AWS Architecture Diagram Creation with Draw.io

Overview

Creates pixel-perfect AWS architecture diagrams in draw.io XML format using official AWS4 shape library. Generates production-ready .drawio files for diagrams.net.

When to Use

• AWS cloud architecture diagrams (VPC, subnets, services)
• Multi-tier application architectures on AWS
• Serverless designs (Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB)
• Network topology diagrams with security groups
• Infrastructure documentation for Well-Architected reviews

Instructions

File Structure

Every .drawio file follows this XML structure:

<mxfile host="app.diagrams.net" agent="Claude" version="24.7.17">
  <diagram id="aws-arch-1" name="AWS Architecture">
    <mxGraphModel dx="1434" dy="759" grid="1" gridSize="10" guides="1"
      tooltips="1" connect="1" arrows="1" fold="1" page="1"
      pageScale="1" pageWidth="1169" pageHeight="827" math="0" shadow="0">
      <root>
        <mxCell id="0" />
        <mxCell id="1" parent="0" />
        <!-- AWS shapes and connectors -->
      </root>
    </mxGraphModel>
  </diagram>
</mxfile>

Key rules:

• IDs "0" and "1" are reserved for root cells
• Use sequential integer IDs starting from "2"
• Landscape orientation (pageWidth="1169" pageHeight="827")
• All coordinates positive and aligned to grid (multiples of 10)

AWS4 Group Containers

Groups use container=1 with child shapes referencing via parent="groupId".

AWS Cloud (top-level boundary):

<mxCell id="2" value="AWS Cloud" style="points=[[0,0],[0.25,0],[0.5,0],[0.75,0],[1,0],[1,0.25],[1,0.5],[1,0.75],[1,1],[0.75,1],[0.5,1],[0.25,1],[0,1],[0,0.75],[0,0.5],[0,0.25]];outlineConnect=0;gradientColor=none;html=1;whiteSpace=wrap;fontSize=12;fontStyle=0;shape=mxgraph.aws4.group;grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_aws_cloud_alt;strokeColor=#232F3E;fillColor=none;verticalAlign=top;align=left;spacingLeft=30;fontColor=#232F3E;dashed=0;labelBackgroundColor=none;container=1;pointerEvents=0;collapsible=0;recursiveResize=0;" vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="100" y="40" width="1000" height="700" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Region:

<mxCell id="3" value="us-east-1" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_region;strokeColor=#00A4A6;fontColor=#147EBA;dashed=1;..." vertex="1" parent="2">
  <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="960" height="640" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

VPC:

<mxCell id="4" value="VPC (10.0.0.0/16)" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_vpc;strokeColor=#8C4FFF;fontColor=#AAB7B8;..." vertex="1" parent="3">
  <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="920" height="580" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Subnet styles:

• Public: strokeColor=#7AA116;fillColor=#E9F3D2;fontColor=#248814
• Private: strokeColor=#00A4A6;fillColor=#E6F6F7;fontColor=#147EBA

AWS4 Service Icons

Service icons use shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon with resIcon property.

CRITICAL: strokeColor=#ffffff is required for resourceIcon shapes to render white icon glyphs on colored backgrounds.

Standard service icon:

<mxCell id="10" value="Amazon S3" style="...gradientColor=#60A337;gradientDirection=north;fillColor=#277116;strokeColor=#ffffff;...shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.s3;" vertex="1" parent="1">
  <mxGeometry x="100" y="100" width="60" height="60" as="geometry" />
</mxCell>

Dedicated shapes (Lambda, ALB, Users) use strokeColor=none. See references/aws-shape-reference.md for complete shape catalog.

Service Color Codes

Each AWS service category uses official colors. All resourceIcon shapes must use strokeColor=#ffffff and gradientDirection=north. See references/aws-shape-reference.md for full color table.

Quick reference:

Connector Styles

Standard data flow:

edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=0;orthogonalLoop=1;jettySize=auto;html=1;endArrow=open;endFill=0;strokeColor=#545B64;strokeWidth=2;

Encrypted connection:

edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=0;orthogonalLoop=1;jettySize=auto;html=1;endArrow=classic;endFill=1;strokeColor=#DD344C;strokeWidth=2;dashed=1;dashPattern=5 5;

Async/event flow:

edgeStyle=orthogonalEdgeStyle;rounded=0;orthogonalLoop=1;jettySize=auto;html=1;endArrow=open;endFill=0;strokeColor=#E7157B;strokeWidth=2;dashed=1;

Layout Best Practices

1. Hierarchy: External → Internet → AWS Cloud → Region → VPC → Subnets → Services
2. Flow: Left-to-right for user traffic, top-to-bottom for tiers
3. Sizes: Service icons 60x60, grid-aligned coordinates
4. Spacing: 30-40px between icons, 20px padding inside containers
5. Labels: Place below icons (verticalLabelPosition=bottom)

Examples

Three-Tier Architecture

User Request: "Create AWS three-tier architecture with VPC, public ALB, private EC2, RDS across 2 AZs."

Generated Output:

<mxfile host="app.diagrams.net" agent="Claude" version="24.7.17">
  <diagram id="three-tier-1" name="Three-Tier Web App">
    <mxGraphModel dx="1434" dy="759" grid="1" gridSize="10" guides="1" tooltips="1" connect="1" arrows="1" fold="1" page="1" pageScale="1" pageWidth="1169" pageHeight="827" math="0" shadow="0">
      <root>
        <mxCell id="0" />
        <mxCell id="1" parent="0" />
        <mxCell id="2" value="Users" style="...shape=mxgraph.aws4.users;fillColor=#232F3E;..." vertex="1" parent="1">
          <mxGeometry x="40" y="340" width="60" height="60" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="3" value="AWS Cloud" style="...shape=mxgraph.aws4.group;grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_aws_cloud_alt;..." vertex="1" parent="1">
          <mxGeometry x="160" y="40" width="960" height="720" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="4" value="us-east-1" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_region;strokeColor=#00A4A6;dashed=1;..." vertex="1" parent="3">
          <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="920" height="660" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="5" value="VPC (10.0.0.0/16)" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_vpc;strokeColor=#8C4FFF;..." vertex="1" parent="4">
          <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="880" height="600" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="6" value="Public Subnet" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_security_group;strokeColor=#7AA116;fillColor=#E9F3D2;..." vertex="1" parent="5">
          <mxGeometry x="20" y="40" width="400" height="160" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="7" value="Private Subnet" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_security_group;strokeColor=#00A4A6;fillColor=#E6F6F7;..." vertex="1" parent="5">
          <mxGeometry x="20" y="230" width="400" height="160" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="8" value="Data Subnet" style="...grIcon=mxgraph.aws4.group_security_group;strokeColor=#00A4A6;fillColor=#E6F6F7;..." vertex="1" parent="5">
          <mxGeometry x="20" y="420" width="400" height="160" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="12" value="Application&lt;br&gt;Load Balancer" style="...fillColor=#8C4FFF;shape=mxgraph.aws4.applicationLoadBalancer;" vertex="1" parent="6">
          <mxGeometry x="170" y="50" width="60" height="60" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="13" value="EC2 Instance" style="...gradientColor=#F78E04;fillColor=#D05C17;strokeColor=#ffffff;shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.ec2;" vertex="1" parent="7">
          <mxGeometry x="170" y="50" width="60" height="60" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="15" value="RDS Primary" style="...gradientColor=#4D72F3;fillColor=#3334B9;strokeColor=#ffffff;shape=mxgraph.aws4.resourceIcon;resIcon=mxgraph.aws4.rds;" vertex="1" parent="8">
          <mxGeometry x="170" y="50" width="60" height="60" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="20" style="...endArrow=open;strokeColor=#545B64;strokeWidth=2;" edge="1" parent="1" source="2" target="12">
          <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="21" value="HTTPS" style="...endArrow=open;strokeColor=#545B64;strokeWidth=2;fontSize=11;labelBackgroundColor=#FFFFFF;" edge="1" parent="1" source="12" target="13">
          <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
        <mxCell id="23" value="TCP 5432" style="...endArrow=open;strokeColor=#545B64;strokeWidth=2;fontSize=11;labelBackgroundColor=#FFFFFF;" edge="1" parent="1" source="13" target="15">
          <mxGeometry relative="1" as="geometry" />
        </mxCell>
      </root>
    </mxGraphModel>
  </diagram>
</mxfile>

Opening Instructions:

Open in draw.io with AWS libraries enabled:
https://app.diagrams.net/?libs=aws4

Serverless API Architecture

User Request: "Create serverless architecture with API Gateway, Lambda, DynamoDB, S3 for REST API."

Generated Output: XML with API Gateway (violet), Lambda (orange), DynamoDB (blue), S3 (green). See references/aws-architecture-templates.md for complete template.

Reference Files

See references/ directory:

• aws-shape-reference.md - Complete AWS4 shape catalog with styles for 50+ services
• aws-architecture-templates.md - Ready-to-use templates (3-tier, serverless, data pipeline)

Constraints and Warnings

Validation Workflow

Always follow this validation checklist before saving:

1. Generate XML - Create complete .drawio file structure
2. Validate ID uniqueness - Ensure all IDs are unique integers (0, 1 reserved)
3. Check parent references - Verify all parent attributes reference existing cells
4. Verify XML well-formedness - Close all tags, escape special chars (&→&, <→<)
5. Test in draw.io - Open at https://app.diagrams.net/?libs=aws4
6. Fix rendering issues - Adjust positions if elements overlap or render incorrectly

Critical Constraints

1. XML well-formed: Invalid XML fails to open. Close all tags, escape special characters, use <br> for line breaks.

2. ID uniqueness mandatory: IDs "0" and "1" reserved. All others must be unique integers from "2". Duplicates cause loading failures.

3. Coordinate system: All coordinates positive integers, multiples of 10 for grid alignment.

4. AWS4 library only: Use official mxgraph.aws4.* shapes. Legacy mxgraph.aws3.* not supported.

5. Valid parent references: Parent must reference existing cell ID. Invalid refs cause elements to disappear.

Limitations

• No dynamic layouts - Manual adjustment may be needed for complex diagrams
• Single page only - Multi-page requires multiple <diagram> elements
• No auto-routing - Rearranging elements requires manual edge adjustment

Security Considerations

• No sensitive data - Avoid real IPs, ARNs, or resource IDs in labels
• Review before sharing - XML exposes architecture details
• Validate templates - Review XML before production documentation

Best Practices

1. Use official AWS4 shapes (mxgraph.aws4.*)
2. Follow AWS service category colors
3. Nest properly: AWS Cloud → Region → VPC → Subnet → Services
4. Label services, CIDR blocks, ports, protocols
5. Show data flow direction with labeled arrows
6. Include external actors (users, corporate DC)
7. Keep diagrams focused (15-20 icons max)
8. Add annotations for important notes ("Multi-AZ", "Auto Scaling")
9. Validate all IDs unique and parent references exist