Create your first diagram

Build a BPMN diagram from scratch in Bonita Process Designer: create the diagram, drag elements from the palette, connect and label them, add a pool with lanes, rely on autosave, then export.

This walkthrough takes you from an empty canvas to a complete, exportable BPMN diagram. It assumes you are signed in with a Creator or Admin role (a Reader can open and view diagrams but not create or edit them). If you would rather have a diagram drafted for you from a written description, see Generate a diagram with AI instead.

Before you start

To create and edit diagrams you need:

  • A running Bonita Process Designer instance and an account that can sign in.

  • A Creator or Admin role in at least one group. Diagrams are scoped to the groups you belong to.

For a tour of the screens referenced below, see Interface overview.

Step 1: Create the diagram

  1. From the home dashboard, select New diagram.

  2. Enter a description of the process. The description is required and is also used as the prompt for AI generation.

  3. Optionally enter a title. If you leave it blank, a title is generated from the first words of your description.

  4. Confirm. The diagram opens in the editor.

Titles must be unique. If you choose a title that already exists, the diagram is not created and you are asked to pick a different one.

Step 2: Choose Start from scratch

When an empty diagram opens for the first time, a choice appears:

  • Start from scratch — open a blank canvas and build the diagram manually (this guide).

  • Generate with AI — draft the diagram from your description. This option is only available when AI generation is configured for your installation.

Select Start from scratch to continue with an empty canvas.

Step 3: Add elements from the palette

The palette on the left lists the available BPMN elements grouped by category (events, activities, gateways, and so on).

  1. Find the element you need in the palette.

  2. Drag it onto the canvas and release at the position where you want it.

  3. Repeat to add the other elements of your process — for example a start event, one or more tasks, a gateway, and an end event.

Only the BPMN elements compatible with Bonita Studio are offered. For the full list, see Supported BPMN elements.

Step 4: Connect the elements with flows

Flows define the order in which elements run.

  1. Hover over the source element until its connection points appear.

  2. Drag from a connection point to the target element.

  3. Release on the target to create the flow.

Connections are validated as you draw them: only valid links between compatible elements are accepted. To reorder or reroute a flow later, see Edit a diagram.

Step 5: Label the elements

Give each element a meaningful name.

  1. Double-click an element to edit its label.

  2. Type the name and click elsewhere on the canvas to confirm.

Clear labels make a diagram easier to read and produce a cleaner export to Bonita Studio.

Step 6: Add a pool and lanes

Pools and lanes (swimlanes) group activities by participant or responsibility.

  1. Drag a pool from the palette onto the canvas.

  2. Add lanes inside the pool — one per participant, role, or system.

  3. Drag your existing elements into the appropriate lane.

A pool contains lanes, and activities sit inside lanes. Bonita Process Designer validates this nesting: an element can only be dropped where it is allowed.

Step 7: Let autosave do the work

You do not need to save manually. Bonita Process Designer saves your changes automatically at a regular interval, and a status indicator shows the current state — saving, saved, or an error if a save could not complete.

The autosave interval is configurable by an administrator. See Application settings.

Step 8: Export the diagram

When the diagram is ready, export it to use elsewhere.

  1. Open the export action in the editor toolbar.

  2. Choose a format:

    • BPMN 2.0 XML (.bpmn) — the Bonita Studio-compatible format.

    • PNG — an image of the diagram.

    • JSON — the raw diagram, to re-import into Bonita Process Designer later.

  3. The file downloads to your computer.

You can also print the diagram from the browser. For the full set of formats, import, and the element migration that happens on import, see Export and import diagrams.

Next steps

  • Edit a diagram — moving, resizing, changing subtypes, the inspector panel, undo/redo, zoom and pan.

  • Export and import diagrams — every export and import option, including Bonita Studio compatibility notes.