# Connect Mermaid shapes

Drawing a connection is a deliberate gesture rather than an accidental one: hold Alt and drag from one shape onto another. That prevents connections appearing every time somebody drags a node.

The new edge appears in the source in the right place.

![image-20260907-090655.png](https://help.gocapable.com/images/eed9f9ab-ca2e-4f57-9eb0-b9536e2e39f3.webp)

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## What this is for

* Adding a relationship to an existing diagram.
* Building a diagram entirely on the canvas.
* Reconnecting something you deleted.

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## How it works

| **Action**        | **How**                                        |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Draw a connection | Hold Alt and drag from one shape onto another. |
| Cancel            | Escape, mid-drag.                              |
| Label it          | Select the edge and rename it.                 |
| Delete            | Select the edge and press Delete.              |

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## A few things that catch people out

* Without Alt, dragging moves the node. That is deliberate, and it is the most common first confusion.
* The edge is written into the source where it belongs, not appended at the end.
* Edge labels are renamed exactly like node labels.

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## Related

[Mermaid shapes, arrows and coloursThe entity popover.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/mermaid-shapes-arrows-and-colours.html)

[Mermaid source round tripThe text is always the truth.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/mermaid-source-round-trip.html)

[Mermaid visual editorBack to the editor overview.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/mermaid-visual-editor.html)

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_Drag it. The text keeps up._