For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at https://lazygophers.github.io/pamphlet/en/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at https://lazygophers.github.io/pamphlet/en/llms-full.txt, and this page is available as Markdown at https://lazygophers.github.io/pamphlet/en/write/diagrams/swimlane.md.
Pamphlet
  • English

      • Swimlane diagrams

      What it is

      A process split into horizontal lanes by who owns each step.

      When to use it

      Cross-team or cross-service processes, where "who does this step" is the point.

      How to write it

      Pamphlet's own syntax — declarations first, relationships second; all seventeen kinds share this skeleton:

      :::swimlane[Checkout]
lanes:
  user = "User"
  order = "Order service"
  pay = "Payment service"
steps:
  user : place order
  order : reserve stock
  pay : charge
  order : confirm
:::

      Mermaid cannot draw this kind, so there is no "other way" — Pamphlet lays it out and emits the SVG itself.

      What comes out

      Drawn at compile time and inlined, so the reader downloads no drawing library and makes no network request. Colours come from the six diagram variables (--pf-diagram-bg / line / fill / text / accent / muted), so they follow the theme.

      Text width is estimated per character (CJK characters count as one em, everything else as 0.55) rather than measured in a real font — which is what lets this kind compile without a browser.

      Traps

      • One line per lane under lanes:; steps are written lane : what happens
      • Steps are laid out left to right in the order you write them, with arrows joining consecutive ones
      • An unknown lane name reports DIAG-306 and lists the lanes you declared