32Type it, watch it draw
Describe a conversation in a few lines and Slate draws it — participants across the top, lifelines dropping down, messages between them. Because it is built from ordinary Slate objects, it replays message by message, you can write over it, recolour it, and print it with the rest of the deck.
Find itInsert → Sequence diagram…, or the Shapes panel while a shape tool is active.
Write itOne line per message.
Alice->Bob: Request is a solid arrow, Bob-->Alice: Reply a dashed one. Add actor Alice or participant Cart to set who appears and in what order.Arrows
-> call · ->> asynchronous · --> reply · -->> async reply · -x lost. A->A: retry loops back on itself.Who is busy
A->+B: call starts an activation bar on B; B-->-A: done ends it. They nest.Branches
alt / else / end for choices, plus opt, loop, par / and, break, critical, neg and ref. They nest to any depth.Say more
note over A,B: text (also left of / right of), == Phase two == for a divider, # to start a comment, and #red at the end of a line to colour just that message.Built for replayEvery statement becomes its own beat, so pressing play walks the class through the conversation one message at a time — and the arrow keys step between them. Merge or reorder beats afterwards if you want fewer, bigger reveals. A line Slate cannot read is skipped with a count, never a blank board.
Part of the Slate guide — or read the whole guide on one page.