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arch-lab

Opening the shared document

Diagram playground

Canvas editing for C4 diagrams and sequence diagrams. Nothing leaves your browser. Syntax reference

What you can do on the canvas, and how the formats relate
  • a C4 node drags to a position the text records
  • a sequence message or lifeline drags into a new order, its wording edited in place
  • a C4 node's type, name, description, technology, icon, colour, tags and boundary edited in the details panel beside it, where a child view is added or removed, a selected boundary renamed or removed, and a selected relationship's wording, direction and line style edited — or the relationship deleted
  • a new C4 node — or a reference to an element from an outer level — added from the palette, at a spot the text records
  • a relationship drawn from one C4 element onto another — or onto a new element added with it — landing as a relationship line
  • C4 nodes group into a boundary with a drag selection — the Select / Pan toggle by the zoom controls makes a drag pan instead
  • on a sequence diagram: reword a step · change ends · move a step in time · remove a step · rename a lifeline · move a column · remove a lifeline · add a step · add a lifeline · number the steps
  • the other kinds lay themselves out from the text

.alab is the format to write: it is what the syntax reference documents, what share links carry, and what reads cleanly in a code review. .archlab.json is the same C4 model on disk — the interchange form any other tool can read without implementing a grammar; the two are lossless twins in both directions (proved on every build), so you never have to write the JSON by hand. Mermaid is read and written too, lossily — the format toggle above the pane converts in place and states what each direction drops.

Tab indents · Esc then Tab leaves the editor · syntax reference

Diagram
7 Sep14 Sep21 Sep28 Sep5 Oct12 Oct7 Sep – 17 Oct 2026, by weekPREPARECUT OVERRETIRESchema audit5dShadow writes13dHistorical backfill12dVerify parity6dParity signed offFreeze writes2dPoint traffic over3dTraffic on new storeDual-read off4dDrop legacy tables6dArchive dumps5d