d2-mcp

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for working with D2: Declarative Diagramming, enabling seamless integration of diagram creation and validation into your development workflow.

Tools:

• Compile D2 Code
  • Validate D2 syntax and catch errors before rendering
  • Get immediate feedback on diagram structure and syntax
  • Accepts either direct code or file path to D2 file
• Render Diagrams
  • Generate diagrams for visual feedback and refinement
  • Support PNG, SVG, and ASCII output formats
  • Accepts either direct code or file path to D2 file
• Fetch D2 Cheat Sheet
  • Returns a Markdown reference covering shapes, styling, and transport usage

Install

Option 1: Install Binary Release

Option 2: Install via go

go install github.com/h0rv/d2-mcp@latest

Option 3: Build Locally

git clone https://github.com/h0rv/d2-mcp.git
cd d2-mcp
go build .

Option 4: Build Image Locally

docker build . -t d2-mcp

# Run in stdio mode (default - for MCP clients)
docker run --rm -i d2-mcp

# Run in stdio mode with filesystem access
docker run --rm -i -v $(pwd):/data d2-mcp

# Run in SSE mode (HTTP server)
docker run --rm SSE_MODE=true -p 8080:8080 -e d2-mcp

# Run in SSE mode with filesystem access
docker run --rm -e SSE_MODE=true -p 8080:8080 -v $(pwd):/data d2-mcp

Option 5: Run Container Image

# Run in stdio mode (default - for MCP clients)
docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main

# Run in stdio mode with filesystem access
docker run --rm -i -v $(pwd):/data ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main

# Run in SSE mode (HTTP server)
docker run --rm -e SSE_MODE=true -p 8080:8080 ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main

# Run in SSE mode with filesystem access
docker run --rm -e SSE_MODE=true -p 8080:8080 -v $(pwd):/data ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main

Setup with MCP Client

MacOS:

# Claude Desktop
$EDITOR ~/Library/Application\\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
# OTerm:
$EDITOR ~/Library/Application\\ Support/oterm/config.json

Add the d2 MCP server to your respective MCP Clients config:

Using Binary:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "d2": {
            "command": "/YOUR/ABSOLUTE/PATH/d2-mcp",
            "args": ["--image-type", "png"]
        }
    }
}

Using Binary with file output:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "d2": {
            "command": "/YOUR/ABSOLUTE/PATH/d2-mcp",
            "args": ["--image-type", "png", "--write-files"]
        }
    }
}

Using Docker:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "d2": {
            "command": "docker",
            "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main", "--image-type", "svg"]
        }
    }
}

Using Docker with filesystem access:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "d2": {
            "command": "docker",
            "args": [
                "run", "--rm", "-i",
                "-v", "./:/data",
                "ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main",
                "--image-type", "ascii",
                "--ascii-mode", "standard",
                "--write-files"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Rendering Formats

The server returns PNG output by default. Override globally when starting the binary:

./d2-mcp --image-type svg        # SVG output
./d2-mcp --image-type ascii      # ASCII output with Unicode box drawing characters
./d2-mcp --image-type ascii --ascii-mode standard  # ASCII output restricted to basic ASCII chars

Inside MCP tool calls, pass the optional format argument (png, svg, ascii) and, when ascii, the ascii_mode argument (extended, standard) to switch formats per request.

Docker Usage Examples

Run the container with default PNG output over stdio:

docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main

Switch to Unicode ASCII diagrams and capture responses as plain text:

docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main --image-type ascii

Use basic ASCII characters and write rendered files back into your working tree (requires a bind mount):

docker run --rm -i \\
  -v "$(pwd)":/data \\
  ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main \\
  --image-type ascii \\
  --ascii-mode standard \\
  --write-files

Expose the SSE server on port 8080 while emitting SVG:

docker run --rm -e SSE_MODE=true -p 8080:8080 ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main --image-type svg

Expose the streamable HTTP transport (default endpoint /mcp) for use with MCP clients that expect the new protocol:

docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 ghcr.io/h0rv/d2-mcp:main --transport http --image-type svg

Cheat Sheet Tool

Retrieve the built-in quick reference as Markdown:

{
  "tool": "fetch_d2_cheat_sheet"
}

The cheat sheet highlights common shapes, layout tips, and ASCII-friendly patterns, making it ideal support material for downstream LLM prompts.

Transports

The server defaults to stdio transport for CLI-driven MCP clients. Switch transports per run:

• --transport stdio: default for local CLI integrations.
• --transport sse: legacy Server-Sent Events transport (alias: --sse).
• --transport http: streamable HTTP transport; combine with -p/--port when running in Docker or containers.

Environment overrides:

• MCP_TRANSPORT sets the transport (stdio, sse, http) when flags are not provided.
• PORT (or the legacy SSE_PORT) sets the listening port for SSE/HTTP transports.
• SSE_MODE=true retains backwards compatibility by selecting the SSE transport.

Tool Reference

Tool	Description	Key Arguments
compile-d2	Validates D2 source and surfaces syntax errors.	code (string) or file_path (string)
render-d2	Renders diagrams to PNG, SVG, or ASCII (ASCII is LLM-friendly).	code/file_path, format (png, svg, ascii), ascii_mode (extended, standard)
fetch_d2_cheat_sheet	Returns a Markdown cheat sheet with examples and best practices.	None

Tip: Run compile-d2 first to validate, then call render-d2 with the same payload for the final output.

Development

Debugging

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector /YOUR/ABSOLUTE/PATH/d2-mcp/d2-mcp