InklingGuide
Start free

Start here

Getting startedWhat Inkling isGetting startedAsk your first questionAsking and reading answersChoose a depth: Quick, Pro and ResearchAsking and reading answersRead an answer: the stamp, citations and sourcesPlans and ProAllowances, resets and refunds
Browse the guide42 articles

Edit a diagram

Checked against Inkling on , 3 min read

On this page8 headings
Pro · early access

The diagram editor is part of Pro, which a person switches on after you ask, at no charge. On Free, answers don’t draw figures, so there is nothing to edit; Draw this as a diagram under an answer explains what Pro adds. Request Pro access

Open any diagram in an answer as code beside a live preview, fix it by hand or describe the change in a sentence, then save it back into the answer.

Before you start

  • You need the Pro plan and a diagram in one of your own answers: a flowchart, a sequence diagram or a timeline. Charts have no editor; use View data and CSV to work with their numbers.
  • Editing the code by hand is not metered. Each Describe a change uses one redraw, and Pro currently includes 50 a day.

Open the editor

Under the diagram, press Edit diagram. The editor opens with the diagram’s code under Mermaid on one side and a preview on the other. The line under the preview reads “Preview updates as you type. Diagrams are drawn as plain SVG and never run scripts.”

The diagram editor with the code marked valid, a live preview, and a Describe a change box
Screen from the appEditing Fig. 1

Fix it by hand

  1. Edit the code. Inkling writes each label in quotes, so renaming a box is usually a change to the words between them.
  2. Watch the status line by the code. It reads “checking…” while you type, then “valid”, or “line N:” followed by what is wrong, so you know where to look.
  3. When it reads “valid”, press Save to answer. The button stays greyed until the code is valid and has changed.

Describe a change

  1. In Describe a change, write what you want in a sentence, the way the placeholder does: “add a Marquez node after the store”.
  2. Press Enter. The status line reads “redrawing…”.
  3. The redrawn code lands in the editor and the preview. Nothing is saved yet: keep it with Save to answer, adjust it by hand, or put the original back.

Save or undo

  • Save to answer writes the diagram into the answer. Follow-up questions in the discussion see your edited version.
  • Revert to original puts Inkling’s first drawing back in the editor. Press Save to answer to keep it.
  • The footer also has Download SVG, Download PNG and Copy code.

Limits

WhatLimit
Diagram typesflowchart, sequence diagram, timeline
Size12,000 characters, 25 nodes, 40 connections
One description500 characters
Redrawscurrently 50 a day on Pro, back at 00:00 UTC

Messages you might see

MessageWhat to do
“Inkling draws flowcharts, sequence diagrams and timelines.”The first line names another kind of diagram. Change it to one of these.
“A diagram can have at most 25 nodes.”Merge or remove some boxes.
“A node can’t be called ‘end’ — Mermaid reserves that word.”Rename that node.
“Couldn’t redraw — try a different description.”Ask for the change in other words.
“Redrawing is paused right now — edit the code by hand.”Redraws are paused for now. The code and the preview still work.
“You’ve used today’s 50 redraws — they come back at midnight UTC.”Edit by hand until then.
“Couldn’t save — try again.”Press Save to answer again.

Good to know

  • Regenerate doesn’t carry your edit. It asks the question again and adds a new answer below, with any figures of its own. Your edited diagram stays in the earlier answer.
  • A redraw counts when it runs. One that comes back unusable still uses one of the day’s redraws, so describe the change plainly.
  • Saving changes the answer. If the answer had a second opinion, its verdict stays with the line “The answer changed after this second opinion was written.”, and its marks are taken off. See Get a second opinion.