Quickstart: your first diagram in ten minutes

This quickstart takes you from no account to a finished, exported and shared diagram in about ten minutes. It uses the Studio, the universal canvas, which is included on the Free plan. The main path needs no AI, so every step works on every plan. Where an AI shortcut exists, the page says which plan it needs so you never hit a wall you were not warned about. Each step names the exact buttons and menu items you will see.

At a glance

Before you start

• A modern browser. flowss runs in current versions of Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox on desktop, and adapts to phones and tablets. A window at least 1,280 pixels wide gives you the code and the canvas side by side.
• An account. Every studio needs one, including on the Free plan. Sign-up is free and takes a minute.
• AI is optional. Free has no AI at all. Starter lets you bring your own AI key, and Plus adds hosted AI points. This quickstart's main path uses none of it.
• Keyboard notation. This page writes shortcuts the Mac way. On Windows and Linux, read ⌘ as Ctrl and ⌥ as Alt. So ⌘K is Ctrl+K and ⌥⌘N is Ctrl+Alt+N.

Tip: Want to see flowss work before you sign up? The panel on the home page at / runs the platform's own router and renderers in your browser while you are signed out. Paste some Mermaid, PlantUML, Graphviz DOT or a CSV table and it draws immediately; pasted BPMN XML is recognised and the panel names the studio it belongs in, and a typed sentence shows where it would be routed and why. Press Enter and the diagram is carried through sign-up, so it is the first thing you see after creating your account.

Step 1 — Create your account

1. Go to www.flowss.ai and select Sign up free in the header, or Start creating — it's free under the headline. Both open the sign-up form directly at /signin?mode=signup.
2. If Continue with GitHub or Continue with Google is shown, you can use it instead and skip to step 8, because there is no email to confirm. These buttons only appear when the provider is enabled for the site.
3. Otherwise, fill in the form: your full name (placeholder Your full name), your email address (placeholder you@example.com), and a password (placeholder Create a password (8+ chars)). The password must be at least 8 characters, and a strength meter shows how strong it is. Use the eye button (Show password / Hide password) to show or hide it.
4. Type the password again in Confirm your password.
5. Choose an answer for How will you use it?: Researcher / academic, Student, Engineer / developer, Educator, or Something else.
6. Tick I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. If a verification challenge is shown, complete it (until you do, the form says "Complete the quick verification above to continue."). Then select Create account.
7. A Confirm your email panel appears, saying a confirmation link was sent to your address and that the link expires shortly. Open the link in the email to continue. Alternatively, use Or enter the code from the email and type the six-digit code from the same email. The code is useful when a corporate mail scanner has already used up the link.
8. Once confirmed, you land in the Academy at /learn, unless you signed up on the way to somewhere specific (a shared link, a diagram from the home page, or a plan on the pricing page), in which case you go there instead. The first Foundations track, Your workspace & ⌘K, covers the same ground as this page interactively, in a practice copy of the workspace. You can take it now or carry on here.

Note: Confirmation links expire shortly and work only once. If yours has expired, the sign-in page offers Send it again. See Creating an account and signing in for every sign-in path and message.

Step 2 — Open the Studio launchpad

Open /studio. The first screen is the Studio's launchpad. Its headline reads How would you like to followed by a rotating word (begin?, create?, map it out?, visualise it?, break it down?). Three large doors sit below it:

If you have worked in flowss before, a fourth panel, Where you left off, appears above the doors. It lists up to three unfinished documents, least finished first. Each one shows its readiness level and the main thing holding it back.

In the top-right corner, Skip to the editor opens the editor straight away on a starter diagram. It also remembers that choice, so the launchpad is skipped next time. A message, "This screen will be skipped next time.", confirms this and offers Undo if you change your mind. You can always get back to the launchpad from the editor with ⋮ → New from the launchpad….

Tip: A shared link (one containing ?d=), a template or engine link, and a request routed from ⌘K all skip the launchpad and open straight in the editor.

Step 3 — Make your first diagram

Choose any one of the four routes below. Route A works for everyone and is the one the rest of this page follows.

Route A — Pick an engine (no AI, any plan)

1. In the Pick an engine door, type mermaid into Search engines…, or scroll the grouped list. The groups are Flow & UML, Flow systems, Risk & reliability, Quality & control, Architecture, Charts & data, Schemas & layouts, Research & analysis, Engineering & physical, Domain-specific and More. Search matches an engine's name, id and description.
2. Select Mermaid. Hover any engine to see a one-line description.
3. The editor opens as a new figure, already filled with that engine's starter diagram.

If a search finds nothing, select Clear the search and see all 108 to return to the full grid. On Free, picking an engine makes a new figure, so it is refused if your Studio already holds 3 (see Troubleshooting).

Route B — Paste code you already have (any plan)

1. In the Paste code door, paste your source.
2. Select Detect & open, or press ⌘↵ (⌘ Enter).
3. A chip shows the detected engine and how confident the detection is (a format recognised locally shows as "certain"). The editor opens a moment later.

If you want something to try, the door's placeholder shows this PlantUML example:

@startuml
Alice -> Bob: Hello
@enduml

Besides raw source, this door also accepts a Mermaid Live link, a PlantUML server link, a Kroki link, a flowss share link, and a raw GitHub or Gist file link. A link that cannot be decoded is refused with a message naming the problem (for example "That Mermaid Live link is damaged…"). If plain source isn't recognised locally, flowss asks the AI to identify it, and that fallback only works on plans with AI.

Route C — Start with data (no AI, any plan)

1. In Describe it, select the Start with data tab.
2. Paste CSV, TSV or JSON rows, drop a file onto the box, or select Upload CSV / TSV / JSON. Files are limited to 500 KB.
3. A summary line shows how many rows and columns were read, and how many columns are numeric or dates. Any parsing caveats appear in an amber note directly underneath.
4. Under Or a one-off chart in the editor — values embedded verbatim, verified, no AI, pick one of the recommended charts. Hover a recommendation to see why it was suggested. The chart is generated directly from your rows and checked before the editor opens.
5. Alternatively, select Open in Figure studio — rows become a sheet to work with the data in the Figure studio. Figure is part of Starter.

Route D — Describe it (needs AI)

1. In Describe it, stay on Type / speak. Type a description such as "a sequence diagram for OAuth 2.0 login", or select the microphone (Dictate via voice) to dictate; select it again (Stop recording) when you are done. You can also select one of the Try examples, such as "Three-tier web app architecture with a cache and a Postgres database".
2. Select Build diagram, or press ⌘↵. A status line reads "Picking an engine and drafting…" and shows the draft streaming in.
3. The AI picks the engine, writes the source and opens the editor.

The Upload photo tab accepts PNG or JPG up to about 3 MB: a whiteboard, a textbook figure, a circuit, a floor plan or sheet music. The Draw a sketch tab gives you a drawing pad with Undo, Clear and Convert sketch.

Warning: Describing, photo upload and sketch conversion need AI. On Free you will see a message that the plan has no AI at all. On Starter, add your own key first (see Bring your own AI key). If hosted AI isn't available and you have no key of your own, the message links you to Settings to add a key, and your typed prompt is kept so it is waiting when you come back.

Step 4 — Get your bearings in the editor

The Studio editor is a full-screen canvas with small panels, called islands, floating over it in the same five places in every studio.

Which hint you see first depends on how you arrived. Coming through the launchpad, a small banner says Click any label on the diagram to rename, recolour or delete it; select Got it to dismiss it. If you chose Skip to the editor, the six-card Welcome tour opens instead. It covers the command palette, AI, data, styling and export, and on its second card, Make flowss yours, you can optionally enter a name and pick a role so ⌘K and the starter templates suit your work. That information is stored only in this browser. Select Skip tour to close it, or Next and finally Get started. You can reopen it any time from the account menu (Welcome tour) or by searching ⌘K for "Open onboarding tour".

On a phone, the same islands condense into a top row and a bottom dock. If you prefer docked bars to floating islands, open Studio ▾, choose Layout, then Classic. Classic needs a window at least 1,024 pixels wide; narrower windows stay Modern. See A tour of the workspace.

Step 5 — Edit the source and the canvas

1. Open the code if it isn't already visible: select Show code on the rail, or press ⌘\. On a window 1,280 pixels or wider, the code sheet opens automatically for diagrams that have source. After that, flowss remembers whether you prefer it open or closed.
2. Edit the source in the sheet. The diagram re-renders as you type, and every edit is saved in your browser as you go. There is no save button to remember.
3. To tidy the indentation, select Format source in the sheet's header, or press ⇧⌥F. This is offered for engines that support formatting.
4. To change engines, select the engine name at the top of the code sheet. For example, select Mermaid ▾ to open the engine catalogue.
5. Now edit on the canvas itself: click any label on the rendered diagram to rename it, recolour it or delete it.
6. Made a mistake? Press ⌘Z to undo and ⇧⌘Z to redo, or use the arrows in the view controls.
7. To see the whole diagram, press 1 to fit it to the window, 0 to reset to 100%, and + or - to zoom. Press H to switch the hand tool on, drag to pan, and press H again to switch it off (or hold Space while you drag).

Note: For a few engines (PlantUML and the Kroki-backed ones), a line under the engine name says the source is sent to a render service to be drawn. Every other engine draws in your browser or on flowss's own servers.

Step 6 — Swap in a template

There are 5,012 templates, so you rarely need to start from a blank page.

1. Select Engines & templates on the rail, or press /. A Library panel opens on its Engines tab; the other tab is Templates.
2. Select Templates. You see the templates for the current engine, searchable. Type a word such as sequence or state.
3. Select a template. It replaces the content of the figure you have open, and the panel closes so you can see the result. Press ⌘Z if you want your previous content back.

To keep what you had and open the template beside it, create a new figure first. Press ⌥⌘N, or choose ⋮ → New figure, or use the title menu's New figure, then pick the template.

You can also browse every template at /templates. Search there for terms like "RAG", "swot" or "kaplan-meier", open a template's page, and select Open in Studio. (Templates written for another studio say that studio's name instead, such as Open in Lab.) Templates opened this way always arrive as a new figure. See Starting from a template.

Warning: Free accounts keep 3 figures in the Studio. When it is full, new figures are refused with a message explaining why. Nothing you already have is touched. Delete a figure from the title menu to make room, or upgrade to Starter for unlimited figures.

Step 7 — Name it, check it, style it

Name the figure

Select the title at the top left (it reads Untitled diagram until you change it) and type a name of up to 120 characters. The name is used in the Library, in search, and for export file names.

Check its status and readiness

The status glyph beside the title stays quiet while all is well:

Select the glyph, or press ⇧⌘M, to open the status popover. It contains:

• The save line. "Saved" and how long ago, or what went wrong.
• Problems. Every finding with its severity. Select a finding to jump to its line in the code.
• Readiness. How finished the figure is, in one word: Empty, Draft, Sound, Reviewed or Publishable. It comes with the reason, the quality dimensions behind the level, and the stages you have left to do.

A figure whose source does not parse stays at Draft until you fix it. See Core concepts and glossary for exactly what each level means.

Adjust the style

1. Select Style on the rail.
2. If the engine has a layout direction (for example a Mermaid flowchart), a Layout direction row shows the current direction. Its button cycles through top-down, left-right, bottom-up and right-left. This change is made directly in your source and does not use AI.
3. Under Presets, you can restyle the whole diagram with Studio default, Nature journal, IEEE / publication, Tableau 10, Okabe-Ito (colourblind safe), Viridis (perceptual), Monochrome or NIH grant.

Note: The style presets are applied by AI. They keep the content and structure and change only the colours, type and stroke weights, but they need AI on your plan (Starter with your own key, or Plus and up). The layout-direction control works on every plan.

Step 8 — Export

1. Open the ⋮ menu at the top left and choose Export.
2. Choose a format from the table below. Commands that have a shortcut work from anywhere in the editor.
3. To change the output, use the two settings at the bottom of the same submenu. Image scale sets 1×, 2× or 3× for PNG (the default is 3×), and Transparent background switches the background off or on. Both are remembered.

Tip: Firefox reserves ⇧⌘P (Ctrl+Shift+P) for a new private window, so on Firefox use the menu or ⌘K to export PNG instead. See Exporting your work for every format and option.

Step 9 — Share a link

1. Select Share at the top right.
2. Select Copy link. A message confirms Share link copied.
3. Paste the link wherever you like. Whoever opens it sees your diagram in the Studio and can edit their own copy.

What to know about share links:

• The diagram travels inside the link. The link carries the compressed source in its address, so treat it as public. Anyone with the link can read the diagram.
• Recipients need an account. Anyone opening the link is asked to sign in first. A free account is enough.
• It is a copy, not a live view. The link holds the diagram as it was when you copied it. To show someone later edits, copy a fresh link or invite them to a project or a live session.
• There is a size limit. A link holds about 8 KB (8,000 characters). Larger diagrams are refused with a message giving the actual size. Export them, or share them in a live session.
• If their figure list is full. A recipient on Free whose Studio already holds 3 figures still sees your diagram; it opens as a shared view titled "(not saved)" until they make room and choose Keep this shared diagram.
• Other sharing options live in the same panel. Embed… gives you an iframe or Markdown snippet. Copy project link appears when you have more than one figure and puts all of them in one link (if they are too large together, you are asked to split the project or share it live). Invite to a project lets people edit together (sharing a project starts on Plus). Start live session begins on Plus.

See Sharing and permissions and Live collaboration.

Step 10 — Find it again from anywhere

• Your Library. Open /library, or choose Library from the account menu or the Studio ▾ menu. Your Studio figures appear there with every other studio's documents. Each one carries a readiness badge; you can search (press / to jump to the search box), sort by Recent, Name, Studio or Needs work, and switch between grid and list views.
• The command palette. Press ⌘K on any page and type part of the title. Your documents appear under Your work.
• The Flow Dock. Press ⌘J to see your latest work in other studios under Continue, and to send the current figure onward under Take it further.
• Next time you open /studio, the launchpad's Where you left off panel lists your unfinished work first.

Where to go next

Tips

• Press ? in the editor to see every shortcut that works on that screen.
• Press ⌘/ to jump straight into the AI prompt when your plan includes AI. Use Quick for a single change and Agent for multi-step work.
• The view controls include Present (or press P) to show the diagram full screen, and Hide interface (⌥Z) to clear the islands away while you look at your work.
• Press ⌥⌘← and ⌥⌘→ to step between figures.
• To start again on an empty figure, select all the source and delete it. The canvas then offers Browse templates, Ask the flowss Studio Agent, Import and a one-line starter snippet.
• Before clearing your browser's data or switching devices, check that you are signed in so your workspace has been copied to your account.

Limits and known constraints

• Every studio and every share link needs a signed-in account.
• Free accounts keep 3 figures in the Studio (and 3 in each other studio's document list) plus 3 cloud projects. Starter and up are unlimited.
• Free has no AI. Describe it, photo upload, the launchpad's sketch pad, the AI prompt and agent, AI style presets, automatic repair and TikZ export all need Starter with your own key, or Plus and up.
• Share links hold about 8 KB (8,000 characters of link).
• Data files on the launchpad are limited to 500 KB, and photos to about 3 MB. A file opened with ⋮ → Open a file… may hold up to 4 MB of text; a file dropped onto the canvas is limited to 2 MB.
• Picking a template from the rail replaces the current figure's content. Press ⌘Z to undo, or make a new figure first.
• The ⇧⌘P export shortcut does not reach the page in Firefox.

Troubleshooting

More answers are in Troubleshooting and FAQ.

Related pages

• What flowss is
• Core concepts and glossary
• Creating an account and signing in
• A tour of the workspace
• Keyboard shortcuts
• The Studio editor
• Starting from a template
• Exporting your work
• Sharing and permissions
• Your library