Mellos Mapping vs Next AI Draw IO
A side-by-side look at the Mellos Mapping and Next AI Draw IO MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Mellos Mapping for developer tools work as a local process; choose Next AI Draw IO for developer tools as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Mellos Mapping when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
mmap_declare, mmap_update, mmap_read.
Choose Next AI Draw IO when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: API key required.
- You want tools like
get_drawing_guide, get_shape_library, start_session.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Quality signal | 67/100 · Great | 67/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | API key required |
| Pricing | Not declared | BYOK (pay the provider) |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 111 | 36,341 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 8 | 16 |
| Full listing | View Mellos Mapping | View Next AI Draw IO |
Tools & capabilities
Mellos Mapping tools 8
mmap_declareGrow the Mellos map: set the title and diagram kind, add layer bands, lanes and groups (labeled subsystems within ONE band — declare them when a single band grows crowded, roughly five or more nodes in that band; a group must be a strict subset of its band, and a map spread thin across many bands needs none), add nodes, add dependency edges. Declare the missing design after reading existing pages with mmap_read; reuse verified nodes. Edges must point strictly downward (a node may only use nodes on lower layers); the batch is all-or-nothing. Title and kind can also be changed with mmap_update; this legacy form remains supported. Revising what already exists (moving, renaming, relabeling, clearing) is mmap_update.mmap_updateThe revision tool, all-or-nothing. Record progress on nodes: in-progress when starting a node (the pane spins), done with evidence when its verification passes, regressed with evidence when a done node breaks. Revise what the ghost design got wrong: move a node to another band, join or leave a group or lane, rename a band (or re-rank it, which reorders the whole map), relabel a group or a lane. Every clearable field takes null to empty it — that is how a field is cleared, never an empty string. Bands, groups and lanes are applied before the node updates, and within one node update `layer` moves the node before its other fields. The map is a ledger: report honestly, it never blocks you.mmap_readRead existing pages before creating a map. Returns structured IDs, revisions and bounded results. pages lists summaries; map reads page metadata/context; nodes/edges/layers/groups/lanes read editable records; neighborhood reads related nodes; changes compares saved source hashes with local files. New conversations and compacted context should resume the existing effort. mmap_view remains the picture.mmap_batchAtomically combine additions, updates and removals on ONE page. Checks the final graph, so a coordinated move or edge replacement needs no intermediate saves. Read IDs and revision with mmap_read first. Cross-page deletion is excluded.mmap_removeRemove edges, nodes, groups and empty layer bands (in that order, all-or-nothing). Removing a node also removes every edge touching it; removing a group merely ungroups its members. Use when the ghost design turns out wrong — the map is a hypothesis, revising it is honest work. `pages` is the other scale: it DELETES whole page files, so a finished effort can be cleaned up instead of accumulating tabs forever. A bare `{pages: ["slug"]}` with no other field is the normal form; combined with map edits, the edits are applied first and the pages are deleted after. The deletion is permanent and cannot be undone, so delete only pages whose effort is over — and only ever with the user behind it. An unknown slug is refused with the project's real page list (naming a page that does not exist is a typo, not a request). The default page has no slug and is not deletable here. A node elsewhere still pointing at a deleted page with `submap` stays legal — a submap reference has no existence invariant — but it has nowhere to dive until the page comes back.mmap_setupGet or set the mapping policy — WHEN the assistant opens a Mellos map. Call with no arguments to read it: the reply names the policy chosen for the USER (every project), the one this PROJECT overrides it with if any, and which of them is in effect. If it reports "not set", ask the USER to choose (never pick for them): always = map every structured task — workflows, designs, architecture, technical dependencies; complex = map only medium or complex tasks — several modules, a new subsystem, roughly an hour or more; on-request = map only when the user explicitly asks. Then call again with their choice to persist it. It defaults to user scope, which is the normal one — the question is about how someone works, so it is asked once ever, not once per repository. Pass scope: "project" only when the user wants THIS project to differ from that habit. The policy guides you; it never blocks the tools, and an explicit user request for a map always wins.mmap_viewRender the current Mellos map as monochrome text — the same picture the split-pane watcher shows live. Use it to check the map state or to show it inline in conversation. Every response ends with a `pages:` line naming the pages this project actually has and which one you are looking at, so this is also how you discover whether a map exists at all and under which slugs — never probe the files.mmap_openFor automatic display beside the current ChatGPT desktop conversation in Codex mode, use surface: "web-terminal", then call open_in_codex with the returned browser hostOpen object. No paste or Computer Use is needed. For the native host terminal, use surface: "codex-terminal": prepare absolute watcher commands for the current project, then ask the host to open its right terminal. This does not launch the watcher or type into that terminal. Agent exec PTYs cannot be attached using their numeric session ids. For a document panel, use surface: "markdown": generate MD + SVG files, enable automatic preview updates after successful map writes, then use the HOST file-opening tool to display the returned absolute Markdown path on the right of the current conversation. Generated does not mean visible: this server cannot open or observe the desktop side panel. For interactive maps, choose surface: "web": start or reuse a project-local web viewer and pass the returned URL to the host browser-opening tool. Markdown and terminal remain available. The default surface is "terminal", preserving the terminal workflow. Put the live map on the user's screen: a terminal pane beside this conversation that redraws on every write. Call it whenever a result says `pane: CLOSED` — and do NOT ask permission first, because a user who has set a mapping policy has already said they want to see the map. With a pane already open this RETARGETS it to `page` instead of opening a second one, so it is also how you show the user a particular page when they ask for one. It never closes a pane: taking the map off the screen belongs to the user (the `q` key in the pane, or typing `mmap` in a terminal). The reply says whether a pane actually reported itself in afterwards, not merely that a command was run. Automatic terminal opening supports Windows Terminal, tmux on Linux/macOS, and Pebrel, which splits the conversation's own pane. omp (Oh My Pi) has no side panel of its own: there the routes are this same terminal pane (a Windows Terminal split, or a tmux split on Linux/macOS) and the web viewer, whose URL the session opens with its own browser tool. If opening fails, relay the reason and copyable command; retry only after the environment changes or the user asks.
Next AI Draw IO tools 16
get_drawing_guideReturn the drawing guide: XML format, layout, edge routing, style and editing rules. start_session already returns it; call this only if the guide is no longer in your context. With topic, returns a short XML reference for tables, layers or groups.get_shape_libraryGet the style syntax and shape names of a draw.io icon library. Call this BEFORE drawing with cloud, network or other icon shapes, and use the exact names it returns; never guess them. Libraries: - Cloud: aws4, azure2, gcp2, alibaba_cloud, openstack, salesforce - Networking: cisco19, network, kubernetes, vvd, rack - Business: bpmn, lean_mapping - General: flowchart, basic, arrows2, infographic, sitemap - UI/Mockups: android, material_design - Enterprise: citrix, sap, mscae, atlassian - Engineering: fluidpower, electrical, pid, cabinets, floorplan - Icons: webiconsstart_sessionStart a new diagram session, or continue a saved one with session_id, and open the browser for real-time preview. Starts an embedded server and opens a browser window with draw.io. The browser will show diagram updates as they happen. The result includes the drawing guide; follow it when drawing.list_saved_diagramsList the diagrams saved by earlier sessions (auto-save files), newest first, with their pages. Continue one with start_session session_id=<id>; the file path also works with load_diagram.create_new_diagramCreate a NEW diagram, REPLACING the whole document: every page and any unsaved user changes (the previous state stays in History). To add a tab use add_page; to change cells use edit_diagram. Before using icon shapes (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, Cisco...), call get_shape_library first. Follow the drawing guide returned by start_session (call get_drawing_guide if it is no longer in your context). Pass screenshot: true on the last call of a complex diagram to check the result. Accepted xml: 1) Only the mxCell elements of one page (recommended). The server adds <mxfile>, <mxGraphModel>, <root> and the root cells "0" and "1": <mxCell id="2" value="Shape" style="rounded=1;" x="40" y="40" w="120" h="60"/> 2) A bare <mxGraphModel> with <root> (one page). 3) A full <mxfile> with one or more <diagram> pages. Every page's <root> must start with <mxCell id="0"/><mxCell id="1" parent="0"/>. Rules: cells are siblings (never nested), ids are unique per page and start from "2", parent only for shapes inside a container, no XML comments, and shapes stay within x 0 to 800 and y 0 to 600. A style used by several cells is defined once with <mxStyle name="..." value="..."/> before the cells and used by name (see the drawing guide); html=1 and whiteSpace=wrap are added automatically. To clear the canvas to one blank page, send only the two root cells <mxCell id="0"/><mxCell id="1" parent="0"/>; the previous diagram stays in History.load_diagramLoad a .drawio diagram into the current session, REPLACING the entire diagram (all pages). To change an existing file, load it here, edit with edit_diagram, then export_diagram to the same path; never rewrite the file by hand. Provide ONE of two mutually exclusive sources: 'path' (the server reads the file from disk — you do NOT need to read the file yourself or pass its XML through create_new_diagram) or 'xml' (the raw file content you already have — from another tool, a repository read, or an API response — so no temporary file needs to be written first). Both accept plain XML and draw.io's compressed save format. .drawio.svg (Editable SVG, the format export_diagram writes) is accepted too; .png files (also draw.io's editable PNG) and plain .svg files cannot be loaded. After loading from 'path' (or from compressed 'xml'), call get_diagram before edit_diagram — you haven't seen the file's cell IDs yet. Plain-XML 'xml' content you supplied yourself is already known and can be edited immediately.edit_diagramEdit a specific page in the current diagram by ID-based operations (update/add/delete cells). All-or-nothing: if any operation fails, nothing is applied and every failure is listed. Freshness: the server remembers the last diagram state you have seen, and rejects this call only if the user edited the diagram in the browser since then. You do NOT need to call get_diagram before every edit: a rejected call changes nothing and includes the current XML of the page, so you can rebuild your operations and retry. Call get_diagram first only when you don't know the current diagram content (cell IDs, structure) — e.g. the diagram wasn't created in this conversation, or you're unsure your memory of it is accurate. Multi-page targeting: - page_id / page_name / page_index are optional; when all omitted, the FIRST page is targeted - Use list_pages to discover what pages exist Operations: - add: Add a new cell. Provide cell_id (new unique id within the page) and new_xml. One cell per operation. - update: Replace an existing cell by its id. Provide cell_id and complete new_xml. - delete: Remove a cell by its id. Only cell_id is needed. Its children and connected edges are deleted too, so give only a container's id. For add/update, new_xml is the complete mxCell (inside its <object> wrapper when it has custom data, see the drawing guide) in the compact form (a shape with x, y, w, h; an edge with source and target). No XML comments. Every " inside new_xml must be escaped as \" in the JSON. Example - Add a rectangle on the default (first) page: {"operations": [{"operation": "add", "cell_id": "rect-1", "new_xml": "<mxCell id=\"rect-1\" value=\"Hello\" style=\"rounded=1;\" x=\"100\" y=\"100\" w=\"120\" h=\"60\"/>"}]} Example - Delete a cell on the default page: {"operations": [{"operation": "delete", "cell_id": "rect-1"}]}get_diagramGet the current diagram XML (fetches latest from browser, including user's manual edits). Call this when you don't know the current diagram content (cell IDs, pages, structure) — e.g. before editing a diagram you didn't create in this conversation, or after edit_diagram was rejected because the user changed the diagram in the browser. Returns the full <mxfile> by default. If a page selector is provided, returns just that page's <mxGraphModel> embedded in a one-page <mxfile> wrapper.get_selectionReturn the cells the user has selected in the preview: their ids and labels, for edges the source and target ids, for shapes the position and size, and the page they are on. Call this when the user refers to what they selected ("this box", "these arrows", "the selected shapes"), then act on the ids with edit_diagram. Says when nothing is selected. Needs the preview tab to be open.screenshot_diagramRender the diagram in the preview and return it as a PNG image, so you can see your own result. Call this once after drawing or heavily editing a complex diagram, then fix overlaps and edges that cross shapes. Without a page selector it shows the page on screen; with one it renders that page without changing what the user sees. Needs the preview tab to be open.export_diagramExport the current diagram to a file. Supports .drawio (XML), .png, .svg, and .drawio.svg (an SVG with the diagram embedded, which draw.io and load_diagram can open again). The format is auto-detected from the file extension, or can be specified explicitly. Images get a 20 px margin; a PNG has a white background (or the page's own background color) unless transparent is true. Multi-page behaviour: - .drawio with NO page selector: writes the full <mxfile> (all pages). - .drawio with a page selector: writes a single-page <mxfile> containing only that page. - .png / .svg with NO page selector: exports the currently active page in the browser. - .png with a page selector: renders that page without changing what the user sees. - .svg / .drawio.svg with a page selector: temporarily loads that page into the browser, captures it, then restores the full document (the user sees a brief flicker).list_pagesList every page (tab) in the current diagram. Returns each page's id, name, 0-based index, and cell count. Use this to discover what pages exist before targeting one with edit_diagram, get_diagram, export_diagram, rename_page, or delete_page.- +4 more on the listing page
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Mellos Mapping
{
"mcpServers": {
"mellos-mapping": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mellos-mapping"
]
}
}
}
Next AI Draw IO
{
"mcpServers": {
"next-ai-draw-io": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@next-ai-drawio/mcp-server@latest"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Mellos Mapping is categorized under Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. Next AI Draw IO belongs to Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Mellos Mapping for developer tools work and Next AI Draw IO for developer tools.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Mellos Mapping has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Next AI Draw IO is bring-your-own-key: usage is billed by the API provider you supply a key for. Auth: api key required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add mellos-mapping and next-ai-draw-io as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Mellos Mapping has a quality signal of 67/100 (Great) with 1 views, 0 installs and 111 GitHub stars. Next AI Draw IO has 67/100 (Great) with 2 views, 0 installs and 36,341 GitHub stars.