1) The smallest possible map is like this#

A:: Cause
B:: Effect
A -> B

2) Comments (important)#

• # starts a comment.
• Everything after # on that line is ignored.

This also means: don’t use # for hex colours (#ff0000) because it will be treated as a comment.

3) Settings (styles at the top)#

Settings look like Key: Value and usually go near the top.

Common settings:

• Title: text title shown above the diagram.
• Background: background colour (named colour or rgb(r,g,b)).
• Default box colour: default node fill colour.
• Default box border: default node border, like 1px solid gray.
• Default link colour: default link/arrow colour.
• Default link style: solid | dotted | dashed | bold.
• Default link width: a number (interpreted like px), e.g. 2.
• Default box shape: rounded for rounded nodes.
• Default box shadow: none | subtle | medium | strong.
• Direction: top-bottom | bottom-top | left-right | right-left.
• Label wrap: wraps node labels after N characters (best-effort).
• Rank gap / Node gap: spacing controls (small numbers like 2–8 are typical).

Colour rules (keep it simple):

• Use named colours like red, aliceblue, seagreen, dimgray, etc.
• Or use rgb(r,g,b), e.g. rgb(255, 0, 0).

Example style block:

Background: aliceblue
Default box colour: wheat
Default box shape: rounded
Default box border: 1px dotted dimgray
Default link colour: dimgray
Default link style: dotted
Default link width: 2
Default box shadow: subtle
Direction: left-right

4) Nodes#

Define a node like this:

ID:: Label

• ID is a short name you use in links (like A, B2, MyNode).
• Label is what you see in the diagram (can include spaces).

Examples:

A:: A short label
B:: A longer label with spaces

5) Links (arrows)#

Links look like this:

A -> B

You can create multiple links in one line using |:

A -> B | C
A | Q -> B
A | Q -> B | C

(That last one creates the full cross-product: A→B, A→C, Q→B, Q→C.)

Optional link label + border:

A -> B [increases | 1px dotted gray]

Optional link label style + size (use key=value inside the brackets):

A -> B [label=increases | border=1px dotted gray | label style=italic | label size=10]

6) Grouping boxes (optional)#

Grouping boxes are just lines starting with dashes:

• --Label opens a grouping box (level 1)
• ----Label opens a nested grouping box (level 2)
• ---- closes the most recent level-2 grouping box
• -- closes the most recent level-1 grouping box (and anything nested)

Example:

--Drivers
A:: Training quality
B:: Tool usability
--

--Outcomes
C:: Adoption
D:: Error rate
--

A | B -> C | D

7) Styling nodes inline (optional)#

You can put a small “style list” after a node label:

A:: Hello [colour=red | border=2px dashed dimgray | shape=rounded]

Supported node attributes:

• colour=... (or color=...): fill colour
• background=...: fill colour (alias)
• border=...: border like 2px solid gray
• shape=rounded: rounded corners

8) Border syntax (for nodes and links)#

Border text is:

WIDTH STYLE COLOUR

Examples:

1px solid blue
2px dotted gray