Vithanco

Render Vithanco diagrams directly inside your notes — IBIS, Concept Maps, Decision Trees, Goal Trees, Causal Loop Diagrams, and more — using a simple vgl code block.

Vithanco = Visual Thinking and Communication. VGL (Vithanco Graph Language) is a compact text format for these diagrams.

Example

```vgl
vgraph decision: IBIS "Should we ship the plugin?" {
  node q1: Question "Should we ship?";
  node a1: Answer "Yes, soon";
  node p1: Pro "Users have asked for it";
  node c1: Con "Docs are still thin";
  edge q1 -> a1;
  edge a1 -> p1;
  edge a1 -> c1;
}
```

The block is replaced with a rendered SVG in reading view. It fits the note's width. To zoom, hover it for − and +, pinch it (with two fingers or on a trackpad), or ctrl+scroll; click the percentage to fit it again. On a phone or tablet the buttons are always shown.

Supported notations

IBIS, BBS, Impact Mapping, Concept Map, Current Reality Tree (CRT), Evaporating Cloud (EC), Future Reality Tree (FRT), Prerequisite Tree (PRT), Transition Tree (TRT), Attack-Defense Tree, Goal Tree, Causal Loop Diagram (CLD), Decision Tree, Timeline.

Learn the language

• VGL Syntax Guide — full reference for the language
• Notations Gallery — examples and use cases for every supported notation

You can also open these from inside Obsidian: open the command palette and search for Vithanco: Open VGL syntax guide or Vithanco: Insert IBIS example. There's a settings tab with the same links under Settings → Community Plugins → Vithanco.

Installation

From the Community Plugins browser (recommended)

1. Open Obsidian → Settings → Community Plugins → Browse
2. Search for Vithanco
3. Install and enable

Manual installation

For a version that isn't in the browser yet, or to install a pre-release:

1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest release
2. Copy them to <your-vault>/.obsidian/plugins/vithanco/
3. Reload Obsidian and enable the plugin

Requirements

• Obsidian 1.4.0 or newer
• On iPhone and iPad: iOS / iPadOS 16.4 or newer
• No internet connection required — everything, including the Graphviz layout engine, is compiled into the bundled WebAssembly module. The plugin makes no network calls and does not read or write files outside your vault.

How it works

The Vithanco rendering engine is compiled from Swift to WebAssembly and embedded in the plugin. When you open a note containing a vgl code block, the plugin:

1. Parses the VGL source
2. Computes layout via Graphviz, running in-process inside the same WebAssembly module
3. Produces a styled SVG
4. Injects it into the rendered Markdown

Support

If you find this useful, please consider sponsoring on GitHub. The plugin will always be free and open source.

Links

• Vithanco website (notations gallery): https://vithanco.com
• VGL syntax guide: https://vithanco.com/tools/VGL_GUIDE/index.html
• VGraph monorepo (Swift source, MCP server, CLI): https://github.com/Vithanco/VGraph
• Issues: https://github.com/Vithanco/obsidian-vithanco/issues

Acknowledgements

• Graphviz (EPL-2.0) — layout engine, compiled into the WebAssembly module via SwiftGraphviz
• @bjorn3/browser_wasi_shim (MIT/Apache-2.0) — bundled to run the Vithanco WebAssembly engine
• The Swift runtime (Apache-2.0 with Runtime Library Exception) — linked into the WebAssembly module
• DM Sans (SIL OFL 1.1) — the typeface the diagrams use

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE. Third-party components are listed in NOTICE. The engine source is at https://github.com/Vithanco/VGraph.