How to Create a Flowchart with AI

Create research flowcharts using ChatGPT + Draw.io

Jul 09, 2025

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Flowcharts are essential in research papers, proposals, and presentations.

Creating flowcharts is not just a visual aid — it’s a thinking tool. The process of building a flowchart forces you to distill complex ideas into clear, logical steps, which strengthens the rigor and coherence of your entire research project.

It can be used to visualize your conceptual framework, map thematic connections and theoretical evolution and outline step-by-step methodological procedures.

But designing them from scratch often drains precious hours.

What if you could build polished, publication-ready flowcharts in minutes using ChatGPT and Draw.io – for FREE?

Instead of wrestling with clunky shapes and manual alignment, you can prompt ChatGPT to generate the structure in Mermaid.js code, import it into Draw.io, customize styling, and export a clean figure – all within ten minutes.

Here is the step-by-step guide:

Step 1. Generate Mermaid.js code with ChatGPT

Ask ChatGPT to create the Mermaid code for the flowchart, and then copy the code once generated.

ChatGPT will output text-based code defining nodes and connections systematically.

You can also include specific steps in the prompt to make sure the flowchart reflects your exact experimental workflow.

Create a flowchart using Mermaid code for conducting a field survey, including steps like designing the survey, training data collectors, field data collection, and data entry.

Generate a Mermaid code for a flowchart that outlines the experimental methodology for studying gene expression in human cell lines under stress conditions. The flow should include: cell line maintenance, stress treatment application, RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, qRT-PCR analysis, data normalization using housekeeping genes, and statistical analysis.

Step 2. Import the Mermaid code into Draw.io

Open Draw.io in your browser.
Navigate to Arrange > Insert > Mermaid.
Paste the Mermaid.js code into the popup window and click Insert.
Your diagram will instantly render, visualizing the process flow you defined.

Step 3. Customize Your Flowchart

The auto-generated layout might not be perfect.

Adjust shapes, colors, fonts, and spacing within Draw.io according to your preferences.

Pro Tip: You can also refine the code iteratively by prompting ChatGPT to modify structure, labels, or branching logic before re-importing.

Step 4. Export Your Flowchart

Once you have done the final customizations, export your flowchart by clicking on File and then Export as

You can export in any format of your preferences such as PNG, JPEG, SVJ, PDF etc

Conclusion

Stop spending hours aligning arrows or formatting shapes manually. Integrating ChatGPT with Draw.io empowers you to create clear, publication-quality flowcharts efficiently.

Next time you draft a method, pipeline, or conceptual diagram, try this workflow and experience the time savings firsthand.

That’s it for today!

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Asad Naveed

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