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Methodology Cycle Diagram

A methodology loop diagram — five stages in a ring — built around the one thing that makes it a cycle rather than a list bent into a circle. Six fields.

systemsdiagramprocessimage-promptminutes
ExamplesFive stages · one closure · one direction
Vibary
Harbour Row

We made two examples: a library process and a fishing round. Both have the same five-stage ring and a single decision, and in both the returning arrow says what it brings back: a sharper vocabulary in one, a record of which conditions paid off in the other. With two such different subjects, you can see that closing the loop is a rule, not a flourish.

You get a loop diagram with five stages running clockwise, one decision, and a coloured arrow returning from the last stage to the first with its label. Success carries on around the ring, failure goes back to a single earlier stage, and the centre holds only the loop's name. Sometimes a mottled dark border appears around it or the title shows twice above the frame. If that happens, generate again.

Generated for this library

Input
  Called    THE LIBRARY LOOP
  Stages    someone describes a screen · an agent builds it ·
            it gets used in real work · what broke gets written
            down · the template is rewritten
  Returns   a sharper vocabulary for describing screens - the
            rewritten template is what the next description is
            written with
  Decision  after it gets used in real work, ask: did it survive
            contact? if not, back to an agent builds it
  Accent    one amber
  Footnote  none

Returned   1 diagram · 1:1 · white card on pale grey

ring       five nodes evenly spaced, clockwise, black curved
           arrows between them
closure    a full arrow from the fifth node back to the first,
           labelled with what it carries
decision   one black diamond off the third node, its failure
           arrow returning to the second and nowhere else
centre     empty but for the loop's name, no summary line
title      set large with the key word on an amber bar
SKILL.mdthe whole thing, as you would paste it© vibary.ai

You fill in 6 fields — the braced lines at the top. Everything below them is fixed.

  1. 1What the cycle is called
  2. 2The five stages, in order
  3. 3What the last stage hands the first
  4. 4The decision, and where failing sends you
  5. 5The accent
  6. 6The footnote, or none

Methodology Cycle Diagram

What this makes

A methodology loop diagram — five stages in a ring — built around the one thing that makes it a cycle rather than a list bent into a circle. Six fields.

The whole template, in one piece. The steps below are the entire workflow.

How to use it

  1. Copy the whole template with the button above.
  2. Replace the six FIELDS lines. The third is the whole skill — write the actual thing that travels from the last stage back to the first. If you cannot name it, the process is not a cycle.
  3. Paste it into any image-capable agent or model, in one message. One run returns the diagram.
  4. Check the success path before shipping: follow the arrows from the last stage. If they stop at an outcome instead of returning to the start, the diagram is a list drawn in a circle.

What you swap

What the cycle is called
THE LIBRARY LOOP
The five stages, in order
someone describes a screen · an agent builds it · it gets used in real work · what broke gets written down · the template is rewritten
What the last stage hands the first
a sharper vocabulary for describing screens — the rewritten template is what the next description is written with
The decision, and where failing sends you
after it gets used in real work, ask: did it survive contact? if not, back to an agent builds it
The accent
one amber
The footnote, or none
none

Before it runs

  • A process that genuinely feeds itself. If you cannot say what the last stage hands the first, you have a sequence and it should be drawn as a line.
  • Stages you already know. This diagram carries authority, and a model asked to invent the stages of somebody's strategy is writing advice, not drawing.
  • Willingness to stop at five. Every extra stage is another label, and the ring stops being readable before the page runs out of room.

When to reach for it

When a process feeds itself: a growth model, a design method, a review cadence, an operating rhythm. Templates in this style draw a beautiful ring and let success exit it, so the only thing closing the loop is the failure branch.

What changes

  • One clean diagram card: five stages in a ring, curved arrows, a decision point, and a highlighted title.
  • The success path returns to the start and names what it carries, which is the whole difference between a cycle and a sequence.
  • The failure path is separate and returns to a stated stage rather than defaulting to the beginning.
  • The centre is left empty or holds only the loop's name, instead of restating the ring as a line of text.
  • Five stages rather than eight, because past that a methodology diagram becomes a ring of paragraphs.

Pairs with