Slopcamera

Tutorials

Create and revise your first diagram

Make a two-node flow, inspect its five exports, then change a label by editing its source.

This lesson needs no account, paid model, or browser: a diagram renders entirely on your machine. Before starting, install Slopcamera so the slopcamera command is available. Use a new empty working directory so the lesson cannot replace existing artwork.

mkdir slopcamera-first-diagram
cd slopcamera-first-diagram

Create the source

slopcamera diagram init first.diagram.json

Open first.diagram.json. Its two shapes are named source and result, labeled Source and Result, with one directed edge. Their horizontal stack supplies the spacing; the file remains the editable source.

Check and render it

slopcamera diagram check first.diagram.json --strict
slopcamera diagram render first.diagram.json

The strict check should report no findings. Rendering uses the document's name, example-flow, for its export filenames. It creates these five files beside the JSON:

  • example-flow.tldr
  • example-flow.light.svg and example-flow.dark.svg
  • example-flow.light.png and example-flow.dark.png

Open both PNG files. You should see the same two boxes and connecting arrow on backgrounds suited to light and dark presentation. The .tldr file is editable interchange; you do not need to open it to complete the lesson.

Change one label

In first.diagram.json, find the shape whose id is result. Change only its label from "Result" to "Reviewed", then save the file.

slopcamera diagram check first.diagram.json --strict
slopcamera diagram render first.diagram.json

Open the PNG again. The right-hand box now reads Reviewed. The render command replaced the five exports while keeping your JSON source. Editing a PNG directly would not have preserved that relationship.

What you learned

You now have one editable source and five derived outputs. This is the pattern behind every Slopcamera workflow: keep the source, re-render the derivatives, and let your agent inspect or revise either.

  • For your own diagram, change the labels, shapes, and relationships in that source.
  • To give an agent this workflow, install the Agent Skill with slopcamera skill install --target agents.
  • When a script should check and render diagrams, use the SDK surfaces.
  • To see what else the installed host can do, run slopcamera doctor --json and read the capability reference.