Diagrams that know their notation
Causal loops, concept maps, Theory of Constraints trees, C4 models and more. Write a few lines or drag in the editor; Vithanco lays the diagram out and checks it against the rules of its notation. Free, in your browser.
Try it
Pick an example and change it: edit the VGL on the left, or drag between nodes in the diagram. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Vithanco found all five feedback loops and marked each R (reinforcing) or B (balancing). The one through Onboarding Effort is why adding people to a late project makes it later: delete the hiring -> onboarding edge and that R disappears.
Every link reads as a sentence: The Water Cycle is driven by The Sun, Collection gathers in Oceans. Add a concept of your own, say Glaciers, and connect it through a relation.
One question, the answers on the table, and the pros and cons of each, grouped into the phases of the project. Add a Con to the answer you disagree with, or a new Question under it.
Follow the arrows down from Sales revenue declining to the causes you can change. The AND junction says a competitive market alone does not explain why customers leave.
Read it from the objective back: the objective needs benefits, each benefit needs a change to how people work, and each change needs an enabler, the actual project work. Add an enabler and link it to the change it makes possible.
One model, four zoom levels. Set isfolded to true on the Internet Banking System and its containers collapse into a single system card.
Open in the full editor →Examples
A quick look at what Vithanco draws. Pick one to open it in the editor above.
Notations
Every notation Vithanco ships with, and what it is for.
Understand
- Causal Loop Diagram See the feedback loops that drive a system
- Concept Map Pin down terms and how they relate
- IBIS Work a problem through as questions, answers, pros and cons
- Mind Map Collect ideas around one topic
- Decision Tree Lay out choices and where each one leads
Theory of Constraints
- Current Reality Tree Trace symptoms back to a root cause
- Evaporating Cloud Resolve a conflict by challenging its assumptions
- Future Reality Tree Check that a change delivers what you want
- Goal Tree State a goal and everything it depends on
- Prerequisite Tree Plan around the obstacles to an objective
- Transition Tree Turn a plan into actions in order
Plan change
- Impact Map Tie features to the business goal they serve
- Benefit Breakdown Structure Plan a project backwards from its benefits
Engineer
- C4 Model Draw software architecture at four zoom levels
- Attack-Defense Tree Model threats and the defences against them
- Timeline Place events on parallel tracks over time
- Arithmetic Draw an equation and have it checked
Missing one? Define your own notation in VGL, or browse the notation library.
Why Vithanco
- Notations with rules. Each notation knows which links make sense. The editor refuses the ones that don't, so a diagram stays something you can reason with.
- Conclusions you didn't draw. Close a feedback loop and Vithanco says whether it reinforces or balances. Write an equation and it checks the answer.
- Text in, layout out. Describe nodes and links in VGL; the engine places them. No boxes to nudge into line, and the source diffs like code.
- Nothing to install. The editor runs in your browser and uploads nothing. Save the VGL, or an SVG that carries its VGL inside so it opens again, editable.
Use it where you work
- In your browser. The full editor, for your own diagrams.
- On the Mac. The Vithanco app, with templates, reports and export to PDF and PNG.
- In Obsidian and VS Code. Write a
vglblock in a note or a README and read it as a diagram. - With your AI assistant. Let Claude and others draw concept maps, IBIS maps, causal loops and timelines for you.
Need a hand?
- Facilitation. A guided session to start a project on clear benefits and a clear scope.
- Methods. Step-by-step guides: find a leverage point, resolve a conflict, plan features with impact mapping.
- Newsletter. New notations, methods and examples as they appear.
See how you can combine your brain power with structured visual and achieve better results.
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