Does Obsidian support Mermaid without plugins?

Yes. Obsidian has native Mermaid support in both reading view and live preview mode. No plugins or configuration needed.

Which Mermaid diagram types work in Obsidian?

All standard Mermaid types work: flowchart, sequence, class, ER, Gantt, pie, state, mindmap, and more. Obsidian typically bundles a recent version of Mermaid.js.

Why does my Mermaid diagram look different in Obsidian's dark mode?

Obsidian applies its own CSS theme to Mermaid diagrams, which can affect colors. If the diagram looks wrong in dark mode, try a different Obsidian theme or design with explicit colors in our editor.

Mermaid Diagrams in Obsidian

Obsidian renders Mermaid diagrams natively in reading view and live preview. No plugins needed. Just add a mermaid code block to any note and switch to reading mode to see the rendered diagram.

Step-by-Step Guide

Add a Mermaid block to any note

In any Obsidian note, create a fenced code block with 'mermaid' as the language. Switch to reading view (Ctrl/Cmd+E) to see the rendered diagram.

```mermaid
mindmap
    root((Project))
        Planning
            Requirements
            Timeline
        Development
            Frontend
            Backend
        Testing
            Unit Tests
            Integration
```

Use in daily notes and templates

Add Mermaid diagrams to Obsidian templates for recurring structures. Great for project status dashboards, decision trees, and knowledge maps.

Link diagrams to notes

While Mermaid code blocks don't support Obsidian's [[wiki-links]] directly, you can place diagrams next to linked content to create visual knowledge maps alongside your note graph.

Design complex diagrams externally

For complex diagrams, use our editor for live preview, autocomplete, and error handling. Copy the final code into Obsidian. Our editor supports theming that Obsidian's renderer doesn't.

Tips

•Obsidian's live preview mode shows diagram previews inline while editing
•Dark theme rendering depends on your Obsidian theme — some themes handle it better than others
•Use the Obsidian 'Mermaid Tools' community plugin for additional features like sidebar preview
•Mind maps and flowcharts are particularly useful in Obsidian's knowledge-base context

Design Your Diagram First

Use our editor with live preview, autocomplete, and theming — then copy-paste into Obsidian.

Open Editor

Frequently Asked Questions

More Integrations

GitHub

GitHub natively renders Mermaid diagrams in markdown files, issues, pull requests, discussions, and wikis. No plugins or extensions needed — just wrap your Mermaid code in a fenced code block with the 'mermaid' language identifier.

Notion

Notion supports Mermaid diagrams natively through code blocks. Type /code to create a code block, select 'Mermaid' as the language, and your diagram renders inline. No extensions needed.

VS Code

VS Code's built-in markdown preview renders Mermaid diagrams natively. For an even better experience, extensions like Mermaid Markdown Syntax Highlighting and Mermaid Chart add live editing, syntax highlighting, and export capabilities.

Confluence

Confluence doesn't render Mermaid natively, but several marketplace apps add support. The most popular is the 'Mermaid Diagrams for Confluence' app. Alternatively, export diagrams as SVG/PNG from our editor and embed them.

Markdown

Mermaid integrates with markdown through fenced code blocks. The syntax is universal: wrap Mermaid code in triple backticks with 'mermaid' as the language identifier. Many platforms render these blocks natively, and those that don't can use build-time plugins.