How it works
One Slack thread — the diagram, the source, the reasoning.
Arialine is a Slack app. You describe a system, it draws it. You reply, it updates. Every change is a numbered version with a link back to the exact message that caused it. This page walks the full flow.


01 · Create
Start a board six different ways
All six produce the same thing: a root message in the channel with a PNG preview, an interactive .html file, and a control panel (Show source · History · Branch · Export). Underneath it, an empty version thread and a Slack Canvas link.
- @mention + describe@arialine create a checkout funnel with a retry queue and DLQ after 3 tries
- Paste Mermaid@arialine followed by pasted Mermaid — Arialine validates and renders it
- Attach a .mmd file@arialine with a .mmd/.mermaid attachment
- Just share a .mmd fileDrop the file into a channel — Arialine auto-builds a board (toggleable)
- ‘Into diagram’ shortcutHover/long-press a message → More actions → Into diagram
- ‘New diagram’ shortcutThe ⚡ menu → New diagram — pick a channel and describe
02 · Anatomy
Two files on one anchor message
Arialine posts two files together — an interactive .html and a .png. On desktop the .html opens full-screen inside Slack with pan/zoom and side panels for decisions, source, and history. On mobile the .png is what you see (Slack renders .html as raw code there).
The root message is the anchor: its files are swapped to the newest render on every change, so scrolling to the top of a thread always shows the current diagram. The version replies below it hold every historical .png + .html once they've been superseded — nothing is ever lost.
03 · Edit
Reply in the thread. That's it.
Say "add a caching layer between the gateway and the database" or "drop the SMS step". Arialine rewrites the Mermaid, renders it, replaces the artifacts on the root message, and posts a one-line version reply: v2 — added Redis caching layer — by @you, with ↩︎ Undo this change and ⏪ Rewind to here buttons.
You can also react 📌 on any message to propose it as a change. Arialine reads the pinned message in context of the surrounding conversation, then posts a card with Apply, Edit proposal, and Dismiss.
04 · Version
Undo one change or rewind the whole board
History is additive. Undoing a single change or rewinding to an earlier version is itself a new tracked version. Nothing is ever overwritten, so audits and retrospectives always match reality.
Ask "why is there a dead-letter queue?" in the thread and Arialine answers from the decision log — quoting the message, naming who said it, and linking back to the original Slack post.
05 · Branch & brainstorm
Explore alternatives without touching the original
Click Branch on the root message (or say @arialine branch this at v3 called experiment) to fork any version into a brand-new board. The branch has its own thread and canvas ledger, and links back to the source version.
Type /arialine brainstorm (or @arialine brainstorm … inside a thread) and Arialine produces 2–3 alternative takes on the current diagram — each rendered as a preview with two buttons: Adopt to this board (replaces the current diagram as a new version) or Branch to new board (keeps the original untouched).
06 · Ledger
A Slack Canvas that captures why the diagram looks the way it does
Each board gets a Slack Canvas with two sections. Timeline lists every version newest-first, with the rendered diagram embedded for that version — scroll to see how the diagram evolved. Decisions is the log: what changed, who decided, and a link back to each source message.
The canvas is the archive; the HTML is the live diagram. Together they answer both "what does this look like today?" and "how did we get here?" for anyone joining the team six months from now.
07 · Markdown to canvas
Share a .md file — get a native Slack canvas with rendered Mermaid
Slack doesn't render Markdown in messages, and uploaded .md files show as plain snippets. Arialine converts a shared .md into a proper Slack Canvas — headings, lists, tables — and every ```mermaid block inside becomes an embedded diagram image. One doc, fully readable in Slack.
08 · Place anywhere
Drop a diagram onto any canvas your team already reads
Ask Arialine to append the current version of a board to any Slack canvas it can access — a project doc, a channel canvas, a meeting canvas. Arialine renders the latest, uploads it, and embeds it at the end of the canvas.
09 · Slack AI (MCP)
Drive Arialine from Slack's built-in assistant
Arialine exposes a Model Context Protocol server, so Slackbot can create, edit, branch, and query your boards on your behalf. Ask "turn this discussion into a diagram with Arialine" — Slackbot calls the right tool, Arialine posts the board, and the ledger records who asked.
Want the full walkthrough?
The docs cover every shortcut, every slash command, and every admin setting.