sphinxcontrib-blockdiag

What it is and what it does

sphinxcontrib-blockdiag is a Sphinx extension that lets you embed block diagrams directly in your documentation source using blockdiag's simple syntax. You write diagram definitions in reStructuredText code blocks and the extension renders them as images during the Sphinx build process. It integrates seamlessly with Sphinx's documentation workflow, allowing you to keep diagrams close to the text that describes them.

The package depends on blockdiag for the actual rendering and Sphinx for integration. It's classified as Production/Stable and supports Python 3.7 through 3.9, but the project has been abandoned since late 2022—no updates have been released in over three years. If your documentation toolchain is stable and you don't need ongoing maintenance or support for newer Sphinx versions, it can still work, but you should be aware that bugs or incompatibilities with future Sphinx releases will not be fixed.

Use it for:

• Add flowcharts and block diagrams to API documentation or architecture guides without external image files.
• Create system component diagrams in technical documentation that stay synchronized with source code.
• Generate visual process flows in user guides or runbooks embedded directly in Sphinx-built docs.
• Document data pipeline or workflow stages as part of a larger Sphinx documentation project.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

A Sphinx extension that embeds block diagrams into documentation by rendering blockdiag syntax within reStructuredText.

Yes, if your Sphinx documentation is stable and you need simple block diagrams without external image management. No, if you require active maintenance, need to support future Sphinx versions, or prefer a maintained alternative. The low install friction and permissive license are offset by the project's abandonment status—use it only when you're confident your Sphinx and Python environment will remain compatible.

Install

sphinxcontrib-blockdiag on PyPI

pip install sphinxcontrib-blockdiag

uv add sphinxcontrib-blockdiag

poetry add sphinxcontrib-blockdiag

Installing sphinxcontrib-blockdiag

Before you install

Low friction to install, but the project is abandoned—last release was 2021-12-05 and last commit 2022-09-29. It works with current Python versions (3.7+) but receives no active maintenance.

License in practice

BSD license is permissive; you can use this in commercial and open-source projects with minimal restrictions, though you must include the license notice.

Quickstart

pip install sphinxcontrib-blockdiag

In conf.py:
extensions = ['sphinxcontrib.blockdiag']

In your .rst file:
.. blockdiag::

   diagram {
     A -> B -> C;
          B -> D;
   }

Requires Sphinx and blockdiag as runtime dependencies; blockdiag itself may have system-level dependencies for diagram rendering.

Verify before relying

• Whether blockdiag's own dependencies (e.g., Pillow, graphviz) are automatically satisfied or require separate installation.
• Compatibility with Sphinx versions beyond those tested at release; the extension may not work with very recent Sphinx releases.
• Whether the generated diagrams render correctly in modern Sphinx output formats (HTML5, PDF).

Package facts

Evidence: sphinxcontrib_blockdiag-3.0.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl

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