Explain any AI architecture in 30 seconds
Type the calls as arrows and get a diagram that animates them in the order they happen, ready to drop into a slide deck or an architecture review. It does not matter whether the agents were built with LangGraph, with CrewAI, with the OpenAI Agents SDK or by hand.
to first diagram
starter templates
video export
How it works
Text in, animated architecture out
Describe your agent architecture
Write the calls as arrows, in the order
they happen. Box names are free text
User -> Agent -> Tool -> API
Watch the data flow
A message moves along the arrows hop by hop,
so the order of the calls is visible
User ~~→ Agent ~~→ Tool
Export and share
A WebM video and a PNG still, right from this page.
The other four (WebP, GIF, MP4, PDF) from the app after a free sign-up, all six of them free
→ agent-arch.webm (1.4 MB)
AI architecture diagram features
From simple agents to complex multi-agent orchestration
Multi-Agent Systems
A coordinator handing work to three sub-agents is one line with braces, and the animation shows the task reaching each of them. Supervisor and swarm patterns are the same arrows, with extra lines for the handoffs back.
RAG Pipelines
Embedding, vector search, context, LLM: one line, and the query is animated through every stage and back to the user. The names are free text, so the vector database box can carry the name of the one you run.
Tool Call Workflows
The agent asks the LLM, the LLM picks a tool, the tool calls an API and the answer comes back up the same chain. Written as arrows and animated in that order, so a reviewer watches the round trip.
Fan-Out Orchestration
Braces send one message to several workers at once, and a second line brings the results back to the orchestrator. Orchestrator-worker and router patterns come out to a couple of lines of text.
AI architecture diagram examples
Common patterns: type these and watch the animated data flow
Single Agent with Tool Calls
User sends a query, the LLM agent reasons, calls an external API, and returns a response. The most basic agentic pattern.
User -> LLM Agent -> API Tool -> LLM Agent
LLM Agent -> User
Multi-Agent Coordinator
A coordinator agent distributes tasks to specialized sub-agents in parallel. Classic orchestrator-worker pattern used in CrewAI and LangGraph.
User -> Coordinator
Coordinator -> {Researcher, Writer, Reviewer}
RAG Pipeline
User query gets embedded, searched against a vector database, context is assembled, and the LLM generates a grounded response.
User -> Embedder -> Vector DB -> Context
Context -> LLM -> User
MCP Tool Server
An LLM agent uses the Model Context Protocol to connect to external tool servers. Emerging standard for agent interoperability.
LLM Agent -> MCP Client -> MCP Server
MCP Server -> {Database, API, FileSystem}
Reflection Loop
Agent generates output, a critic evaluates it, and the agent refines. Iterative self-improvement pattern used in production systems.
User -> Generator Agent -> Critic Agent
Critic Agent -> Generator Agent -> User
Agentic RAG
An autonomous agent decides when to retrieve, which sources to query, and iteratively refines until the answer quality is sufficient.
User -> Agent -> {Vector DB, Web Search, Knowledge Graph}
Agent -> Evaluator -> Agent -> User
Framework-agnostic
Diagram any AI agent architecture, regardless of framework
Why animated agent diagrams
Static diagrams show what the system looks like. Animation shows how it works.
Architecture reviews
Walk through agent reasoning flows step by step. Spot where tool calls bottleneck, where context is lost, where loops occur.
Conference talks
Export animated diagrams as WebM video for slides. Show audiences how multi-agent systems coordinate in real time.
System design
Prototype agent architectures before coding. Try different orchestration patterns and see how data flows through each one.
Stakeholder communication
Non-technical stakeholders understand animated flows instantly. Show them how the AI agent actually processes their request.
AI architecture diagram tools compared
Why AI engineers switch from Mermaid and Excalidraw
| Feature | Chartado | Mermaid | Excalidraw | Eraser.io | Lucidchart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animated data flow | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Text/code input | Yes | Yes | No | AI | No |
| Video export | WebM, MP4 | No | No | No | No |
| Multi-agent fan-out | Native | Manual | Manual | Manual | Manual |
| Request-response animation | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Version control friendly | Yes | Yes | JSON | No | No |
Built for the AI architecture era
Static diagrams show structure. Animated diagrams show behavior.
30 seconds to first diagram
No signup, no install, no drag-and-drop. Type your architecture in plain text and see the animated result immediately. Works in any browser.
Export as video for presentations
Record your animated architecture as WebM video, or as MP4 after a free sign-up. Drop it into slide decks, Notion docs, or Slack threads.
Version control friendly
Your diagram is a single line of text. Diff it, commit it, review it in PRs. When the architecture changes, update one line, not fifty drag-and-drop boxes.
Frequently asked questions
About AI architecture diagrams
What is an AI architecture diagram?
The boxes are the components (the LLM, the agents, the tools they call, a vector database) and the arrows are the calls between them. A static diagram does not show the order of those calls, and in an agent system the order is most of the design. Chartado animates it: type User -> Agent -> LLM -> Tool -> Agent -> User and a message moves along that path one hop at a time, so a reviewer sees the tool call happen after the LLM has decided on it.
How do I create a RAG architecture diagram?
Type User -> Embedding -> Vector DB -> Context -> LLM -> User and Chartado draws it. The animation then carries the query through embedding and retrieval, into the context and on to the LLM, and brings the answer back to the user, which is the part a static drawing leaves out. The box names are free text, so Vector DB can be Pinecone or Qdrant (or ChromaDB, or whatever you run) and LLM can be the model you actually call.
What is the best tool for AI architecture diagrams?
Depends what the diagram is for. For a static picture Mermaid does the job and diffs in a PR. If the point is to show the order in which things get called, Chartado animates it from one line of text, without an account and at no cost. The exports are free as well: WebM and PNG from the editor on this page without an account, the other four (WebP, GIF, MP4, PDF) from the app after a free sign-up.
Can I use Chartado with LangGraph, CrewAI, or OpenAI Agents SDK?
Yes, because Chartado never sees your code. You type the shape of the system, which nodes exist and who calls whom, and that shape looks the same whether it came out of a LangGraph state graph, a CrewAI crew, an AutoGen multi-agent system, an OpenAI Agents SDK handoff chain or a Google ADK agent. Nothing to install and no integration to configure.
Can I export AI architecture diagrams as video?
Yes, WebM from the editor on this page without an account, and MP4 (H.264) from the app after a free sign-up, both free. The rest are free too: animated WebP and GIF for a README, and a still frame as PNG or PDF, with PNG from this page and WebP, GIF, PDF from the app after the same free sign-up. The video is what to put in a conference slide, so the audience sees the calls happen in order.
What is the difference between MCP and A2A protocols?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) covers the agent-to-tool side, how an agent connects to a tool server or a data source. A2A (Agent-to-Agent) covers the agent-to-agent side, how agents talk to each other. In Chartado the MCP part is an ordinary arrow, LLM Agent -> MCP Client -> MCP Server on one line, and the A2A part is usually a fan-out in braces, Router Agent -> {Research Agent, Code Agent} on the line below.
Your next architecture review, animated
Paste the architecture into the editor above and about 30 seconds later you have an animated diagram to send around. An account only comes in later, to save the diagram or for the exports that live in the app.
Try it free ↑