---
title: "Mermaid to ASCII Art: In-Browser Diagram Rendering with Go+WASM"
source: "Simon Willison 博客（Atom）"
source_tier: "t2"
url: "https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/16/mermaid-ascii/#atom-everything"
permalink: "https://feed.astralor.com/items/itm_802fb60b3c2581bb8a28ed8e"
published: "2026-07-16T14:57:39.000Z"
score: 76
channel: "tech"
tags: ["Go","Mermaid","mermaid-ascii","Simon Willison","WebAssembly","Diagram Rendering"]
---

# Mermaid to ASCII Art: In-Browser Diagram Rendering with Go+WASM

## AI commentary

> If you need to embed flowcharts in plain text or a terminal, this tool is a perfect pick. It reminds me of early ASCII UI days, but now with modern WebAssembly making it happen offline in the browser. Definitely worth a try for developers who love simplicity and low dependencies.

## At a glance

Simon Willison released an open-source tool, mermaid-ascii, that converts Mermaid diagram syntax into ASCII and Unicode box-drawing art entirely in the browser via a Go library compiled to WebAssembly. It supports flowcharts with labeled edges, subgraphs, and is ideal for embedding diagrams in plain-text contexts or terminals.

## Key points

- Client-side rendering via Go-compiled WebAssembly
- Supports flowcharts, subgraphs, labeled edges
- Outputs pure ASCII and Unicode box-drawing art
- No backend or network requests; works offline

## Full text

Convert Mermaid diagram syntax into ASCII and Unicode box-drawing art rendered entirely in your browser using a Go library compiled to WebAssembly. The tool supports flowcharts with labeled edges, subgraphs, …

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Verify against the original before citing; curated by Astral Feed: https://feed.astralor.com/items/itm_802fb60b3c2581bb8a28ed8e