Design, don't code
Draw shapes and describe your model in simple visual editors. metaforge handles the rest.
Your notation, your editor — generated
Design a language once.
Ship a diagram editor.
metaforge turns a declarative language definition into a real, installable diagram editor. Draw your shapes, describe your model, press generate — and get a working VS Code editor your whole team can use. No hand-written editor code.
Built on Eclipse GLSP · runs in VS Code · exports clean SVG
The idea
Modeling tools shouldn't be built by hand
Every custom diagram language usually means months of editor code. metaforge flips that: your notation is data, and one smart engine brings it to life. Change a shape, rename a concept, add a relation — your editor updates. No render code to maintain, ever.
Generate instantly
One command produces a standalone editor you can install and share — nothing left to wire up.
Evolve freely
Your language grows as data. Add types and relations without touching a line of editor code.
What you get
A complete editor, not a prototype
A full-featured editor
Create, rename, move, connect, and delete — with typed property editing (dropdowns for enums, toggles for booleans) and real containment. It behaves the way your users expect, because the rules come straight from your model.
Installable & standalone
Generate a self-contained VS Code extension, packaged and ready to install. It carries everything it needs — hand it to a colleague and it just runs.
Beautiful SVG export
The exact same diagram renders to clean, static SVG — perfect for documentation, CI pipelines, and embedding in Markdown. One source, pixel-for-pixel consistent.
Your notation, faithfully
Custom shapes with precise geometry, styled edges, labels, compartments, and nesting. If you can draw it, metaforge can render it — live and on export.
How it works
Three steps from idea to editor
-
1
Describe your language
Define your element types, properties, and relationships — the concepts your diagrams are made of.
-
2
Draw your notation
Author shapes and edge styles visually, then bind each concept to how it should look.
-
3
Generate & ship
Press generate. Out comes a real, installable editor — plus SVG export for free.
Under the hood, your notation stays pure data and one interpreting engine renders it — so the live editor and the exported SVG always agree, and your language never rots into unmaintainable code.
The pipeline
From notation to a packaged editor
Shapes, edges, and your semantic model are tied together by a binding model. metaforge
interprets that definition and generates an installable editor — packaged as a
.vsix you can drop into VS Code.
.vsix for VS Code or as a
standalone web app. Same binding model, your choice of target.
One source, many outputs
Define it once, use it everywhere
Your language definition
model · shapes · binding
▸ A live, interactive editor
▸ Clean SVG export
▸ Diagrams embedded in Markdown
▸ Code & artifact generation
Who it's for
Made for language designers
Teams with a domain language
You have a modeling notation and want a polished editor for it — without staffing a tools team.
Tool & platform builders
You ship several diagram types and are tired of rebuilding the same editor plumbing each time.
Modeling & MDE practitioners
You live in EMF / Sirius / GLSP territory and want a TypeScript-first, VS Code-native path.
Turn your notation into a tool.
metaforge is in active development. Explore the project, try the authoring editors, and generate your first language.