Turn Your Local Data into Private Mermaid Diagrams Instantly

Ever need to quickly visualize some local data—a config file, a CSV, or a JSON blob—but don't want to paste it into some random web tool? You want a diagram or chart, you want it now, and you want it to stay on your machine. That's the itch Atlantis scratches.

It's a local, private tool that takes the data sitting in your terminal or your files and turns it into Mermaid diagrams instantly. No API calls, no cloud uploads, just your data becoming a visual right in front of you.

What It Does

Atlantis is a command-line tool that reads structured data from standard input (like a pipe) or a file and generates a Mermaid diagram from it. You feed it YAML, JSON, or CSV, and it outputs valid Mermaid syntax. You can then copy that into your docs, or use it with any tool that renders Mermaid.

Think of it as a quick translator between your local data formats and the diagram language the dev world has largely agreed upon.

Why It's Cool

The "private" part is the key feature. Your data never leaves your machine. This makes it perfect for sensitive logs, internal system configurations, or any data you simply can't or won't send to an online service.

It's also incredibly focused. It doesn't try to be a full charting suite. It does one job: be a local bridge to Mermaid. This makes it simple to slot into existing workflows. You can pipe the output directly into a Mermaid renderer or save it to a .md file. It embraces the Unix philosophy of doing one thing well.

How to Try It

Getting started is straightforward. You'll need Go installed on your machine.

1. Clone the repo and build it:

   git clone https://github.com/Fantastic-Computing-Machine/atlantis.git
   cd atlantis
   go build
   

2. Try it out by piping some data into it. For example, with a simple JSON:

   echo '{"process": "data", "output": "diagram"}' | ./atlantis
   

   This will spit out Mermaid syntax to your terminal. You can also specify an input file:

   ./atlantis -f my_data.yaml
   

Check the project's README for more detailed examples on supported data structures and diagram types.

Final Thoughts

As a developer, I see Atlantis as a utility knife for documentation and debugging. Need to explain a data flow in a PR? Visualize the structure of that massive config you just inherited? Sketch a quick sequence diagram from a log? This tool lets you do it from the comfort of your terminal, with zero fuss about data privacy. It's a small, sharp tool that solves a very specific problem elegantly.

Give it a spin next time you're staring at a blob of data and thinking, "This should be a diagram."

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