Head to head · Diagram creation · October 2026 research run

AI Diagram Maker MCP vs tldraw SDK + MCP

tldraw SDK + MCP scores 57 (C) on agent readiness against AI Diagram Maker MCP's 43.8 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. AI Diagram Maker MCP leads on security & auth. Both do diagram creation.

Best diagramming APIs and diagram-as-code for AI agents · All 147 diagrams comparisons

Which one, for what

AI Diagram Maker MCP E

Best for Quick architecture, sequence, ERD and flowchart diagrams from a coding agent, with a link to edit them.

Ahead on

  • Security & auth, 45 against 40

Also in its favour

  • Runs on your own machine
  • No incidents deducted, where tldraw SDK + MCP loses 5 points for them

Watch for

Last release 3.0.8 on 10 April 2026, and the registry entry still says 1.0.0

tldraw SDK + MCP C

Best for Teams building a product where a person and an agent share a canvas.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 70 against 30
  • Agent ergonomics, 71 against 66
  • Payments & pricing, 35 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 89 against 17
  • Transparency & trust, 51 against 35

Also in its favour

  • No key needed to call it

Watch for

Source-available, and commercial prices aren't published

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Maintenance & community tldraw SDK + MCP +72

AI Diagram Maker MCP 17

Last release v3.0.8, published to npm on 10 April 2026, 210 days before this check (0). No release since 8 August (0). Four issues in all. The two open ones, from 4 May (hosted MCP credit usage) and 13 October 2026, show no reply, and one closed issue had a comment (5 of 25). In the official MCP registry under the GitHub-verified namespace io.github.erajasekar, but the entry is 1.0.0 from 19 March 2026 while npm is on 3.0.8 (10 of 15). The only workflow publishes to the registry. No tests or CI, and the MCP SDK floor is ^1.9.0 (2 of 10). 0 + 0 + 5 + 10 + 2 = 17.

tldraw SDK + MCP 89

v5.6.0 tagged on 28 October 2026 (30). At least eleven releases since 5 August, v5.3.0 to v5.3.2, v5.4.0 to v5.4.2, v5.5.0, v5.5.1, v5.5.2, v5.5.4 and v5.6.0 (20). The main branch had 29 commits from 28 October to 3 November and an issue-triage workflow runs, reply times not checked (15). The MCP App is in the official registry as io.github.tldraw/tldraw, active (15). CI checks, a dependency dedupe workflow and a licence report (9).

Reliability tldraw SDK + MCP +40

AI Diagram Maker MCP 30

Hosted lines, because every tool call is generated on the AI Diagram Maker service, through the hosted endpoint or the npx server. No status page found on the site or in the README (0). No readable incident history (5). The only rate-limit number is the example in the OpenAPI 429 schema ('Maximum 100 requests per day exceeded.'), which isn't stated as the limit (5 of 15). The 429 body is specified with limit, remaining, resetAt and retryAfter, while there's no idempotency or retry guidance for calls that spend credits (10 of 15). No SLA found (0). Nothing labels the service or server beta (10). 0 + 5 + 5 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 30.

tldraw SDK + MCP 70

Scored as an SDK. The tldraw npm package with React runtimes stated in the docs (20). A public checks.yml workflow and test suites across packages, pass state on main unreadable (GitHub's pages and API refuse our reader), so 15 as this run scores an unread pass state. A stale bot marks issues after 150 days without activity and closes them 30 days later, and open crash reports weren't counted, per the 1 October check (12). RELEASES.md says tldraw doesn't follow semver and minor releases "may contain breaking changes", with breaking items flagged in each release note (8). v5 is a stable line (15). The hosted MCP App has a Cloudflare rate limiter in code with no published numbers and no status page.

Transparency & trust tldraw SDK + MCP +16

AI Diagram Maker MCP 35

The MCP server is MIT (package.json and LICENSE, added 18 March 2026). The service is closed, under terms last updated 24 September 2025 that name the operator only as AI Diagram Maker (20 of 30). The privacy policy of the same date keeps diagrams, revisions and chat prompts and responses 'as long as necessary', and the terms license user input 'to provide and improve our services', with no retention periods and no word on model training or the AI providers used (8 of 30). No deprecation policy or dated notices (0). No subprocessors or data locations named (0). The MCP server's source sends no telemetry of its own. 20 + 8 + 0 + 0 = 28.

tldraw SDK + MCP 51

Source-available under the tldraw licence, explicitly not open source, with clear terms (15). The SDK runs in your app. The hosted MCP App keeps canvas checkpoints in a Durable Object SQLite store, capped by count, with exec results kept 10 minutes, none of which we found in a policy (12). RELEASES.md commits to warnings several releases before a breaking change, and v5.4 deprecated useViewportHeight() ahead of removal, though the breaking changes in v5.2.0, v5.3.0 and v5.5.0 came without earlier warnings (12). Licence pings are documented on the licence key page, but the licence page still says less than the code sends. Opting out means a commercial licence (6).

Payments & pricing tldraw SDK + MCP +15

AI Diagram Maker MCP 20

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices are public (Plus $10, Max $20 a month), with credits counted at 1,000 tokens each, so there's no per-diagram price (10 of 20). Basic is free forever with 50 credits a month, but the page doesn't say whether a card is needed or whether API and MCP calls are included (10 of 20, half as with an unstated card rule). A person signs up in the app and creates the key (0). 0 + 10 + 10 + 0 = 20.

tldraw SDK + MCP 35

No payment protocol (0). Commercial prices are agreed with sales, "value-based", nothing published (0). Development use needs no key, and a 100-day production trial licence is emailed on submitting a form, with no payment step (20). An agent can use the SDK in development and the hosted MCP App with no signup, but production needs a person to request a licence (15).

Agent ergonomics tldraw SDK + MCP +5

AI Diagram Maker MCP 66

Five compact tools (25). Output can be SVG or PNG and the API can return the D2 source with debug, but there's nothing to page or trim, and results carry the rendered image (10 of 20). Typed error bodies with codes, a 422 that returns the failing D2 code, and retryAfter on 429 (16 of 20). No readOnlyHint or other annotations in the source and no idempotency key, and every call spends credits (5 of 20). Only content is required and the hosted endpoint needs no install, but there is no SDK beyond the server (10 of 15). 25 + 10 + 16 + 5 + 10 = 66.

tldraw SDK + MCP 71

Two model-facing MCP tools, with four more hidden from the model as app-only (25). search returns matching parts of the API spec instead of the whole thing, and canvases export to image or JSON (12). exec returns the thrown error text (10). All six tools carry readOnlyHint, destructiveHint and idempotentHint, search is read-only, exec isn't idempotent (16). TypeScript only, and the canvas needs a host that renders MCP Apps (8).

Security & auth AI Diagram Maker MCP +5

AI Diagram Maker MCP 45

Several named API keys per account, shown once and deactivated or deleted in Settings with a confirmation step, sent in a header, never a query string. No scopes, and the user guide says anyone with a key can access the account (20 of 30). The tools only create diagrams and can't change or delete anything in the account, but there's no read-only key (12 of 20). Tools return diagrams built from the caller's own input. Image inputs can be any public URL (10 of 15). The privacy policy mentions credit usage history, and no per-call log or audit view is documented (3 of 15). No security.txt, disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification found (0). 20 + 12 + 10 + 3 + 0 = 45.

tldraw SDK + MCP 40

No API key. Licence keys are public and checked offline. The hosted MCP App has no auth, with an optional token for self-hosted copies (18). search is read-only, but exec runs model-written JavaScript against the live editor in the host's iframe, with no approval step (8). Canvas text can come from people and goes back to the model, and we found no injection guidance (8). No audit log (0). SECURITY.md takes reports at hello@tldraw.com with a 24-hour response target and, since 2 November 2026, lists 3.x, 4.x and 5.x as supported. No security.txt (404 on 3 November), no bug bounty found, no advisories in OSV (6).

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runAI Diagram Maker MCPtldraw SDK + MCPEdge
Reliability16%203070tldraw SDK + MCP +40
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27579tldraw SDK + MCP +4
Agent ergonomics13%16.26671tldraw SDK + MCP +5
Security & auth14%17.54540AI Diagram Maker MCP +5
Payments & pricing10%12.52035tldraw SDK + MCP +15
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.81789tldraw SDK + MCP +72
Transparency & trust7%8.83551tldraw SDK + MCP +16
Negative events≤150-5
TotalE 43.8/100C 57/100

Facts side by side

FactAI Diagram Maker MCPtldraw SDK + MCP
KindMCP serverSDK + MCP
VendorAI Diagram Maker (Rajasekar Elango)tldraw
Hosted endpointhttps://mcp.aidiagrammaker.com/mcphttps://tldraw-mcp-app.tldraw.workers.dev/mcp
TransportsStreamable HTTP, stdioStreamable HTTP, SSE (legacy)
AuthAPI keyNone
PricingFreemiumPaid
x402nono
LicenceMIT for the MCP server. The AI Diagram Maker service it calls is closed, under terms last updated 24 September 2025tldraw licence (source-available, production needs a licence key)
Tools exposed56
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registryio.github.erajasekar/ai-diagram-maker-mcpio.github.tldraw/tldraw
Last release2026-04-102026-10-28
Terms last updated2025-09-24couldn't be read
Privacy policy last updated2025-09-24couldn't be read
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textcouldn't be read
Terms restrict automated accessyescouldn't be read
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textcouldn't be read
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textcouldn't be read
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textcouldn't be read
Popularity63 npm/wk51k stars, 490k npm/wk
Agent reviewsnone3/5 (2)

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

AI Diagram Maker MCP

Five compact, typed tools turn text, JSON, ASCII art, images or Mermaid into an editable D2 diagram, and the API documents its error and rate-limit responses. There has been no release since 10 April 2026, there is no status page or llms.txt, and the API key opens the whole account with no scopes.

tldraw SDK + MCP

Full editor API to create, read, bind and export shapes from code, with agent, chat and workflow starter kits and a hosted MCP App. Source-available, commercial prices aren't published, and monthly minor releases can break existing code without earlier warning.

Before you call either

AI Diagram Maker MCP

  1. Send the key in the X-ADM-API-Key header to https://mcp.aidiagrammaker.com/mcp, never in the URL
  2. Pick diagramType from the enum when the user names one; leave it out to let the service choose
  3. On a 402 stop and tell the user credits are gone; they reset monthly and can't be topped up
  4. On a 429 wait for retryAfter seconds before the next call
  5. Give the user the returned diagram link so they can edit it, since the tools can't revise an existing diagram

tldraw SDK + MCP

  1. Through the MCP App, call search on the Editor API spec first, then exec with JavaScript that calls editor methods
  2. Omit canvasId to start a blank canvas, and pass the returned canvasId to keep editing the same one
  3. Paste Mermaid into the canvas to get editable shapes instead of placing each shape by hand
  4. Return editor.getCurrentPageShapes() from exec to check what was drawn
  5. Read the release notes before a minor upgrade. Minor versions can break

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, AI Diagram Maker MCP or tldraw SDK + MCP?

tldraw SDK + MCP scores 57 (C) on agent readiness against AI Diagram Maker MCP's 43.8 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. AI Diagram Maker MCP leads on security & auth.

Can an agent call AI Diagram Maker MCP and tldraw SDK + MCP without installing anything?

Yes. AI Diagram Maker MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.aidiagrammaker.com/mcp and tldraw SDK + MCP at https://tldraw-mcp-app.tldraw.workers.dev/mcp.

Other comparisons with AI Diagram Maker MCP or tldraw SDK + MCP

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