Data Security on Archyl Cloud: What We Protect, How, and What We Don't Claim
The precise answers a security reviewer needs about Archyl Cloud: which fields are encrypted and with what, how tenants are kept apart, what the AI actually…
Blog - Tutorials, Guides & Architecture Insights
Tutorials, guides, and best practices for software architecture documentation, the C4 model, and AI-powered discovery.
arc42 vs C4 Model: Differences and How to Combine Them
arc42 is a documentation template, C4 is a diagramming model. What each covers, where they overlap, and which C4 diagram goes in which arc42 section.
C4 Dynamic Diagram: Guide With Examples
What a C4 dynamic diagram shows, when to draw one instead of a sequence diagram, and a worked example of numbered interactions over a container diagram.
C4 Model Examples: Stripe, Netflix, Uber and Revolut
Four real systems modeled in C4, from context to components: Stripe payments, Netflix playback, Uber dispatch and Revolut transfers. Diagrams included.
Software Architecture Documentation Template (Free)
A lean software architecture documentation template: context, C4 diagrams, decisions, quality goals and risks. Markdown you can copy into your repo today.
Review Your Agent While It Works
A managed run used to be fire-and-wait: you wrote a task, and twenty minutes later a pull request told you what the agent had decided.
Managed Agents Now Answer to the Harness
Sandboxes, tool loops, sessions and schedules are becoming something every platform offers.
Structurizr Workspaces Split Across Files Now Import Into Archyl
A Structurizr workspace built from !include files could not be imported into Archyl until now.
We Took Documentation Out of the Modal
Writing an architecture doc in Archyl used to mean a dialog in the middle of the screen with the document tree hidden behind it.
Scope the Archyl Bot Per Channel: Right Room, Right Projects
One Slack or Teams workspace, several teams, one bot that answers about every project.
Memory for AI Coding Agents: Storing Is the Easy Half
Agent memory is usually a pile of notes that only grows, and nothing in it can tell you which notes are still true.
Work Sessions for AI Coding Agents: Declare, Then Code
Coding agents plan against the architecture, declare their work, take advisory leases on the elements they touch and get a gate verdict before coding.
Many Coding Agents, One Architecture: Resolving Conflicts
Three coding agents, three pull requests, each right alone and wrong together. What a shared architecture model can arbitrate, and what it still can't.
MCP Went Stateless: What the 2026-07-28 Revision Removed
The 2026-07-28 MCP revision dropped the initialize handshake and Mcp-Session-Id. What changed in Archyl's server, and what's still stateful.
Architecture Context for AI Coding Agents: Beyond AGENTS.md
CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md carry conventions well and claims about your system badly. What went stale in ours, and what a longer file can't fix.
Structurizr Cloud Shuts Down on 30 September: Get Your Model Out First
Structurizr's cloud service has been read-only since 1 July 2026 and reaches end of life on 30 September.
Time-lapse: Watch Your Architecture Evolve in a 30-Second Film
Your architecture has a history — every version captured, every change recorded. Time-lapse turns it into a cinematic film: elements draw themselves in, the…
Turn Code, Terraform and Diagrams into a C4 Model with MCP
The blank canvas is a lie: your architecture is already written down in Structurizr files, Terraform modules, Mermaid diagrams and README files.
Migrate Confluence Architecture Docs With MCP: Walkthrough
Move only the Confluence pages that describe your architecture by connecting Atlassian's MCP server and Archyl's to the same AI agent. Step by step.
Anatomy of a Transfer: Modeling Revolut in C4 with Archyl
It's 19:47 in Paris. Léa taps Send, and £450 lands in a London bank account before she puts her phone down.
Reality: Your Architecture Diagram Comes Alive
Every architecture diagram is a snapshot — true the day it was drawn, drifting ever since.
Drag, Drop, Done: Files Come to Archyl Docs
Your architecture docs were all words and no receipts. Now you can drop screenshots, PDFs, and any file straight into a page — stored privately, shown…
Meet Archyl in Slack & Teams: Ask Your Architecture, In Chat
Your architecture knowledge shouldn't live behind a login. Mention @Archyl in Slack or Microsoft Teams and ask about your C4 model, ADRs, dependencies and…
MCP Playground: Run Your Agents' Tools Live, Right From the Docs
Documentation tells you what an MCP tool says it does. The new MCP Playground lets you actually call it — pick a tool, fill a form generated from its schema…
MCP Tools as API Contracts: Document What Your Agents Can Do
Your MCP servers expose tools to AI agents — a real interface surface that never shows up in architecture docs.
Archyl on Mobile: Your Architecture, in Your Hands
The whole of Archyl now works on your phone — the C4 canvas, decisions, insights, deployments, the agent hub, everything. No separate app to install.
AI Flow Generator: Describe a Journey, Get a Cross-Project Flow
Describe what you want to document. Archyl reads every project in your organisation, picks the ones that matter, and writes the flow — including the steps that…
We Redesigned Every C4 Element From Scratch
New nodes, new edges, new canvas. The Archyl diagram now reads at a glance instead of asking you to.
Anatomy of a Ride: Modeling Uber in C4 with Archyl
A rider taps Request UberX at 7:23 pm in the rain in NYC. Eight seconds later a driver 0.4 miles away has accepted, an ETA is on screen, fare is locked, and a…
Backstage Catalog to C4 Model: Import It in 60 Seconds
Import your Backstage Software Catalog into Archyl with one curl. Systems, components, resources, APIs and relations become a navigable C4 model.
Anatomy of a Charge: Modeling Stripe in C4 with Archyl
A POST request hits Stripe at 3am during Black Friday. Twenty seconds later the merchant has been credited, the cardholder's bank charged, and a webhook fired…
Architecture in Your Inbox: Introducing the Weekly Team Digest
Architecture insights live in dashboards. The people who need them most live in their inbox.
C4 Code Diagram (Level 4): When You Need It and When You Don't
The C4 code diagram (level 4) shows the classes, interfaces, and functions inside a component. Most teams should skip it -- but not always.
C4 Component Diagram: Complete Guide with Examples
The C4 component diagram (level 3 of the C4 model) zooms into a single container and shows the components inside it.
C4 Container Diagram: Complete Guide with Examples
The C4 container diagram (C4 model level 2) shows the deployable building blocks of your system: web apps, APIs, databases, queues.
C4 Model vs UML: Which Should Your Team Use?
C4 model vs UML is one of the most common questions teams ask when choosing software architecture diagram standards.
C4 System Context Diagram: Complete Guide with Examples
The System Context diagram is C4 model level 1 -- the single most important architecture diagram your team can create.
What Are API Contracts? Definition, Examples & Best Practices
An API contract is the formal, agreed specification of an API's interface: operations, schemas, errors, and versioning rules.
Anatomy of a Play: Modeling Netflix in C4 with Archyl
Press Play on Netflix and ~50 services collaborate in less than 200 milliseconds.
Bring Your Own AI Provider: OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Bedrock
Route every Archyl AI feature (chat, discovery, ADR parsing, insights, managed agents) through your own OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini or Bedrock contract.
Scheduled AI Agents That Maintain Your Architecture Docs
Dispatch and schedule AI agents from Archyl, connected to GitHub, Linear and Slack, with your C4 model, ADRs and conformance rules injected as context.
Architecture Intelligence for AI-Native Teams
AI agents now write most of the code. But who makes sure they respect the architecture?
Maturity Score: Your Architecture's Health in a Single Grade
Drift score tells you if your documentation is accurate. Conformance tells you if your rules are followed. Insights tell you what's broken.
Import Structurizr DSL, LikeC4 and IcePanel Models
Move a C4 model from Structurizr DSL, LikeC4 or IcePanel into Archyl: systems, containers, components and relationships, imported in one step.
Manage Your C4 Model From Claude Code and the Terminal
An open-source plugin that gives Claude Code, Codex and other agents Archyl's MCP tools: create systems, write ADRs and check drift from the terminal.
Architecture Drift Score: How True Is Your Documentation?
A 0 to 100 score for how much of your documented model still exists in code: the formula, what it excludes, what it can't see, and CI enforcement.
Agent Hub: Architecture Guardrails for Autonomous AI Agents
AI coding agents write code fast. Without guardrails, they also drift fast. Today we're launching Agent Hub — a new section in Archyl that lets you define…
Architecture Dashboards Without External Integrations
Built-in widgets turn insights, DORA metrics, releases, ADRs and your tech stack into a live architecture dashboard. No API keys, no connections.
Ownership Map: Visualize Who Owns What Across Your Architecture
Every architecture has an ownership problem. Services get built, teams shift, people leave — and suddenly nobody knows who's responsible for what.
DORA Metrics From Release Data, Scoped to Each Service
How Archyl computes the four DORA metrics from your release history, scores each against DORA benchmarks, and scopes them to one system or container.
C4 Model in YAML: The archyl.yaml Format and Git Workflow
The archyl.yaml format: every top-level key, how references resolve, validation, and the Git workflow that syncs your C4 model from CI.
Webhooks: Real-Time Notifications for Architecture Changes
Your architecture changes constantly — systems get added, components evolve, ADRs get written, releases ship.
Technology Radar: Visualize Your Tech Landscape at a Glance
Archyl now tracks the technologies powering your architecture. Attach languages, frameworks, databases, and tools to any C4 element, then explore your entire…
Auto Layout: Organize Your Architecture Diagrams Instantly
Manually positioning dozens of nodes on a C4 diagram is tedious work that adds no architectural value.
Docs, ADRs and API Contracts, Linked to Your C4 Model
Keep documentation, architecture decision records and API contracts in one place, each linked to the systems and containers in your C4 model.
Organization-Level Systems: Define Once, Reuse Everywhere
Define a system once at the organization level and link it into any project, so the same payment service isn't modeled five different ways.
Impact Radar: Understand Change Before You Make It
Every architectural change sends ripples. Impact Radar lets you see exactly where those ripples go — before you commit.
Backstage vs Archyl: Two Approaches to Architecture Documentation
Backstage is a developer portal that happens to include a C4 plugin. Archyl is an architecture documentation platform built from the ground up around the C4…
Self-Hosted Architecture Documentation on Your Own Servers
Run Archyl on your own infrastructure: same features, your network, your rules. For regulated industries and teams that can't send data out.
Live Datadog, GitHub and PagerDuty Data on Your C4 Model
Connect Datadog, GitHub, GitLab, Prometheus, SonarQube, Argo CD and PagerDuty, and see their live data next to the C4 elements it belongs to.
Release Management: Track Deployments per C4 Container
Track deployments across systems and environments in Archyl, ingested from GitHub Actions, webhooks or the REST API, and scoped to each C4 container.
Link OpenAPI, gRPC and AsyncAPI Specs to Your C4 Model
Import OpenAPI, gRPC, GraphQL and AsyncAPI contracts into Archyl and link them to the systems, containers and components of your C4 model.
Architecture Chat: Ask Your Architecture Anything
Your C4 diagrams just learned to talk. Architecture Chat is an AI assistant that knows your entire architecture and answers questions about it in seconds —…
Architecture Change Requests: Pull Requests for Your C4 Model
Architecture evolves. Now it can evolve with the same rigor as your code. We're introducing Architecture Change Requests—a pull request workflow for proposing…
Enterprise SSO: SAML and OIDC Authentication for Custom Plans
Enterprise teams need centralized identity management. Archyl now supports custom SSO connections with SAML 2.0 and OpenID Connect, letting your team sign in…
Real-Time Collaboration on C4 Diagrams and Global Architecture
Architecture collaboration shouldn't stop at whiteboards. We're extending real-time presence, live cursors, and element focus tracking to your Project C4…
Event-Driven Architecture Documentation with C4 Model
Event-driven architectures are powerful but notoriously hard to document. Events are invisible, asynchronous, and decoupled by design.
Living Architecture Documentation: Keep Your Docs Always Current
Living architecture documentation is a way of working, not a format. The model is derived from the code, the updates ride in the same pull request as the…
DORA Metrics for Software Architecture Teams
DORA metrics measure engineering performance, but most teams track them in isolation from their architecture.
How to Use an MCP Server for Architecture Documentation
AI assistants are transforming how developers work, but they can't see your architecture documentation. MCP servers bridge that gap.
Architecture as Code: Define Your System Design Programmatically
Architecture as code brings the same rigor that infrastructure-as-code brought to operations.
How to Document Microservices Architecture: A Practical Guide
Microservices are powerful but notoriously hard to document. This practical guide covers the challenges, shows how to apply the C4 model to microservices, and…
Architecture Drift Detection: Keep Your Code Aligned with Design
Architecture drift is the gap between the system you documented and the system you actually have.
AI Architecture Documentation: Discovery, Drift and Agents
How AI builds a C4 model from your code, checks it for drift on every push, grades architecture health and enforces rules. And what it gets wrong.
Architecture Decision Records (ADR): The Complete Guide
Architecture Decision Records capture the why behind your technical choices. This complete guide covers ADR formats, templates, best practices, tooling, and…
5 Best C4 Model Tools in 2026: Complete Comparison
Looking for the right tool to create and maintain C4 architecture diagrams? We compared the five best C4 model tools in 2026 -- Archyl, Structurizr, IcePanel…
What is the C4 Model? A Complete Guide for Software Teams
The C4 model is the most practical framework for visualizing software architecture.
Architecture Whiteboard: Workshops That Become a C4 Model
Real-time whiteboard sessions with live cursors, where every box you sketch becomes a C4 element you can link to ADRs and query through the API.
Project Export & Import: Your Architecture, Fully Portable
Architecture documentation should never be locked in. We're launching full project export and import—backup your work, share with clients, or migrate between…
Custom Insight Rules: Your Architecture, Your Standards
Every organization has unique architecture standards. Generic linting catches some issues, but misses what matters most to your team.
AI-Powered Architecture Discovery: How It Works
I built an AI system that reads codebases and generates architecture diagrams. Here's what I learned about the technology, the challenges, and why it's not…
ADR Template and Examples: Copy-Ready Formats
Copy-ready ADR templates in the Nygard, MADR and Y-statement formats, with filled-in examples of real decisions and when to pick each format.
Documenting User Flows in Your Software Architecture
Our architecture diagrams looked perfect. Then a bug report came in, and we realized nobody actually understood how a user moved through the system.
Why Architecture Documentation Matters for Modern Teams
I used to think documentation was a waste of time. Then I watched three senior engineers leave in six months and take all our architecture knowledge with them.