Have Claude Generate Visual Explanations of Code

When you’re onboarding to a new codebase or trying to understand a complex system, ask Claude to make it visual.

HTML Presentations

Generate an interactive HTML page that explains
the auth flow in this project. Include a diagram
showing the request lifecycle from login to token
refresh. Save it as docs/auth-explainer.html.

Claude creates a self-contained HTML file with diagrams, color-coded sections, and interactive elements you can open in any browser.

ASCII Diagrams

For quick inline explanations:

Draw an ASCII diagram showing how data flows from
the API gateway through the middleware stack to the
database and back.

Request → Gateway → Auth MW → Rate Limit MW → Router
                                                  │
Response ← Serializer ← Service ← Repository ← Handler

Architecture Maps

Create a visual map of this project's module
dependencies. Show which modules import from which,
and highlight any circular dependencies.

When to Use

• Onboarding to a new codebase
• Explaining architecture in PR descriptions
• Understanding complex data flows
• Documenting system interactions for the team
• Debugging distributed systems (ask Claude to diagram the request path)