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erdify Documentation

erdify parses your model files using AST (Abstract Syntax Tree) and generates comprehensive ERD diagrams in PlantUML format. It supports SQLModel, SQLAlchemy 2.0, Django ORM, Pydantic and standard-library dataclasses, plus SQL DDL files via the optional erdify[sql] extra — no database connection required. This documentation covers installation, usage, framework support and viewing the generated diagrams.

Contents

  • Installation — install via pip, uv, pipx or run with uvx
  • Quickstart — the handful of commands you'll use most, with links to the details
  • Features — the full matrix of what erdify recognizes when parsing your models
  • CLI & Python API — command-line options, running as a module, and the Python API (incl. programmatic access)
  • Output Formats — PlantUML and Mermaid, --format, output naming
  • Filtering & Key Inference — --exclude, --exclude-paths, --sources, and --infer-keys
  • Viewing the Diagram — render online, locally with PlantUML, or in VS Code
  • CI/CD & pre-commit — keep ERDs up to date in CI and via pre-commit hooks
  • Frameworks Overview — the five frameworks side by side, how each is detected, and a worked example with the generated PlantUML
  • Django ORM — Django-specific parsing details (FK mapping, type mapping, enums, abstract bases, db_table)
  • SQL DDL — generate ERDs from .sql files via the optional erdify[sql] extra (CREATE TABLE, foreign keys, enums)