Instant Flowcharts for Confluence — how to use it
Written for someone who has never heard of the diagram format — most people arrive having pasted something out of an AI tool and finding it does not draw.
What it does
You type a diagram as plain text. It draws it.
flowchart LR
A[Customer places order] --> B{Payment check}
B -- approved --> C[Warehouse picks item]
B -- declined --> D[Notify customer]
C --> E[Shipped]
Change a line of text and the picture redraws itself, laid out correctly. Nothing to drag, nothing to re-arrange when things change.
Why people end up here: ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Atlassian's own Rovo all produce diagrams in this format (it is called Mermaid) by default. Paste that text straight into the macro and it becomes a picture.
Getting started
- Edit a Confluence page.
- Type
/and then Instant Flowcharts - Mermaid diagram, or pick it from the macro list. - The editor opens. Paste or type your diagram text.
- A preview appears underneath as you type, so mistakes show up immediately.
- Save the page.
That is the whole setup. There is no account to create, nothing to configure, no administrator step.
The controls on a diagram
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| − / + | Zoom out and in |
| 100% | True size — useful for a big diagram you want to read closely |
| Fit width | Fill the width of the column |
| Fit screen | Shrink until the whole diagram is visible at once |
| Full screen | Fill the browser window, scaled so everything fits. Press Esc to leave |
By default a diagram is drawn at its natural size, and only shrunk if it is wider than the space available. It is never blown up bigger than it was drawn.
In a narrow space — inside a table cell or an expand box — the toolbar becomes compact and the whole diagram is shown small rather than showing you a fragment. Use Full screen to read it.
Diagram types you can use
Anything the Mermaid format supports, including:
| Type | First line |
|---|---|
| Flowchart / process map | flowchart LR (left to right) or flowchart TB (top to bottom) |
| Sequence diagram | sequenceDiagram |
| Org chart | flowchart TB |
| Timeline / Gantt | gantt |
| State diagram | stateDiagram-v2 |
| Entity relationship | erDiagram |
| Pie chart | pie |
| Mind map | mindmap |
The first line must say what kind of diagram it is. That is the single most common mistake.
Dark mode
The diagram follows your Confluence appearance setting automatically. Nothing to set.
If something goes wrong
"This does not look like a diagram yet."
The first line does not name a diagram type. Check the spelling — flowchat instead of flowchart is
the usual culprit.
"There is a problem on line N."
That line has a syntax error, and we quote it back to you. Common causes: an unclosed bracket, a label
containing a character that needs quoting, or an arrow typed as -> when it should be -->.
Nothing appears at all. Check the macro has text in it — an empty macro shows a short example instead of a picture.
The diagram is too small to read. Press 100% for true size, or Full screen. If it is inside a narrow container, full screen is the quickest way to read it.
A label contains a bracket or a quote mark.
Put the label in quotes: A["Label (with brackets)"].
Frequently asked
Does my data leave Confluence? No. The diagram is drawn in your browser, and the app has no servers and stores nothing. See the privacy policy at https://instantflowcharts.com/privacy.
What happens if I uninstall it? Your text stays in your pages — it simply stops being drawn as a picture. Nothing is lost.
Does it work offline / in a restricted network? Yes. Everything needed is included in the app. It makes no external requests.
Can I export a diagram as an image? Not in this version. It is a candidate for a later release — tell us at contact@instantflowcharts.com if you want it, as that is how we decide what to build next.
Does it work on mobile? Diagrams render and the toolbar works. Editing is easier on a desktop.
Can I use it in a table, an expand box, or a page layout? Yes. Narrow containers switch to the compact toolbar automatically.
Support
contact@instantflowcharts.com · instantflowcharts.com
Instant Flowcharts is published by Workflow Solutions. We are a small operation. Expect a reply within a couple of working days, and a real answer rather than a ticket number.