plantuml-manipulator

The PlantUML Manipulator is an automated engineering tool designed for developers who manage large sets of PlantUML sequence diagrams. It provides a robust command-line interface to perform consistent, bulk modifications across entire repositories, ensuring that architectural documentation remains accurate and synchronized with evolving business logic. By automating repetitive tasks, it minimizes the risk of human error in complex diagram sets.

• Performs batch operations such as inserting specific code blocks after named groups or adding new participants to multiple files simultaneously.

• Offers structural validation to verify the presence of required groups or participants across a project, ensuring consistent documentation standards.

• Generates comprehensive reports on diagram structures, including lists of participants and groups, in formats like table, JSON, or CSV.

• Supports advanced filtering criteria like file patterns, specific participant presence, or existing group names, allowing for targeted execution.

• Provides safe operational features including a dry-run mode for previewing changes, mandatory backup creation, and skip-if-exists logic to prevent duplicate entries.

• Ideal for software architects and engineers performing large-scale refactoring or adding standardized validation/integration steps to numerous process diagrams.

• Use this tool when changes are repetitive (more than 5 files) or when ensuring structural consistency across the codebase.

• For usage, prepare snippet files with the desired blocks and execute commands via the CLI (e.g., insert-after, add-participant, or validate).

• Note that this tool is not suitable for single-file, one-off changes which are better handled by standard text editors, nor for semantic modifications that require high-level context.

• Always prioritize running the dry-run flag first to inspect changes, and leverage the --backup option during significant refactoring sessions to maintain project integrity.