala,
D2_LAYOUT=tala, or a layout-engine: tala setting under vars.d2-config in D2 source.
D2 also handles specialized layouts such as sequence diagrams and grids. Go applications
can use the layout packages directly or provide layout and routing functions
through d2lib.
Sketch-mode rendering uses rough-go, a native Go
compatibility port of the Rough.js 4.6.6 rendering surface used by D2.
LaTeX labels use mathjax-go, a native Go port of
the MathJax 3.2.2 TeX-to-SVG pipeline.
Comparison
For a comparison against other popular text-to-diagram tools, see
https://text-to-diagram.com.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! See ./docs/CONTRIBUTING.md.
License
Open sourced under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. See ./LICENSE.txt.
We are constantly working on new plugins, integrations, extensions. Contributions are
welcome in any official or community plugins. If you have somewhere in your workflow that
you want to use D2, feel free to open a discussion. We have limited bandwidth and usually
choose the most high-demand ones to work on. If you make something cool with D2 yourself,
let us know and we'll be happy to include it here!
Official plugins
Misc
FAQ
- Does D2 collect telemetry?
- No, D2 does not use an internet connection after installation, except to check for
version updates from Github periodically.
- Does D2 need a browser to run?
- No, D2 can run entirely server-side.
- What's coming in the next release?
- I have a question or need help.
- I have a feature request, proposal, or bug report.
- Please open up a Github Issue.
- I have a private inquiry.
Notable open-source projects documenting with D2
Do you have or see an open-source project with .d2 files? Please submit a PR adding to
this selected list of featured projects using D2.
D2 是一种开源的图表脚本语言:你用一个 .d2 文件以纯文本的方式描述图表,它会把这段文本渲染成真正的图。