SCENARIO 13
Which policy should I read first?
A permission-aware RAG search over HR policy documents. Qwen 4.0 orders the passages into a reading list that a React app shows, and every item is checked against the policy register.
AI Stenstil · AI Architecture
Draw AI systemsin one visual language
From KonTheEA: a free draw.io library for AI and LLM architecture. 42 colour-coded stencils, from models and agents to guardrails and A2A, plus connectors that show how they interact, so conceptual and logical designs read the same way for everyone.
AgentsKnowledgeToolsControl
Save the library file (right-click, Save link as). Then in draw.io choose File → Open Library From → Device.
- 42Stencils
- 8Families
- 1Scenario
- FreeTo use
Why this library
Concepts, not logos
Roles, not vendors
A stencil names the role a component plays, such as a retriever or a guardrail, instead of the product that fills it.
Pattern first, protocol second
The connector style shows how components interact. A small label says which protocol carries it.
One family, one colour
Eight family colours group the stencils. The pictogram's shape stays the main cue, so colour is never the only signal.
Light and dark ready
Every colour is a light and dark pair, and the build checks contrast in both modes.
Open and offline
The icons are original and free for everyone to use. The library files contain no external links, so they load from your device.
Examples to adapt
A complete architecture opens as an editable draw.io diagram, with checkpoints and boundaries already drawn. More are on the way.
Explore
Where to next
Stencils
All 42 stencils, with what each means and where it fits.
See the stencils →Notation
Connectors, protocol labels and when to use a shape or a line.
See the notation →Scenarios
11 editable architectures you can open in draw.io.
See the scenarios →Get started
Load the library into draw.io in four steps.
Get started →Stencils
42 stencils for the parts of an AI system
Each stencil names the role a component plays, such as a model, an agent, a guardrail or a vector store. The families below group them; the stencil guide, on its own page, describes every one.
Stencil guide
Every stencil, with where it fits
A page of its own: one row per stencil with its icon, what it means and examples from LLM and AI architectures. Search it, or filter by family.
Families
Eight families, eight colours
3 stencils
Models
Generation, embeddings and reranking are distinct functions.
8 stencils
Agents
Coordination, planning, routing, sub-agents, specialists and nested teams.
6 stencils
Knowledge & memory
Sources, retrieval, vectors, short and long-term memory and shared records.
2 stencils
Prompts & context
Standing instructions and reusable prompt templates.
9 stencils
Tools & capabilities
Internal and external tools, agent skills, generated code and MCP elements.
5 stencils
Control & safety
Policies, guardrails, data classification, human actors and approval checkpoints.
6 stencils
Interop & runtime
Runtimes, model gateways, A2A clients and servers, Agent Cards and event channels.
3 stencils
Boundaries
Task regions, conversations and trust or organisation boundaries.
Colour is a category hint. The shape of each pictogram is the primary cue, so diagrams still read in greyscale. Every colour is a light and dark pair.
Notation
Shapes for things, connectors for how they interact
Stencils show what a component is. Connectors show the pattern between components, such as delegation, handoff or a tool call, and a small label says which protocol carries it. The pattern rarely changes; the protocol may differ by environment.
Interaction patterns
7 connectors and 6 ready-made groupings
Each pattern has its own line style, so the diagram shows how components work together without a legend.
| Pattern | Label | How it is drawn | Returns to caller? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent-as-tool (sub-agent call) | «delegate» | Solid arrow with a return arrowhead | Yes |
| Handoff | «handoff» | Thick arrow, no return | No |
| Sequential pipeline | artefact name | Open arrow, left to right, artefact named on each edge | No |
| Publish–subscribe | «event-bus» | Dashed arrows through an event channel | No |
| Critic / verifier loop | [fail] guard | Dashed back-edge to the producer | Loop |
| Uses a capability (tool or MCP) | «uses» | Dotted line with an open diamond, distinct from agent-to-agent edges | Yes |
| Direct API call | «api-call» | Thin solid line, open circle at the caller, filled arrow at the API | Yes |
| Orchestrator → workers | grouping | Orchestrator above its workers, joined by delegate edges | Yes |
| Router / triage | grouping | Decision diamond in front of the specialists | No |
| Fan-out / fan-in | grouping | Fork bar, then join bar | Yes, merged |
| Moderated group chat | grouping | Agents inside a dashed conversation boundary with a manager | n/a |
| Blackboard | grouping | Central datastore with read and write edges to each agent | n/a |
| Agent team as one agent | grouping | An agent with a team marker; detail on a drill-down page | n/a |
Decision, fork and join junctions (3) complete the set.
Protocols
A label, not a different shape
Put the protocol on the connector as a small label. Changing the environment then changes the label, not the diagram.
- «mcp»Model Context Protocol
- «a2a»Agent2Agent
- «acp-agntcy»AGNTCY
- «anp»Agent Network Protocol
- «acp-ibm»legacy: migrate to A2A
- «event-bus»messaging
- «in-process»framework-internal
- «http»plain HTTP / REST
- «acp-editor»UI to agent only
MCP and A2A differ. A2A is about agents partnering on tasks; MCP is about agents using capabilities. The library draws them with different line styles.
Shape or line?
What gets a stencil, and what does not
Draw it as a stencil
- Models, agents and orchestration
- Memory, retrieval and knowledge
- Prompts, skills and tools, including MCP and A2A roles
- Guardrails, policies and human checkpoints
- Runtimes, gateways and boundaries
Draw it with standard draw.io
APIs, databases, cloud services and vendor products come from draw.io's built-in libraries. A direct call to one is the «api-call» connector, usually with the «http» label.
8 stencils
Conceptual level
Context-level diagrams: the AI system, people, models, knowledge, tools and trust boundaries.
38 stencils
Logical level
Inside the system: agents, memory, retrieval, tools, control and runtime.
Scenarios
An architecture to start from
The scenario is a complete, editable draw.io diagram with 24 named components, scope boundaries and human checkpoints. Preview it here, then open the file in draw.io and adapt it. More scenarios will follow.
Gallery
Open one and make it yours
It uses the colour library.
These are illustrative designs, not claims about deployed products, measured performance or regulatory compliance. Previews show the light presentation; the .drawio files adapt to light and dark mode. Open a .drawio file as a diagram, not as a library.
Get started
Load the library into draw.io in four steps
The libraries are plain files that draw.io opens from your device. Once built, they need no account and no network access.
Steps
From files to your first diagram
- Open it in one clickUse Open in draw.io (below, or on the home page). draw.io opens in a new tab with the colour pictograms and the connectors already in its sidebar. Nothing is uploaded: your browser fetches the two library files from this site.Open in draw.io Save the library file (right-click, Save link as). Then in draw.io choose File → Open Library From → Device.
- Or load the files yourselfDownload a file from the table below. In draw.io choose File → Open Library From → Device and select it. To build the files from the source instead, run
npm ciandnpm run build; they appear inbuild/libraries/. - Pick the right fileThe table below shows which one to open. The colour library is the compact choice for most architecture diagrams.
- DrawDrag a stencil onto the page and type to add a label. It appears just below the icon, so attach connectors at the sides to keep it clear.
Files
Which library file should I open?
| File | Contents | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
ailib-all-colour.xml | All 42 concepts as colour pictograms, with no frame | You want a compact icon set for architecture diagrams |
ailib-all.xml | All concepts in family silhouettes, plus connectors and groupings | You need functional container boundaries |
ailib-<family>.xml | One family in the original silhouettes (the eight family files are in the libs/ folder) | You want to load only what you need |
ailib-connectors.xml | Connectors, junctions, channels and groupings | You are drawing interaction patterns |
Updating. To load a newer build, close the library with × beside its sidebar heading and open the new file again. Shapes already on a page keep the stencil they were created with.
Licence
Free to use, and your diagrams are yours
The library is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 (CC BY-ND 4.0). Anyone may use it for free, including at work. Only the owner, Konstantinos Damianakis (KonTheEA), changes the library itself. The answers below spell out what that means for the diagrams you draw.
| Can I… | Answer |
|---|---|
| Use the stencils in my own or my employer's diagrams? | Yes. It is free, including for commercial work. No credit is needed inside a diagram. |
| Publish or sell diagrams, documents, slides or images that contain them? | Yes. The diagram is yours, and neither the licence nor the owner claims a fee or a share of it. |
| Recolour, resize or relabel shapes, or edit one of the example architectures? | Yes, inside your diagram, and you may share that diagram. The owner grants this on top of the licence, because changing a shape is part of drawing with it. |
| Give the library to a colleague or put it on a shared drive? | Yes, unmodified and complete. Keep the licence text with it and credit the owner (suggested wording below). |
| Change the library files or icons and share the result, or make my own stencil set from them? | No. Sharing changed versions is what “NoDerivatives” rules out. You may change your own copy privately. If something is missing or wrong, suggest it and the owner will add it. |
| Use the KonTheEA name or logo for my product? | No. The licence covers the library, not the name or logo. |
Suggested credit when you share the library itself: “AI Concepts for draw.io by Konstantinos Damianakis (KonTheEA), licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.”
Read the terms. Full licence text (included with the library) · Plain-language summary. A reused icon, if one is ever added, keeps its own licence and is listed with its source.
Contact
Questions, ideas and missing stencils
Tell KonTheEA what you are drawing and what the library does not cover yet.
Email us
kon@kontheea.comSuggest a stencil
Describe the component and the diagram where it was missing. Candidates already on the list include a code sandbox, agent identity and tracing.
Report a problem
Include the library file, your draw.io version and a screenshot of the shape that looks wrong.
Contribute an item
Offer an icon, or propose something that needs doing. Icons are drawn from scratch and owned by Konstantinos Damianakis, so accepted icon contributions are assigned to him (see the contributor terms in LICENSE.md). A reused icon must be MIT, Apache-2.0, ISC or CC0, with its source recorded.