Getting started with Whimsical AI

Blank canvas anxiety? No more! Whimsical AI allows you to create flowcharts, mind maps, sticky notes, and sequence diagrams in seconds. Simply select the type you need, enter a prompt, and generate your ideas visually onto a board. This guide will show you how to get the magic started.

Getting started

You’ll find the option to Generate with AI under the ✨ stars icon in the toolbar on the left side of any Whimsical board.

You can also use the keyboard shortcut Command + .  (Mac) or Ctrl + . (PC) for quicker access to open the Whimsical AI modal.

When the Whimsical AI modal is open, you can switch between Auto, Flowchart, Mind map, Sticky notes, or Sequence diagram and then enter your prompt.

Hit the Create button, or use the keyboard shortcut Command + Return (Mac) or Ctrl + Enter (PC) to generate your diagram from the prompt.

Tips and tricks

Example prompts

If you’re stuck for prompt ideas or simply want to test how this works, you can hit the backslash key / to generate some example prompts you can select from.

Prompt history

To access your past prompts, click on the history button located at the top-right of the prompt window, or use the keyboard shortcut Command + / (Mac) or Ctrl + / (PC).

AI generation from URLs

Create concise summaries of web pages or your Whimsical workspace files by pasting any URL into your prompt instructions.

You can also compare content on different URLs in a prompt like this example:

Setting the default style for sticky notes, diagram and sequence diagram shapes

If you prefer a different color and style for your sticky notes or diagram shapes, you can set the default style for each shape so that they are automatically generated the way you like them.

To set your preferred shape style, first select the colour, text formatting, and outline style, then right-click on the shape > select Save as Default Style from the menu.

The default style is unique for each type of shape. You will have to set up the default style for each new board you're working in.

Extending your mind maps

You can extend your mind map with further AI generation using our AI-assisted mind mapping feature. Learn more about how that works here.

What happens to my data?

We use OpenAI for diagram generation. Only your text prompts will be sent to and used by OpenAI for the feature to work. OpenAI does not preserve this data or use it for AI training.

Learn more about the safety of OpenAI here. You can also read Whimsical AI Terms of Service here.

Usage limits

Our Starter and Education plans are limited to a total of 100 AI actions / editor. The quota is 2000 actions / month / editor for Pro plan customers and 4000 actions / month / editor for Org plan customers.