diff --git a/cmd/schema.go b/cmd/schema.go
index 83da5d64..e2b34f20 100644
--- a/cmd/schema.go
+++ b/cmd/schema.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 
 	v1 "github.com/authzed/authzed-go/proto/authzed/api/v1"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 	"go.infratographer.com/x/otelx"
 
 	"go.infratographer.com/permissions-api/internal/config"
@@ -29,6 +30,17 @@ func init() {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(schemaCmd)
 
 	schemaCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&dryRun, "dry-run", false, "dry run: print the schema instead of applying it")
+
+	schemaCmd.Flags().Bool("mermaid", false, "outputs the policy as a mermaid chart definition")
+	schemaCmd.Flags().Bool("mermaid-markdown", false, "outputs the policy as a markdown mermaid chart definition")
+
+	if err := viper.BindPFlag("mermaid", schemaCmd.Flags().Lookup("mermaid")); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	if err := viper.BindPFlag("mermaid-markdown", schemaCmd.Flags().Lookup("mermaid-markdown")); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
 }
 
 func writeSchema(ctx context.Context, dryRun bool, cfg *config.AppConfig) {
@@ -57,6 +69,12 @@ func writeSchema(ctx context.Context, dryRun bool, cfg *config.AppConfig) {
 		logger.Fatalw("failed to generate schema from policy", "error", err)
 	}
 
+	if viper.GetBool("mermaid") || viper.GetBool("mermaid-markdown") {
+		outputPolicyMermaid(cfg.SpiceDB.PolicyFile, viper.GetBool("mermaid-markdown"))
+
+		return
+	}
+
 	if dryRun {
 		fmt.Printf("%s", schemaStr)
 		return
diff --git a/cmd/schema_mermaid.go b/cmd/schema_mermaid.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a041aea4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/schema_mermaid.go
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"text/template"
+
+	"go.infratographer.com/permissions-api/internal/iapl"
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
+)
+
+var (
+	mermaidTemplate = `erDiagram
+{{- range $resource := .ResourceTypes }}
+	{{ $resource.Name }} {
+		id_prefix {{ $resource.IDPrefix }}
+		{{- range $action := index $.Actions $resource.Name }}
+		perm {{ $action }}
+		{{- end }}
+		{{- range $relation, $actions := index $.RelatedActions $resource.Name }}
+		{{- range $action := $actions }}
+		{{ $relation }}_perm {{ $action }}
+		{{- end }}
+		{{- end }}
+	}
+    {{- range $rel := $resource.Relationships }}
+	{{- range $targetName := $rel.TargetTypeNames }}
+	{{ $resource.Name }} ||--o{ {{ $targetName }} : {{ $rel.Relation }}
+	{{- end }}
+	{{- end }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- range $union := .Unions }}
+	{{ $union.Name }} {
+		{{- range $action := index $.Actions $union.Name }}
+		perm {{ $action }}
+		{{- end }}
+	}
+	{{- range $typ := $union.ResourceTypeNames }}
+	{{ $union.Name }} }o--|| {{ $typ }} : alias
+	{{- end }}
+{{- end }}`
+
+	mermaidTmpl = template.Must(template.New("mermaid").Parse(mermaidTemplate))
+)
+
+type mermaidContext struct {
+	ResourceTypes  []iapl.ResourceType
+	Unions         []iapl.Union
+	Actions        map[string][]string
+	RelatedActions map[string]map[string][]string
+}
+
+func outputPolicyMermaid(filePath string, markdown bool) {
+	var policy iapl.PolicyDocument
+
+	if filePath != "" {
+		file, err := os.Open(filePath)
+		if err != nil {
+			logger.Fatalw("failed to open policy document file", "error", err)
+		}
+
+		defer file.Close()
+
+		if err := yaml.NewDecoder(file).Decode(&policy); err != nil {
+			logger.Fatalw("failed to load policy document file", "error", err)
+		}
+	} else {
+		policy = iapl.DefaultPolicyDocument()
+	}
+
+	actions := map[string][]string{}
+	relatedActions := map[string]map[string][]string{}
+
+	for _, binding := range policy.ActionBindings {
+		for _, cond := range binding.Conditions {
+			if cond.RoleBinding != nil {
+				actions[binding.TypeName] = append(actions[binding.TypeName], binding.ActionName)
+			}
+
+			if cond.RelationshipAction != nil {
+				if _, ok := relatedActions[binding.TypeName]; !ok {
+					relatedActions[binding.TypeName] = make(map[string][]string)
+				}
+
+				relatedActions[binding.TypeName][cond.RelationshipAction.Relation] = append(relatedActions[binding.TypeName][cond.RelationshipAction.Relation], cond.RelationshipAction.ActionName)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	ctx := mermaidContext{
+		ResourceTypes:  policy.ResourceTypes,
+		Unions:         policy.Unions,
+		Actions:        actions,
+		RelatedActions: relatedActions,
+	}
+
+	var out bytes.Buffer
+
+	if err := mermaidTmpl.Execute(&out, ctx); err != nil {
+		logger.Fatalw("failed to render mermaid chart for policy", "error", err)
+	}
+
+	if markdown {
+		fmt.Printf("```mermaid\n%s\n```\n", out.String())
+
+		return
+	}
+
+	fmt.Println(out.String())
+}
diff --git a/diagram.md b/diagram.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ebf75ae8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/diagram.md
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+```mermaid
+erDiagram
+	role {
+		id_prefix permrol
+	}
+	role ||--o{ subject : subject
+	user {
+		id_prefix idntusr
+	}
+	client {
+		id_prefix idntcli
+	}
+	tenant {
+		id_prefix tnntten
+	}
+	tenant ||--o{ tenant : parent
+	loadbalancer {
+		id_prefix loadbal
+		perm loadbalancer_get
+		perm loadbalancer_update
+		perm loadbalancer_delete
+		owner_perm loadbalancer_get
+		owner_perm loadbalancer_update
+		owner_perm loadbalancer_delete
+	}
+	loadbalancer ||--o{ resourceowner : owner
+	subject {
+	}
+	subject }o--|| user : alias
+	subject }o--|| client : alias
+	resourceowner {
+		perm loadbalancer_create
+		perm loadbalancer_get
+		perm loadbalancer_update
+		perm loadbalancer_list
+		perm loadbalancer_delete
+	}
+	resourceowner }o--|| tenant : alias
+```