Two Minute Fishbone Diagram
create_fishboneGenerate a slide-deck-quality fishbone diagram (Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagram) for root-cause analysis: a horizontal spine ending in a head box that holds the problem, with 1–8 category bones angled off it, alternating above and below, each named in a coloured pill and carrying up to 6 causes, and each cause up to 3 sub-causes. Standard category sets fill in unnamed categories: 6M for manufacturing (People, Machine, Method, Material, Measurement, Environment), 8P for services and 4S for the service industry. Choose it for quality, Lean and Six Sigma (DMAIC Analyze) work, healthcare quality improvement, incident reviews and any "why does this keep happening" slide; use an issue tree for a MECE logic or KPI breakdown, a mind map for an open brainstorm, a SIPOC to scope a process, and the lab fishbone (create_lab_fishbone) for lab value skeletons such as BMP or CBC, which is a different thing. Infer 4–6 categories and 2–4 causes each from the problem rather than asking. Limits: 1–8 categories, 6 causes per category of about 2–7 words, 3 sub-causes per cause. Infer missing details rather than asking; the user can adjust the chart in the builder through the Edit link. ALWAYS give the user the image link: inline chat images usually cannot be saved, but the link renders the exact chart on demand and can be pasted into a slide or Markdown.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| title | No | Heading shown top-left of the chart at 22px bold. Every chart has one title row; an empty string hides it. | Root cause analysis |
| width | No | Chart width in pixels (640–2400, default 1280, which suits a 16:9 slide). PNG output renders at 2x. Height is computed from the content: bones grow as long as their causes need. | |
| credit | No | Shows a small "twominutetoolkit.com" credit under the chart, inside the card. Set false to leave it off (for example when the user asks for no branding). | |
| preset | No | Standard category set whose names are used for categories that have no `name`, by position: "6m" (manufacturing: People, Machine, Method, Material, Measurement, Environment), "8p" (services: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical evidence, Productivity), "4s" (service industry: Surroundings, Suppliers, Systems, Skills) or "custom" (unnamed categories show "Category 1", "Category 2"…). Default "6m". A category's own `name` always wins. | 6m |
| palette | No | Hex colours applied in order to the category bones that have no colour of their own (bone, cause lines and name pill). Pass the user's brand colours here when they name them. Default: indigo, sky, emerald, amber, red, gray. | |
| problem | Yes | The effect being analysed, shown in the head box at the right end of the spine, e.g. "Late medication administration on Ward 4B". Phrase it as a problem, not a cause. Wraps to 5 lines in the box; about 3–10 words reads best. | |
| categories | Yes | The category bones (1–8; 4–6 is typical), drawn left to right in pairs: the first above the spine, the second below it, the third above, and so on. More than 8 are dropped with a warning. E.g. [{ "name": "People", "causes": [{ "text": "Agency staff unfamiliar with the ward", "sub": ["No induction checklist"] }] }]. |