About Indented ERD

Indented ERD turns a database schema into an entity-relationship diagram while you type. Paste SQL DDL or DBML into the editor on the left, and the diagram appears on the right.

It runs entirely in your browser. There is no account to create, nothing is uploaded to a server, and your schema never leaves your device.

How it works

1. Paste your schema. CREATE TABLE statements or DBML — the format is detected automatically. DDL from PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server and others is accepted, and syntax the parser does not recognise is skipped rather than rejected.
2. Read the diagram. Tables, columns, primary keys, unique keys and the relationships between tables are drawn immediately, and update as you edit.
3. Arrange it and take it with you. Reorder tables to match how you think about the schema, then copy the diagram as a PNG or share it as a link.

What makes it different

Most ER diagram tools scatter tables across a canvas and leave you to drag them into place. Indented ERD keeps every table in a single vertical list and uses horizontal indentation to show structure.

• Indentation shows hierarchy. A table sits to the right of the tables it references, so the depth of a schema is visible at a glance — the same way an indented outline shows the shape of a document. Ordering is one dimension rather than two, so there is no canvas to tidy up.
• Relationship lines are routed, not merely drawn. Lines are assigned to lanes and vertical pipes, then nested so that they avoid crossing one another. Wide Indent mode goes further and pushes tables outwards so that a line does not run through an unrelated table.
• Circular references are handled. Cycles between tables are detected as strongly connected components, and the table that acts as the entry point of a cycle is chosen automatically from the order of the list, so a circular schema still produces a readable layout.

Acknowledgement

Laying tables out in a single indented list is not our invention. The idea comes from the data modelling notation of Kozo Watanabe (渡辺幸三), a Japanese practitioner and author who proposed the TEA Method and develops the modelling tool X-TEA Modeler. We are grateful for his work, which showed how much easier a schema becomes to read when its hierarchy is laid out this way.

Indented ERD is an independent tool, developed separately from his.

Features

• DDL and DBML input, detected automatically
• Real-time rendering as you type, with SQL syntax highlighting
• Auto Arrange — reorders tables to shorten relationship lines and reduce indentation
• AI Arrange — copies a prompt describing your schema so an AI assistant can suggest an order grouped by business domain; paste the answer back to apply it
• Narrow and Wide indentation modes
• Orthogonal or curved relationship lines
• Table search, with a jump to the selected table
• Drag and drop a schema file onto the page
• Copy the diagram to the clipboard as a PNG, or download it
• Share a link that carries the schema with it
• Undo and redo, with your work restored if you reload the tab

Your data stays in your browser

The schema you paste is parsed and drawn locally. Nothing is sent to a server we operate, and there is no account or sign-in.

Editor contents are kept in your browser's session storage so that reloading does not lose your work, and your browser clears them when you close the tab. Share links carry the schema in the fragment of the URL — the part after the # — which browsers do not send to servers.

The Privacy Policy has the full detail, including the analytics that we load only if you accept it.

Get started

Open the editor and paste a schema, or load one of the samples on the empty diagram.

Open Indented ERD