Leon Britton made a surprise return to the Swansea line-up after recovering from a back problem while Tom Butler and Owain Tudur-Jones replaced Ferrie Bodde and Jordi Gomez.
The Swans settled the better in the opening stages with Mark Gower and Britton pushing their side forward.
Cardiff were forced to defend in numbers as Swansea attacked down both flanks, but the first chance of the game fell to the Bluebirds in the 12th minute when Michael Chopra fired over from Ross McCormack's pass.
Darren Pratley broke the deadlock in the 19th minute. Jason Scotland beat the offside trap to collect a pass from Britton before cutting down the wing and finding the unmarked Pratley who side-footed his shot into the corner.
Referee Martin Atkinson was quick to brandish his yellow cards but it was a typical derby game, with no quarter given.
Cardiff equalised on the stroke of half-time through Joe Ledley who volleyed a left-foot shot through a crowded penalty area and the visitors took the lead three minutes into the second half when Federico Bessone brought down Chopra. And McCormack struck the spot-kick to the left of Dorus de Vries.
In the 50th minute Stephen McPhail kicked the ball away and was yellow carded. He had already been booked in the 28th minute, so for the second time this season at The Liberty Stadium he was sent off.
Gavin Rae was brought on in the 56th minute to bolster the visitors defence while the Swans made two changes of their own on the hour with Gorka Pintado and Shaun MacDonald both entering the fray.
Pintado made his mark immediately by firing home the equaliser from MacDonald's 61st-minute corner.
Kevin McNaughton hacked off the ball off Cardiff's goal-line, as the Swans looked for a winner and Bluebirds keeper Peter Enckelman had to make a superb one-handed save to deny Pintado in the 81st minute.
There was a sting in the tale for the Swans when Britton received a second yellow card in the final minute as both sides settled for a point.