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Share a diagram

Save a diagram before you share it. A saved diagram has a stable read link.

A read link lets a person open the saved diagram. The link has this form:

https://diagram.zip/d/{alias}

Anyone who has an open read link can view the diagram. Anyone who has an open read link can also use the SVG or Markdown embed link.

A read link does not let a person save changes to the saved diagram.

For a locked diagram, the person must also enter the password. The password is not part of the read link.

An edit link gives permission to save changes to the alias. It has this form:

https://diagram.zip/d/{alias}#w={write-capability}

The edit capability is a bearer credential. Anyone who has the complete edit link can update the diagram. Share it only with people who should have write access.

The browser reads the capability from the URL fragment. The browser then saves it for that alias and removes it from the address bar. A copied page URL is therefore normally a read link. Copy the edit link from the Share dialog when you need to share write access.

For a locked diagram, an edit link does not replace the password. The person needs both the edit capability and the password.

There are no accounts or recovery controls. If you lose the edit capability, you cannot update that alias from a new device. If you lose the password for a locked diagram, you cannot decrypt it.

Read-only edits and forks​

You can edit a diagram after opening a read link. These edits stay local until you save them.

If this browser already has unsaved changes for the link, a local-changes bar offers Restore saved and Make a copy. Restore returns to the shared revision. Make a copy forks the local state to a new alias, even when this browser also holds write access to the original.

The Save button becomes Save copy because you do not have write access to the original alias. Save the copy to create a new alias and a new edit link. The original diagram does not change.

Save conflicts​

Each saved alias has a revision. The editor checks the revision when it saves.

If another person saved a newer revision first, diagram.zip reports a save conflict. Choose one of these actions:

  • Reload saved discards your local edits and opens the newer saved version.
  • Save as new keeps your edits and creates a separate alias.

The editor does not overwrite a newer saved revision without your choice.

Embeds​

The Share dialog provides an SVG image link and a Markdown image link for an open saved diagram. These links point to the saved render.

Locked diagrams cannot be embedded. An embed request cannot ask for a password, so the server does not return encrypted diagram renders as public images.

Save the diagram again before you share if the Share dialog says that the links show an older saved version.