template

Generate common diagram patterns as starting points.

Usage

d2vision template <name> [flags]
d2vision template list

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
-f, --format	toon	Output format: toon, json, yaml
--d2	false	Output D2 code instead of spec
--clusters	2	Number of clusters (network-boundary)
--services	2	Services per cluster (network-boundary)

Available Templates

Template	Description
network-boundary	Side-by-side network zones with services and datastores
microservices	Service mesh with API gateway
data-flow	ETL/data pipeline
sequence	Request/response sequence diagram
entity-relationship	Database schema with SQL tables (alias: er)
deployment	Cloud deployment architecture

Examples

List Templates

d2vision template list

Get as TOON Spec

d2vision template microservices > spec.toon

Get as D2 Code

d2vision template microservices --d2

Render Directly

d2vision template microservices --d2 | d2 - microservices.svg

Customize Network Boundary

# 3 clusters with 4 services each
d2vision template network-boundary --clusters 3 --services 4 --d2

Template Details

network-boundary

Side-by-side network zones demonstrating grid-columns for horizontal layout.

d2vision template network-boundary --d2

Key techniques:

• grid-columns: 2 at root for side-by-side clusters
• direction: down inside each cluster
• Invisible container ("") for horizontal service grouping
• shape: cylinder for datastores

microservices

Service mesh architecture with API gateway, services, and data layer.

d2vision template microservices --d2

Key techniques:

• direction: right for left-to-right flow
• Nested containers for gateway components
• grid-columns: 2 for service grid
• Multiple shapes: person, cylinder, queue

data-flow

ETL/data pipeline from sources to consumption.

d2vision template data-flow --d2

Key techniques:

• Five-stage pipeline: Sources → Ingestion → Processing → Storage → Consumption
• Internal edges within each stage
• Cross-stage edges for data flow

sequence

Authentication flow sequence diagram.

d2vision template sequence --d2

Key techniques:

• shape: sequence_diagram
• Actor ordering
• Message sequence
• Groups for error cases

entity-relationship

Database schema with SQL tables.

d2vision template er --d2

Key techniques:

• shape: sql_table
• Column types and constraints
• Foreign key relationships

deployment

Cloud deployment architecture with multiple layers.

d2vision template deployment --d2

Key techniques:

• grid-columns: 3 for layer arrangement
• Mixed directions per container
• Cloud-specific shapes