Import Structurizr, LikeC4 & IcePanel Projects Into Archyl in One Click

If you've ever tried to move an architecture project from one tool to another, you know the drill: re-create every system by hand, re-draw every relationship, re-type every technology label, and hope you didn't miss anything. For a non-trivial codebase, that's days of tedious work — and a guaranteed way to introduce errors.

That friction is the real reason teams stay locked into tools that no longer serve them. Not because the tool is great, but because leaving is painful.

Today, that changes. Archyl now imports architecture projects directly from Structurizr DSL, LikeC4, and IcePanel — automatically converting your entire C4 model into a fully populated Archyl project in minutes.

Three Formats, One Import Flow

Archyl's import feature supports the three most widely used C4 modeling formats, each with full structural fidelity.

Structurizr DSL

Structurizr, created by Simon Brown (the inventor of the C4 model), is the most established tool in the ecosystem. Its .dsl files are the de facto standard for text-based architecture modeling.

Archyl parses Structurizr DSL and extracts:

• Software systems and people/actors with full descriptions
• Containers and components nested within systems
• External system detection based on tags
• All relationships using -> syntax, with descriptions and technologies
• Technologies from positional arguments
• Tags from comma-separated tag strings

If you have an existing Structurizr workspace, you can bring it into Archyl without losing a single element or connection.

LikeC4

LikeC4 is a newer, developer-friendly take on C4 modeling that uses .c4 and .likec4 files with a flexible kind system. It's growing fast among teams who want something more expressive than raw DSL.

Here's what makes Archyl's LikeC4 import notable: no other tool imports LikeC4 files. Archyl is the first.

The importer handles LikeC4's unique features:

• Custom element kinds (system, softwareSys, service, etc.) mapped to C4 concepts
• Nested element hierarchies resolved to containers and components
• #external tag detection for boundary classification
• technology: properties extracted and applied
• #hashtag syntax converted to standard tags
• Relationship labels and technologies fully preserved

IcePanel

IcePanel is a visual-first C4 modeling platform that exports architecture as JSON. Teams using IcePanel for collaborative diagramming can now bring their models into Archyl for deeper architecture management.

The IcePanel importer maps:

• system types to software systems, actor types to people
• app and store types to containers, component types to components
• external: true fields to external system classification
• modelConnections to relationships with full metadata
• tagIds references resolved to tag names

How It Works

The import process is designed to be fast and forgiving.

Step 1 — Open the import modal in any Archyl project (or create a new one). You'll see format options: Archyl YAML, Structurizr DSL, LikeC4, and IcePanel JSON.

Step 2 — Select your source format and either upload the file or paste its content directly.

Step 3 — Archyl validates the input, parses the structure, and shows you a preview of what will be created.

Step 4 — One click. Your project is populated with every system, container, component, relationship, and technology from the source file.

The entire process takes under a minute for most projects.

For AI Agent Workflows

If you're using Archyl's MCP integration with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or any other AI coding agent, the same import capability is available through the import_dsl tool. Your AI agent can programmatically import architecture files without ever opening the UI.

What You Gain After Importing

Importing your model is just the starting point. Once your architecture lives in Archyl, you unlock capabilities that source tools simply don't offer.

AI-Powered Drift Detection — Archyl continuously compares your documented architecture against your actual codebase. When reality drifts from documentation, you know immediately — not six months later during an incident.

Architecture Conformance Rules — Define rules like "no direct database access from the API gateway" or "all external calls must go through the integration layer." Archyl enforces them automatically and flags violations.

DORA Metrics Tracking — Connect your architecture to delivery performance. Track deployment frequency, lead time, change failure rate, and recovery time at the system and team level.

Architecture Decision Records — Document the why behind your architecture choices, linked directly to the systems and components they affect.

API Contract Management — Attach OpenAPI, gRPC, and GraphQL specs to your containers and components. Keep contract documentation co-located with the architecture it describes.

Event Channel Management — Map your Kafka topics, RabbitMQ exchanges, and other async communication channels directly onto your C4 model.

MCP Integration — Every AI coding agent on your team shares the same architecture context. No more answering "how does this service connect to that one?" — the agent already knows.

Why We Built This

We talked to dozens of teams evaluating Archyl. The pattern was always the same: they loved the platform, but dreaded the migration. Re-entering 50+ systems with all their containers, components, and relationships felt like a wall.

Some competitors offer partial solutions. IcePanel imports Structurizr JSON (not DSL). But nobody imports LikeC4. And nobody imports all three.

We decided to remove the migration barrier entirely. The import feature is available on all plans, including free. We want your decision to be about which tool is best for your team, not about how much effort it takes to switch.

Start Importing Today

If you have a Structurizr workspace, a LikeC4 project, or an IcePanel export sitting in your repo right now, you're minutes away from a fully operational Archyl project.

Try the import feature — create a free account, open the import modal, and bring your architecture with you.

Already using an AI coding agent? Point the MCP import_dsl tool at your architecture file and let your agent handle the rest.

Your architecture documentation is too valuable to re-type. Import it.