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erdMaid: Export Database Tables to Perfect Mermaid ERDs

Overcome the limitations of default IntelliJ exports. Accurately convert your database tables—including exact column orders, comments, and relationships—into perfect Mermaid ERDs.

algorist

— 1 min read

While IntelliJ IDEA and DataGrip offer fantastic built-in Database tools, sharing your schema documentation can be frustrating. The default Mermaid export feature often falls short for practical use.

It tends to force schemas into a classDiagram format instead of a proper ERD, scrambles the actual ordinal position of your columns, and ignores crucial table and column comments (logical names).

To solve this, I created erdMaid—a plugin designed to flawlessly export your database tables into the official Mermaid erDiagram format.

✨ Key Features

  • Native erDiagram Syntax: Generates standard Mermaid Entity-Relationship Diagrams, not clunky class diagrams.
  • Preserves Column Order: Keeps the exact ordinal position of columns as they are defined in your database.
  • Rich Metadata Extraction: Automatically maps Data Types, Primary Keys (PK), and draws relationship lines for Foreign Keys (FK).
  • Includes Comments: Extracts table and column comments so your generated diagrams are fully self-explanatory.
  • One-Click Clipboard: No extra steps. The generated Mermaid script is instantly copied to your clipboard.

🚀 How to Use

  1. Open the Database tool window in IntelliJ.
  2. Select the table(s) you want to export.
  3. Right-click and select Export as Mermaid ERD from the context menu.
  4. Paste the copied Mermaid code wherever you need it!

💡 Tip: Pair this with my other plugin, markflow (a live Markdown & Mermaid editor). Extract your schema with erdMaid and instantly visualize it in markflow for an ultimate documentation workflow!

📥 Download & Installation

You can find erdMaid by searching in the JetBrains Marketplace, or install it directly via the link below:

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