Diagrams are how teams explain systems

Most of them explain less than they could.

Weft is for the diagram in the README, the design review, the onboarding doc and the post about how your system works: the one that should make the idea obvious at a glance.

Boxes and arrows that say nothing

A static diagram shows what is connected. It doesn't show which way things go, what happens first, or where the traffic really is.

01

Redrawn for every place it goes

The README wants SVG, the slide wants 16:9, LinkedIn wants a video. Each one means another export, another tool, another fix.

02

Ugly by default

Most tools give you grey rectangles. Making a diagram people actually want to look at takes an afternoon of nudging colors.

03

Out of date the day after

The diagram lives in one person's drawing file, the code moves on, and nobody remembers how to regenerate it.

04

Made with Weft, exported as SVG

These are ordinary images. They move.

Each one is a single SVG file straight from Weft's Export, the same kind you can put in a README, a Notion page or your own site. No video, no script.

Flows A search pipeline, step by step

Cloud architecture: AWS, Azure and Google Cloud icons, official and bundled, with moving dots — **Cloud architecture** AWS, Azure and Google Cloud icons, official and bundled

Charts: A Sankey of requests, with the dots following the volume, with moving dots — **Charts** A Sankey of requests, with the dots following the volume

Event-driven systems: One event, many consumers, in the Soft look, with moving dots — **Event-driven systems** One event, many consumers, in the Soft look

Sequence diagrams: A transactional outbox, in the bold Ink look, with moving dots — **Sequence diagrams** A transactional outbox, in the bold Ink look

1
Draw, write or import
Click shapes onto the canvas, type the diagram as text, paste Mermaid, or start from one of 42 templates.
2
Make it move
Pick a connector and choose its dots: style, color, speed, or no line at all, just the flow.
3
Send it anywhere
SVG that moves on GitHub and Notion, a GIF or MP4 for posts, PNG, PDF, Lottie, an HTML embed, or full screen with F5.

Everything a diagram needs

From first box to the slide it ends up on.

Draw it, write it, restyle it, chart it, and send it wherever it has to go.

The canvas

A fast editor that gets out of your way.

Tab adds the next step and connects it. Connectors route themselves around shapes and snap to them. Containers group what belongs together, and Tidy up lays the whole thing out in one keystroke.

Moving dots on any connector: dots, dashes, squares or capsules, in any color and speed, with or without the line
Cloud architecture with the official AWS, Azure and Google Cloud icons, and VPC, subnet and resource-group containers
Over a thousand line icons and brand logos, searchable by name
Undo for everything, autosave and crash recovery

Weft showing an AWS three-tier architecture with nested VPC and subnet containers; a connector is selected and the inspector shows its moving dots options

More than boxes

Sequence diagrams, matrices, timelines and mind maps.

The diagrams you draw again and again are built in, and they lay themselves out as you type. Add a message, a row or a branch and everything else makes room.

Sequence diagrams with numbered messages, notes and alt, loop and group blocks
Matrices with checks and crosses, swimlane timelines, nested sets and side-by-side comparisons
Mind maps with colored branches, and posters that hold a whole infographic
Bar, line, area, donut, scatter, Sankey, funnel and KPI charts from pasted CSV

A sign-in sequence diagram in the Ink look: a user, an app, an auth server and an API, with eight numbered messages

Diagrams as text

Write it, and watch it draw itself.

Every page is also a short, readable text. Edit either side and the other follows, with suggestions as you type and problems underlined. Paste Mermaid, D2 or PlantUML onto the canvas and it becomes a Weft diagram.

Import Mermaid, D2, PlantUML, draw.io and Excalidraw files, by paste, drop or File › Import
Describe it: write a sentence and an AI draws the page (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, or a model on your own computer with Ollama)
Your keys stay in the system keychain; nothing is sent unless you ask

Weft in dark mode with the Neon look: the code panel on the left shows the diagram as text, and the canvas on the right shows services connected by glowing dotted lines

Charts

Paste a spreadsheet. Get a chart that matches.

Copy cells from Excel or Google Sheets and paste them onto the canvas. Weft picks the right chart, colors it with your diagram's palette, and lets you switch kind without losing the data.

Ten kinds, from bars and lines to Sankey flows with moving dots and KPI tiles
A data grid in the inspector, or edit it as CSV
Numbers read the way people write them: 1,200, $4.5k, 12%

Export & share

One diagram. Every place it needs to go.

Pick a format and a size and see the result, moving, before you save it. The fonts and icons travel inside the file, so it looks the same on every screen.

SVG that moves in GitHub READMEs, Notion and any web page, and stays still for people who ask for less motion
GIF and MP4 for LinkedIn, X and slides, PNG up to 4x, vector PDF, Lottie for apps, and an HTML embed
Sizes for a README, a 16:9 slide, a LinkedIn post, X or a square, light or dark, any background
Present mode: full screen, page by page, with a laser pointer and a spotlight

The Export dialog with SVG selected, the README size and a live preview of an event-driven diagram

Seven looks · One click

Hand-drawn for a workshop. Neon for a talk. Mono for print.

A look restyles every shape, line, font and shadow at once, and a palette recolors it. Your diagram stays the same; only how it looks changes, so you can try them all in seconds.

Clean
Ink
Sketch
Soft
Neon
Blueprint
Mono

A search pipeline in the hand-drawn Sketch look, in dark mode, with handwritten labels

Docs as code

Keep the diagram next to the code. Render it in CI.

Check the .weft file (or your Mermaid) into the repository and let the build draw the image, so the diagram in the docs is never older than the code it describes.

weft render: Draws a page as SVG, PNG, GIF, MP4, Lottie, PDF or HTML, picked by the file name.
Other formats in: Renders Mermaid, D2, PlantUML, draw.io and Excalidraw files directly.
Sizes and looks: --preset readme, slide, linkedin, x or square; --style ink, sketch, neon and the rest; --dark.
weft import: Turns any of those formats into a Weft document you can keep editing.

terminal

# An SVG that moves, sized for a README
$ weft render docs/flow.weft -o docs/flow.svg --preset readme

# Straight from Mermaid, in the Ink look
$ weft render flow.mmd -o flow.gif --style ink

# A 16:9 video for the launch post
$ weft render system.weft -o system.mp4 --preset slide

# Keep editing it in Weft
$ weft import architecture.drawio

42 templates

Start from a pattern, not a blank page.

OAuth and MCP sequences, retries and outboxes, CI pipelines, RAG and agent loops, blue-green releases, the CAP theorem, cloud reference architectures, dashboards and more. Each one takes on your diagram's look the moment you add it.

The template gallery: sequence, flow, architecture, matrix, chart and cloud templates with previews

Everything else you'd expect

Done properly.

01
Seven looks

Clean, Ink, Sketch, Soft, Neon, Blueprint and Mono restyle the whole diagram at once, with palettes to match.
02
42 templates

Architecture, flows, sequences, matrices, timelines, mind maps, posters, charts and cloud diagrams.
03
Pages

Keep related diagrams together in one file, and present them one after another.
04
Keyboard first

Every action is a command, one keystroke from the palette, with shortcuts for what you do often.
05
Fast with big diagrams

Thousands of shapes stay smooth to pan and zoom.
06
Light & dark

Themes that follow your system, for the app and for what you export.
07
Accessible

Readable contrast, labelled controls, and motion that respects your system settings.
08
Updates itself

When a new version is out, Weft offers to install it. Your files and settings are kept.

Private by design

Your diagrams stay yours.

Files on your computerDiagrams are plain .weft files you save where you like. No account, no cloud.
AI only when you askDescribe it is off until you add a key, and talks only to the service you pick. With Ollama, nothing leaves your machine.
Crash reports are opt-inOff unless you turn them on, never include your diagrams, and you read each one before it is emailed.
No trackingWeft goes online to check for updates and nothing else.

Weft vs a typical diagram tool

Made for diagrams people actually look at.

Capability	A typical diagram tool	Weft
Moving connectors	Not available, or a separate animation tool	Built in, on any connector
Looking good	Grey boxes; styling is up to you	Seven looks and palettes, one click
Text and other tools	One format, or none	Weft text, Mermaid, D2, PlantUML, draw.io, Excalidraw
A README that moves	Record a GIF by hand	Export an animated SVG
Video for a post	Screen recording and editing	MP4 at the right size
Docs and CI	Export by hand each time	weft render in your pipeline
Price	Subscriptions and seat limits	Free

Get Weft 1.0.0 · Free

Your first moving diagram, in a minute.

Pick the file for your system. We'll email you a one-time code, and the download starts as soon as you enter it.

Windows

Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit

macOS

macOS 11 Big Sur or later

Linux

64-bit (x86_64)

Command line

weft render, for docs and CI. No window

First launch & command line

Windows

If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", choose More info, then Run anyway. On Windows 10, the installer adds Microsoft's WebView2 if it's missing.

macOS

Drag Weft into Applications. The first time, open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, and click Open Anyway. (On macOS 14 and earlier, right-click the app and choose Open.)

Linux

Install the .deb with apt or the .rpm with dnf, like any other package. The AppImage needs no install: make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.

Command line

Unpack the archive and put weft on your PATH. MP4 from the command line needs ffmpeg; everything else works on its own.

The first-launch warning appears because Weft is new and not yet widely downloaded; it only shows once. Updating: Weft offers new versions itself, and keeps your settings. Your diagrams are files, so they are never touched. Verify your download (optional): each file's SHA-256 checksum is in SHA256SUMS.txt.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Something else? Ideas or partnership enquiries? Email jamal@unravelers.tech.

Is Weft really free?

Yes. Every feature, for as many diagrams as you like, with no account.

Will the moving SVG work in my README?

Yes. GitHub, GitLab, Notion and browsers play the animation inside an SVG image. Where SVG isn't allowed, export a GIF or MP4 instead.

Can I open my Mermaid or draw.io diagrams?

Yes. Paste Mermaid, D2 or PlantUML onto the canvas, or open .drawio and .excalidraw files with File › Import. They become ordinary Weft diagrams you can restyle and animate.

Do I need an AI subscription?

No. Describe it is optional. Use your own key for Claude, OpenAI or Gemini, or run a model on your own computer with Ollama for free.

Can I use it in CI or a docs build?

Yes. The weft command line renders .weft, Mermaid and the other formats to SVG, PNG, GIF, PDF and more, with no window.

Can I use the cloud provider icons?

Yes. Weft bundles AWS, Azure and Google Cloud's official architecture icons, which their owners provide for exactly this: architecture diagrams.

Why does Windows or macOS show a warning the first time?

Both systems double-check apps that aren't yet widely downloaded. It only happens on the first launch; the steps are in the download section above.

Which systems are supported?

Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), macOS 11 or later on Apple silicon and Intel, and 64-bit Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE and others).

Your next diagram

Show how it flows, not just what's connected.

Weft is free for Windows, macOS and Linux. Draw your first moving diagram in a minute, and put it anywhere.

Download Weft, free Talk to us

Weft Diagrams that move.