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tlykins
Lucidite
June 29, 2026
News

Copy/paste Mermaid syntax for editable diagrams

  • June 29, 2026
  • 5 replies
  • 812 views

We’re happy to announce that you can now generate fully editable Lucid shapes from your Mermaid syntax! 🎉

 

Let’s take a look at how it works ⏬

 

What’s new?

Copy your syntax and paste it into your Lucid document. The result will be native, editable shapes that you can format and move around freely! 

 

How can I edit my new diagram?

After pasting in your Mermaid syntax, your shapes and diagram will be fully editable! 

  • Add, move, and edit shapes and lines
  • Add and edit colors
  • Add and edit text

*Note that any shapes that are not yet supported will appear as static SVGs.

 

Why did we build this?

Writing diagram syntax in Mermaid is fast, but communicating and iterating with cross-functional stakeholders is always easier visually. This feature helps you bridge the gap between code and visual collaboration!

  • Edit visually: Skip the tedious syntax trial-and-error. Generate your base diagram from Mermaid syntax, then use Lucid’s canvas to tweak and format as you’d like.
  • Bridge the technical gap: Easily bring your technical documentation into meetings for stakeholders. Your engineering team can continue working quickly in text, while you communicate a clear, beautiful visual that stakeholders can understand and provide feedback on.

 

Can I create editable shapes from the diagram as code menu?

At this time, we do not support creating native Lucid shapes and diagrams from the diagram as code menu in Lucidchart. Instead, the diagram is displayed as an image and must be edited from the syntax menu.

However, we recommend copying your syntax from this menu and pasting it directly onto the canvas as a workaround!

 

How can I get started?

Try this out today and let us know what you think!

  1. Copy your Mermaid markdown syntax from your codebase or repository.
  2. Open any Lucid document.
  3. Paste it directly onto the canvas (or use the Import > Mermaid menu option).
  4. Watch the magic happen, and start collaborating!

Comments

July 16, 2026

This is very helpful, Thanks

Ambar D
Lucid community team
July 20, 2026

I’m so happy to hear that this is helpful for you ​@aman.aggarwal, thank you for your comment! 

I did want to mention that our product team is actively seeking user feedback about Mermaid. They would love to hear from you- what you enjoy about the tool, what you’d like to see, etc.! We’re very interested in your feedback and committed to continually improving our products.

If you’re interested in providing additional feedback, I recommend navigating to this post (also linked below) and commenting your feedback!

 

 

August 26, 2026

I’ve tried the above. When I paste the Mermaid code into a blank canvas, I get a “New Mermaid diagram” in a box that can only be edited if I select "Disconnect from code” in the drop-down. Is that the intended behaviour, or am I missing something?

tlykins
tlykinsAuthor
Lucidite
August 26, 2026

Hey Barryd, sorry for the confusion! The behavior has been updated to start with Lucid’s robust mermaid generator upon copy and paste. The ‘disconnect from code’ button now achieves the same outcome as the original copy and paste flow (posted above).

Essentially, there are two flows here you could utilize upon copy and pasting mermaid code to the canvas:
1) Copy & paste mermaid → disconnect from code → edit as Lucid shapes on the canvas
2) Copy & paste mermaid → click mermaid diagram → opens code to diagram panel → edit via Mermaid code (see screen shot below for additional mermaid functionality we have released.) 

One caveat - if Lucid does not support the Mermaid shapes during the initial copy & paste, we will default to Lucid shapes. 

I hope this is helpful. If not, please let me know! 

Thank you,

Taylor

Taylor Lykins | Product @ Lucid
August 27, 2026

Thanks Taylor, I guess it makes sense to break the link explicitly like this. It raises the question if you are thinking about or planning to complete the round trip - i.e. generating Mermaid from a Lucid drawing? Although Mermaid doesn’t (yet?) support positioning/sizing of objects, an export of diagram syntax alone would be very useful in making a diagram "machine-readable".

Barry.