v0.4.3 – sequence messages keep their receiver

Sequence diagram messages lost their receiver. When a message ends on an activation bar, Visual Paradigm drops its receiver: the model's to end stays empty and the connector has no target shape. The diagram still looks right because the line keeps its stored points, but vp_get_element shows to: {}, and anything that reads the model (reports, code generation, checks of sender and receiver) sees messages without a receiver. vp_build_sequence attached almost every call and return to the receiver's activation bar, so nearly all its messages were affected.

• vp_build_sequence attaches both ends of a message to the lifelines; the activation bars are still linked to the message
• vp_add_connector / build connectors of type Message given an activation bar use its lifeline; activation shape ids from vp_get_diagram are found
• the label of a message from a lifeline to itself sits above its loop

Diagrams built with earlier versions keep their messages without a receiver: rebuild them with vp_build_sequence or re-create the affected messages. Arrow heads now reach the lifeline's centre line, about half an activation bar into it.

Install: close Visual Paradigm, replace the visual-paradigm-mcp-plugin folder in the plugins directory with the one from the zip, start VP. The skill (visual-paradigm-skill.zip) was updated as well.

v0.4.2 – shape sizes after reload, association roles, member types

Fixes found while building class and sequence diagrams for a real project.

Shapes losing their size after reopening a project. Shapes created through the plugin kept Visual Paradigm's "request default size" flag until the diagram was painted in an editor. A project saved before that came back with default-sized shapes (classes 80x40, names and members cut off), and exports of closed diagrams showed the same. Builds now clear the flag. When the tools open a closed diagram (builds, layouts, exports, vp_open_diagram), classes, tables and enumerations are fitted to their content without being made smaller, which also repairs diagrams that were already affected.

• vp_export_diagram_image opens a closed diagram before rendering it; vp_get_diagram reports whether the diagram is open (opened)
• vp_add_child refits the owner's shapes, so new attributes/operations show up in the compartments
• associations are reused only when the given role names, multiplicities and aggregation match: two compositions between the same classes with different roles are no longer merged; association ends are reported as fromEnd / toEnd
• vp_get_element shows attribute and parameter types (dataType) and operation return types (returnType, including []); vp_find_elements also finds members (attributes, operations, parameters)
• connectors: waypoints (bend points) on vp_add_connector, build connectors and vp_update_element; a second line between the same two shapes is drawn with a bend automatically; new connectors are drawn between the shape borders instead of along the top edges
• vp_update_element with the project id renames the project
• vp_list_types accepts a diagram type such as ClassDiagram

Install: close Visual Paradigm, replace the visual-paradigm-mcp-plugin folder in the plugins directory with the one from the zip, start VP. The skill (visual-paradigm-skill.zip) was updated as well. Restart your agent session to load the new tool schemas.

v0.4.1 – fixes: flow steps, duplicate relationships, actor lists

Bug fixes and small improvements found while maintaining a real use case model.

• vp_get_element now returns the steps of flows of events (they were always empty); sub-steps are returned as {text, steps}, and flows/steps can be looked up by id
• vp_set_use_case_details: replaceActors: true sets the exact, ordered primary/supporting actor lists (also clearing with an empty list); steps may contain sub-steps
• vp_add_connector / vp_build_diagram reuse an identical existing relationship (same type, ends and name) instead of creating a duplicate in the model; allowDuplicate: true forces a new one
• elements shown again via modelId report their real size immediately
• «include»/«extend» labels on short, steep lines are placed beside the line instead of on the arrow head

Install: close Visual Paradigm, replace the visual-paradigm-mcp-plugin folder in the plugins directory with the one from the zip, start VP. The skill (visual-paradigm-skill.zip) was updated as well.

v0.4.0 – full sequence diagram support

Sequence diagrams

New tool vp_build_sequence builds a complete sequence diagram in one call from participants and ordered steps:

• lifelines with classifiers (form : OrderForm) and actors
• synchronous calls, replies (dashed, unnumbered), async messages, self calls, create (the new object starts at the message) and destroy (X)
• activation bars derived automatically from call/return pairs
• combined fragments alt, opt, loop, par, break, critical, neg, ... with guarded operands, nestable
• interaction uses (ref), optional sd frame and sequence numbers

Also: vp_get_view (presentation properties of a shape/diagram), diagram options through vp_update_element view, connector points in vp_get_diagram.

Install

Close Visual Paradigm, unzip into %APPDATA%\VisualParadigm\plugins (Linux: ~/.config/VisualParadigm/plugins), start VP. Restart your Claude Code session to load the new tools.

Skill (recommended)

visual-paradigm-skill.zip contains the visual-paradigm skill: workflow, UML conventions, checking results, dialogs and tested examples for every diagram type. Unzip it into your client's skills folder: ~/.claude/skills/ (Claude Code), ~/.codex/skills/ (Codex CLI), ~/.config/opencode/skills/ (OpenCode) or ~/.gemini/antigravity/skills/ (Antigravity CLI). MCP setup commands for all four clients are in the README.

v0.3.0 – class models, dialog handling

Class models

• Interface, Enumeration (with literals), DataType as element types
• attributes and operations with parameters, static/abstract members, initial values
• association roles, multiplicities, navigability, aggregation/composition, qualifiers, association classes
• stereotypes on any element (stereotypes, removeStereotypes); view: {"displayStereotypeIcon": false} shows «entity» classes as boxes
• a type can reference a class by name, id or @key of the same vp_build_diagram call; elements can be referenced by unique name
• new layout layered (default for class/ER diagrams): inheritance top-down, no clipped classes

Dialogs

• vp_list_dialogs / vp_press_dialog_button: the AI can read and answer dialogs Visual Paradigm opens (save changes, project recovery…)

Install

Close Visual Paradigm, unzip into %APPDATA%\VisualParadigm\plugins (Linux: ~/.config/VisualParadigm/plugins), start VP. Restart your Claude Code session to load the new tools.

v0.2.0 – Visual Paradigm 18.1 / Java 11

First release of the rewrite for Visual Paradigm 18.1 (also the free Community Edition).

Install

1. Close Visual Paradigm.
2. Unzip visual-paradigm-mcp-plugin-0.2.0.zip into the plugins folder so that you get <plugins>/visual-paradigm-mcp-plugin/plugin.xml
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\VisualParadigm\plugins
   • Linux: ~/.config/VisualParadigm/plugins
3. Start Visual Paradigm, then connect your MCP client, e.g. Claude Code:
   claude mcp add --transport http -s user visual-paradigm http://127.0.0.1:8931/mcp

What's inside

• 22 MCP tools (Streamable HTTP on 127.0.0.1:8931/mcp, configurable in mcp.properties)
• Use case, activity (swimlanes), sequence, class, ER and state machine diagrams; many shapes and connectors in one call; image export so the AI can look at the result
• No dependencies, runs on Visual Paradigm's bundled Java 11

Tested on Windows 11 with Visual Paradigm Community Edition 18.1 (build 20260914).