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Mermaid Diagram GitHub Compatibility Analysis

Analysis Date: 2025-11-27 Total Files Analyzed: 7 Total Diagrams Found: 7 Critical Issues: 3 Warnings: 4 Info: 0

Executive Summary​

Analyzed all Mermaid diagrams in /docs/dashboard-2.0/ directory for GitHub rendering compatibility. Found 3 critical issues that will prevent rendering and 4 warnings that may cause inconsistent display.

Primary Issues:

  1. Line breaks using <br/> tags - GitHub Mermaid doesn't support HTML in node labels
  2. Special characters in node labels - Unescaped characters that may break parsing
  3. Complex nested subgraphs - May exceed GitHub's rendering complexity limits

Recommended Actions:

  • Replace <br/> with newline escape sequences \n or remove line breaks
  • Simplify complex nested subgraphs
  • Quote all node labels with special characters

Diagram-by-Diagram Analysis​

1. Architecture Layout Diagram​

File: 03-architecture.md Lines: 7-51 Type: graph TD (Top-Down Graph)

Issues Found:​

CRITICAL - HTML in Node Labels:

  • Issue: Node labels contain emoji characters which are generally supported, but complexity with special formatting may cause issues
  • Severity: Warning
  • Impact: May render incorrectly on some GitHub themes

Status: ✅ LIKELY OK - Simple emoji usage should render fine on GitHub

2. Kanban Board Swimlane Diagram​

File: 06-kanban-board.md Lines: 9-64 Type: graph TD

Issues Found:​

CRITICAL - HTML Line Breaks in Node Labels:

  • Issue: Uses <br/> HTML tags for line breaks within node labels
  • Severity: CRITICAL
  • Impact: GitHub's Mermaid renderer does not support HTML tags in node labels - these will either:
    • Display as literal <br/> text
    • Break diagram rendering entirely
    • Be stripped out causing concatenated text

Recommended Fix: Replace <br/> with \n (newline escape) or restructure to single-line labels:

Status: ❌ WILL FAIL on GitHub

3. Timeline Gantt Chart​

File: 07-timeline-chart.md Lines: 9-38 Type: gantt

Issues Found:​

CRITICAL - Percentage Escaping:

  • Issue: Double percent signs %% used to escape percentage symbol
  • Severity: Warning
  • Impact: This is actually correct Mermaid syntax for escaping % in Gantt charts
  • GitHub Compatibility: ✅ SHOULD WORK - This is proper Gantt syntax

Status: ✅ OK - Proper Gantt chart syntax

4. Analytics Dashboard Layout​

File: 08-analytics.md Lines: 9-76 Type: graph TD

Issues Found:​

CRITICAL - HTML Line Breaks in Node Labels:

  • Issue: Multiple instances of <br/> HTML tags in node labels
  • Severity: CRITICAL
  • Impact: Will break rendering on GitHub

Additional Issue - Unicode Block Characters:

  • Unicode block characters (█) may not render consistently
  • Severity: Warning
  • Impact: Visual display may be inconsistent

Recommended Fix:

Status: ❌ WILL FAIL on GitHub

5. Filter Modal Interaction Flow​

File: 09-filter-modal.md Lines: 7-65 Type: graph TD

Issues Found:​

CRITICAL - HTML Line Breaks in Node Labels:

  • Issue: Extensive use of <br/> throughout diagram
  • Severity: CRITICAL
  • Impact: Will completely break rendering on GitHub

Status: ❌ WILL FAIL on GitHub

6. Technical Implementation Architecture​

File: 14-technical-implementation.md Lines: 16-69 Type: graph LR (Left-Right Graph)

Issues Found:​

CRITICAL - HTML Line Breaks in Node Labels:

  • Issue: Pervasive use of <br/> tags throughout entire diagram
  • Severity: CRITICAL
  • Impact: Diagram will not render on GitHub

Status: ❌ WILL FAIL on GitHub

7. User Workflow Example​

File: 15-user-stories.md Lines: 16-53 Type: graph TD

Issues Found:​

CRITICAL - HTML Line Breaks in Node Labels:

  • Issue: Multiple <br/> tags in nearly every node
  • Severity: CRITICAL
  • Impact: Will not render on GitHub

Status: ❌ WILL FAIL on GitHub

Summary of Issues by Severity​

Critical Issues (3 diagrams will fail to render)​

  1. 06-kanban-board.md - Lines 27-30: <br/> tags in swimlane nodes
  2. 08-analytics.md - Lines 22-43: <br/> tags in data nodes
  3. 09-filter-modal.md - Lines 9-36: <br/> tags throughout
  4. 14-technical-implementation.md - Lines 18-44: <br/> tags in all component nodes
  5. 15-user-stories.md - Lines 18-34: <br/> tags in workflow nodes

Warnings (May cause display issues)​

  1. 08-analytics.md - Unicode block characters (█) may not render consistently
  2. 03-architecture.md - Complex emoji usage may render inconsistently
  3. All diagrams - Very long node labels may wrap awkwardly

Info (For awareness)​

  1. 07-timeline-chart.md - Uses correct Gantt syntax with %% for percentage escaping ✅

Fix 1: Remove HTML Line Breaks (HIGHEST PRIORITY)​

Find: <br/> Replace with: | (pipe separator) or remove entirely

Example:

Fix 2: Simplify Complex Diagrams​

For diagrams with many line breaks, consider:

  1. Split into multiple smaller diagrams
  2. Use descriptive single-line labels
  3. Add detailed explanation in markdown below diagram

Example:

Then add detail below diagram:

**Task Detail Modal shows:**
- Database validation failing
- Assigned: DevOps team

Fix 3: Test Rendering​

After fixes, test on GitHub by:

  1. Creating a test branch
  2. Pushing changes
  3. Viewing rendered markdown on GitHub web interface
  4. Confirming all diagrams render correctly

Validation Checklist​

  • Replace all <br/> with | or remove
  • Test each diagram locally with Mermaid CLI
  • Push to test branch on GitHub
  • Verify rendering in GitHub web UI
  • Simplify overly complex diagrams
  • Document any intentional rendering differences

Tools for Testing​

Local Testing:

# Install Mermaid CLI
npm install -g @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli

# Test individual diagram
mmdc -i diagram.mmd -o output.png

GitHub Preview:

Conclusion​

7 diagrams analyzed:

  • ✅ 1 diagram OK (Gantt chart with proper syntax)
  • ⚠️ 1 diagram with warnings (emoji usage)
  • ❌ 5 diagrams WILL FAIL (HTML <br/> tags)

Immediate Action Required:

  1. Remove all <br/> tags from diagrams in files:

    • 06-kanban-board.md
    • 08-analytics.md
    • 09-filter-modal.md
    • 14-technical-implementation.md
    • 15-user-stories.md

  2. Replace with single-line labels or pipe separators

  3. Test on GitHub before considering complete

Estimated Fix Time: 30-45 minutes for all diagrams

Analysis completed: 2025-11-27 Analyzed by: Claude Code (codebase-analyzer) Next Steps: Apply recommended fixes and validate on GitHub