D2

D2 is a diagram-as-code CLI and language for turning text files into rendered diagrams. It fits documentation, architecture, and presentation workflows where diagrams should live in version control and be generated on demand.

• Render .d2 source into SVG, PNG, PDF, PowerPoint, GIF, or plain-text diagram output from local files, stdin, or scripted build steps.
• Format and validate diagram source, list themes and layout engines, and switch rendering options without hand-editing visual assets.
• Run live preview loops with --watch or send a diagram to the hosted playground when iterating on docs, architecture diagrams, slides, or embedded site assets.

• Render, fmt, and validate flows are explicit non-interactive commands, and stdin or stdout support makes them easy to wrap in content-generation or CI pipelines.
• Machine-readable output is limited: the public CLI mainly emits rendered artifacts and text, and the repo does not expose a documented JSON mode for normal automation.
• Best fit is generating and checking versioned diagram artifacts inside documentation or design workflows, not inspecting remote service state or driving operational control loops.

• --watch and play open browser-based preview flows, so those paths are less useful in fully headless environments.
• PNG, PDF, PPTX, and GIF exports rely on browser rendering support, and extra layout plugins may come from separate d2plugin-* binaries on $PATH.