Generate seating chart
generate_seating_chartUse this when the user wants a seating chart or seating plan: a classroom seating chart for students (rows, pairs or groups of 4; keep two students apart; seat some students near the front; mixed groups; a new random seating chart each week that avoids last week's neighbours) or a wedding, party or banquet seating chart (round or long tables of N, keep couples and households together, keep two guests apart, head table, kids table). Accepts typed names or an uploaded roster or guest list (CSV/Excel). It checks each hard rule and reports any conflict, naming the rules that conflict. Returns the chart, a soft-preference score, and links to a printable PDF, place cards and Excel. Same seed gives the same chart; change seed to reshuffle. Each call saves new PDF and Excel files (which include the names) on the plugin server for 1 hour (private download links), then deletes them. Rosters are not saved. Does not seat stadiums, theaters or airplanes.
Tool call template
Replace each placeholder with a value matching the input schema. Only required parameters are included; add optional parameters as needed.
{
"id": 1,
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"arguments": {
"mode": "<mode>"
},
"name": "generate_seating_chart"
}
}Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| mode | Yes | classroom for a teacher's seating chart of desks; event for a wedding, party, banquet or gala with tables. | |
| rows | No | Classroom rows/pairs: number of rows from the front, e.g. 5. | |
| seed | No | Shuffle number, e.g. 1 (default). The same inputs and seed give the same chart; use another number to reshuffle. | |
| title | No | Title printed on the chart, e.g. Period 3 - Room 114, or Lee & Park Wedding. | |
| layout | No | Classroom desk layout: rows (single desks, default), pairs (desks in twos), or groups (pods/tables of group_size). | |
| people | No | The students or guests: plain names ("Ava Martinez") or objects with flags, e.g. {"name":"Cara Diaz","needs_front_seat":true}. Leave out when a roster file is attached. | |
| tables | No | Events: table setup, e.g. [{"count":1,"seats":10,"type":"head","shape":"long"},{"count":12,"seats":8}]. | |
| columns | No | Classroom: desks per row (rows), desk pairs per row (pairs), or groups per row (groups), e.g. 6. | |
| front_rows | No | Classroom: how many rows count as the front for needs_front_seat, e.g. 1 (default). | |
| group_size | No | Classroom groups layout: students per group, e.g. 4 (default). | |
| keep_apart | No | Hard rule: people who must not sit next to each other (classroom: not beside, in front, behind or diagonal, nor in the same group; in pairs the seat across the aisle counts as beside unless aisle_breaks_adjacency is true; events: not at the same table). Each inner list is one rule, e.g. [["Ben","Eli"]]. | |
| label_rule | No | How to use labels: mix (spread each label across groups and neighbours; the classroom default), group (seat the same label together, e.g. college friends; the event default), or ignore. | |
| escort_sort | No | Events: sort the alphabetical escort card list by last_name (default) or first_name. | |
| group_count | No | Classroom groups layout: number of groups, e.g. 7. Default: just enough for everyone. | |
| roster_file | No | Optional class roster or guest list as CSV, TSV or Excel .xlsx with a header row: a Name column (or First/Last), and optional Party/Household, Group/Label, Front seat, VIP, Child, RSVP, Keep apart (names) and Table columns, e.g. guests.xlsx. | |
| table_count | No | Events shorthand: number of regular guest tables, e.g. 12. Default: just enough. | |
| prefer_apart | No | Soft preference: try to keep these people apart; scored, not forced. Each inner list is one rule, e.g. [["Uncle Joe","Aunt Sue"]]. | |
| keep_together | No | Hard rule: people who must sit next to each other (classroom) or at the same table (events). Each inner list is one rule, e.g. [["Ann Lee","Bob Lee"]]. | |
| prefer_together | No | Soft preference: try to seat these people together; scored, not forced. Each inner list is one rule, e.g. [["Mia","Zoe"]]. | |
| seats_per_table | No | Events shorthand: seats per regular table, e.g. 8 (default) or 10. | |
| head_table_seats | No | Events shorthand: add a long head table with this many seats for VIP guests, e.g. 10. | |
| kids_table_seats | No | Events shorthand: add a kids table with this many seats for guests marked child, e.g. 8. | |
| previous_seat_order | No | Classroom rotation: last chart's seat_order from this tool (names by seat number, "" for empty desks). The new chart avoids last time's neighbours and desks. | |
| aisle_breaks_adjacency | No | Classroom pairs: true if the aisle between desk pairs separates students, so the seat across the aisle does not count as beside. Default false (across the aisle counts as beside). |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| mode | Yes | ||
| room | Yes | ||
| seed | Yes | ||
| soft | Yes | ||
| chart | Yes | ||
| seats | Yes | ||
| title | Yes | ||
| layout | Yes | ||
| people | Yes | ||
| status | Yes | ||
| warnings | Yes | ||
| conflicts | Yes | ||
| downloads | Yes | ||
| hard_rules | Yes | ||
| seat_order | No | ||
| soft_score | Yes | ||
| chart_truncated | No | ||
| seating_problems | Yes | ||
| hard_rules_broken | Yes |