Splotch is on a mission to change how the world uses diagrams, and we couldn’t have done it without yFiles.
When we set out to create live diagrams, diagrams that stay in sync with the text that generated them, can be edited manually or by AI, and show context on demand, we knew we were entering uncharted territory. The hard part wasn’t the AI. It was making those diagrams editable, readable, and usable over time. That’s where yFiles came in.
yFiles helped us solve the toughest challenge in AI diagramming: turning messy, unpredictable LLM output into elegant, dynamic, and editable layouts. Now, with Splotch, we’re delivering a brand-new type of diagram and changing how technical teams work.
From Static Visuals to Live Diagrams
Most diagrams, especially those created with the help of AI, are static. You can generate them from a prompt, but they’re just an image. If anything changes, you have to regenerate the whole thing. They get outdated fast.
At Splotch, we believed diagrams could be more than just pictures. We wanted to make them live.
That meant three things:
- Editable: Not just AI-generated visuals. Fully interactive diagrams you can modify, style, and rearrange; without breaking the layout.
- Syncable: When the process changes, so does the diagram. Whether you update the source text or drag a node around, the diagram and text stay in sync.
- Linkable: Every node in the diagram is tied to its source text. Click on a node to see the detail behind it, or navigate through the diagram as a live document.
We created our own protocol for working with LLM-generated data and needed a layout engine flexible enough to support it. That’s when yFiles became our secret weapon.
Why yFiles Was the Missing Piece
As we experimented with AI-generated diagrams in 2023, it quickly became clear: AI could suggest nodes and relationships, but it couldn’t organize them in a useful, readable layout, especially not over multiple iterations of edits.
We tried several tools:
- Graphviz gave us cluttered, overlapping nodes.
- ReactFlow offered interactivity, but lacked layout intelligence.
- D3 and Mermaid looked great for static diagrams. They couldn’t support live changes from both humans and machines.
yFiles, on the other hand, offered something rare: a robust, enterprise-grade graph layout engine that could handle AI-generated content and manual adjustments at the same time.
Using yFiles, we were able to:
- Generate diagrams that adapt intelligently as new nodes and edges are added.
- Maintain layout consistency even as users edit text or drag nodes manually.
- Animate layout changes to help users follow what’s new.
- Support grouping, icons, styling, and custom constraints so diagrams stay meaningful and on-brand.
- Most importantly, keep our bidirectional sync between text and diagram working smoothly.
With yFiles as our layout backbone, the live nature of Splotch diagrams became real.
How Teams Use Splotch Live Diagrams
Today, Splotch is used across industries to create editable, AI-powered diagrams from plain text: no drawing skills required.
Technical sales reps use it to turn call summaries into diagrams that highlight customer pain points and show how a solution fits together.
RevOps teams use Splotch to document complex workflows. Integrations between tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, Segment, and Zapier become visual, shareable, and always up to date.
Solution architects use Splotch to sketch out system designs with clients in real time. The diagram becomes a living artifact: something they can iterate on with stakeholders, rather than a screenshot that dies in a doc.
We’ve even seen Splotch used in legal, finance, and HR, where processes need to be both documented and explained visually.
The feedback has been consistent:
“It saves us hours. The diagram stays useful because it always reflects the latest version of our process.”
What’s Next: Even Smarter Diagrams
We’re just getting started.
Right now, we’re working on features that connect AI call transcription tools directly into Splotch. Imagine recording a customer onboarding call and getting a live diagram of the discussed workflow: instantly editable, shareable, and synced to the notes.
The future of diagramming isn’t just visual. It’s interactive, contextual, and alive.
Thanks to yFiles, we’re building it.
About yWorks and yFiles
yWorks is the team behind yFiles, the industry-leading diagramming library used by organizations around the world to build powerful graph and visualization tools. With advanced layout algorithms, deep customization options, and support for complex, interactive diagrams, yFiles helps developers turn structured and unstructured data into clear, dynamic visuals. Whether you're building a network monitor, a process editor, or—like Splotch—a new way to diagram entirely, yFiles offers the flexibility and performance needed to bring your ideas to life.