# Markdown flowchart template A Mermaid flowchart with the steps spelled out underneath, so the diagram and the words can be checked against each other. Take a step out, and ask the agent to fix the rest. ## The template [Download flowchart.md](/templates/flowchart/flowchart.md) ```` # Flow name _One sentence: what goes in, what comes out._ ## Diagram ```mermaid flowchart LR A[First step] --> B[Second step] B --> C[Third step] C --> D[Done] ``` ## Steps 1. **First step:** _who does it, and what they hand on._ 2. **Second step:** _…_ 3. **Third step:** _…_ 4. **Done:** _what "done" means here._ ```` ## How it looks ![The first page of flowchart.md, exported as a PDF with marsdawn export.](/assets/templates/flowchart-en.png) Exported with `marsdawn export flowchart.md`. The free command-line tool renders like MarsDawn's preview, diagram included. ## Ask your agent ``` Draw the flow for [the process] in flowchart.md, using the template at https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/templates/flowchart/flowchart.md. Keep one numbered step per node, in the same order. When it's written, run marsdawn open flowchart.md. ``` ## Share it as a PDF `marsdawn export flowchart.md` — the diagram is drawn into the PDF. ## What it doesn't do MarsDawn draws what the Mermaid says. It doesn't lay the diagram out by hand, and it doesn't keep the numbered steps in sync with the nodes. If the Mermaid has an error, the preview shows the error instead of a diagram. ## Questions ### Which diagrams work? Anything Mermaid draws: flowcharts, sequence diagrams, state diagrams and more. ### Why write the steps out as well? A reader who skims sees the diagram; a reader who checks needs the words. The agent can keep both in step. ## More templates - [Spec (PRD)](/templates/spec/): problem, goals, requirements, a flow diagram and acceptance criteria. - [Meeting notes](/templates/meeting-notes/): decisions and action items, each with an owner. - [Markdown templates](/templates/) ## More - [MarsDawn](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/index.md): Markdown for humans who steer agentic work: a native Mac editor with live preview, Mermaid diagrams and PDF export. On the Mac App Store. - [Your writing stays on your Mac](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/yours/index.md): MarsDawn has no account, no sync and no cloud. Your Markdown documents stay on your Mac, in the files and folders you choose. - [Try free, pay once](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/pay-once/index.md): MarsDawn is free to download. Try everything for 14 days, then unlock it once for USD 4.99. No subscription, no account. - [PDF export](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/pdf/index.md): Export Markdown as a PDF or print it on your Mac, with Mermaid diagrams and highlighted code. Page breaks avoid splitting short code blocks and tables. - [A Mac app](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/native/index.md): A Markdown editor that is a real Mac app: native windows and tabs, autosave, version history, Quick Look in Finder and a text editor that behaves like a Mac. - [What MarsDawn doesn't do](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/limits/index.md): No sync, no iPhone or iPad app, no plugins, no accounts. Four built-in themes. Know before you buy. - [Support](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/support/index.md): Get help with MarsDawn, the Markdown editor for macOS. - [Privacy Policy](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/privacy/index.md): MarsDawn does not collect personal data. Your documents and settings stay on your Mac. - [View Markdown on a Mac](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/view-markdown-on-mac/index.md): A .md file is plain text with formatting marks in it. Here is how to read it rendered on a Mac: as a PDF with the free marsdawn command-line tool today, and in the MarsDawn app, on the Mac App Store. - [Markdown to PDF](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/markdown-to-pdf/index.md): Convert Markdown to PDF on a Mac with the free marsdawn command-line tool. Install it with Homebrew and run one command: tables, math, Mermaid and code. - [MacMD Viewer vs. MarsDawn](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/vs/macmd-viewer/index.md): MacMD Viewer renders Markdown read-only for USD 19.99. MarsDawn edits and previews side by side, free to try then USD 4.99 once on the Mac App Store. - [Command Line](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/cli/index.md): The free marsdawn command-line tool for Mac: export Markdown to PDF from a shell, a script or an LLM agent, with JSON output. Install it with Homebrew. - [marsdawn for agents](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/cli/agents/index.md): A reference for AI agents and scripts that call marsdawn to turn Markdown into PDF: commands, JSON output, schemas, exit codes and requirements. - [Agent skill](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/cli/skill/index.md): One file your coding agent loads to open Markdown it wrote in MarsDawn for your review, and to install marsdawn, export Markdown to PDF and read the JSON result. - [MCP server](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/cli/mcp/index.md): marsdawn has no AI model of its own, so it doesn't matter which agent wrote the Markdown. Call it from the CLI, a skill file, or the marsdawn-mcp MCP server: all three run the same export. - [Token-efficient review](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/token-efficient-review/index.md): A person reviews the rendered page in MarsDawn, never read back into the agent's context. The tool call itself returns a compact JSON result, not the rendered content, so calling it is cheap too. - [Viewing Markdown elsewhere vs. MarsDawn](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/vs/markdown-preview-tools/index.md): How MarsDawn compares to reading Markdown in VS Code's built-in preview, a browser extension, or Claude Desktop's file preview: what each renders, and what it takes to open one file. - [Preview themes and PDF export](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/themes/index.md): Four preview themes, each with a light and dark palette, and one PDF/print export that matches whichever you're in. More importable themes, and a gallery to share your own, are planned. - [Sharing exported PDFs](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/sharing-exported-pdfs/index.md): Export an agent's Markdown to PDF and hand it to a colleague who doesn't read Markdown and won't install anything. No syntax, no app and no account needed to open it. - [Why AI output still needs a human reader](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/reviewing-ai-output/index.md): AI-written Markdown still has to be understood by a person, not trusted on sight. MarsDawn pairs the rendered page with the source, and draws Mermaid diagrams and KaTeX math, so structure is legible at a glance. - [Reading what your agent hands back](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/reading-agent-output/index.md): AI agents hand back their work as Markdown: plans, specs, progress reports. What people who build agents say about checkpoints and failures, why that output is hard to read, and a five-minute checklist for reviewing a plan. - [Agent transparency](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/agent-transparency/index.md): Anthropic's guide to building agents asks for transparency: show the planning steps. What it says, what it doesn't, and why the steps usually end up as a Markdown file someone has to read. - [Reviewing an agent plan](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/reviewing-agent-plans/index.md): A six-step way to review the plan an AI agent hands you before it runs, in about five minutes and in any editor, with a worked example. - [Agent design patterns](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/agent-design-patterns/index.md): Reflection, tool use, planning and multi-agent collaboration, as Andrew Ng described them, and what each tends to hand back for you to read. - [Changelog](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/changelog/index.md): What changed in the free marsdawn command-line tool. - [Templates](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/templates/index.md): Markdown templates for the documents an agent writes and you read: a spec, a flowchart and meeting notes, each with a prompt for your agent. - [Spec template](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/templates/spec/index.md): A Markdown spec template with requirements, a Mermaid flow diagram and acceptance criteria. Your agent fills it in; you review it in MarsDawn. - [Meeting notes template](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/templates/meeting-notes/index.md): A Markdown meeting notes template with decisions and action items, each with an owner. Your agent writes it up; you check it in MarsDawn. - [繁體中文](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/zh-hant/templates/flowchart/index.md): Markdown 的 Mermaid 流程圖範本，圖的下方把步驟寫出來。在 Mac 上預覽，也能輸出成 PDF。 - [简体中文](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/zh-hans/templates/flowchart/index.md): Markdown 的 Mermaid 流程图模板，图的下方把步骤写出来。在 Mac 上预览，也能导出成 PDF。 - [日本語](https://marsdawn.southern-light.dev/ja/templates/flowchart/index.md): Markdown で書く Mermaid フローチャートのテンプレート。図の下に各ステップを書き出します。Mac でプレビューし、PDF に書き出せます。