Insert elements

Use the insert palette when you know the name of the element or service you want. The + popover gives you a smaller set of diagram elements to choose from on screen.

Editing a document requires docs:write.

Search for an element

Press Shift+N in the editor.
In Search element type..., type the name of an element type, an existing document or object, or an icon.
Choose a result. For a diagram element, click or drag on the canvas to place it.

Insert palette filtered by grpc with a gRPC method result.

The palette groups results by what they add:

Group	Use it for
Primitive Shapes	Rectangle, Diamond, Ellipse, Arrow, Line, Text and Image.
Diagram Elements	C4 cards, ERD Entity (table), REST endpoint, gRPC method and Sequence diagram.
Cloud Resources	Resource blocks such as EC2 Instance or S3 Bucket.
Cloud Containers	Boundaries such as Account, VPC or Subnet.
Objects	A reference to an existing object, such as Dispatch Service.
Architecture Docs	A reference to another document.
Icons	An icon from the library.
Document	Edit document as YAML, Import from Mermaid or Export as Mermaid.

Document actions open a panel rather than place an element. Choosing Image opens a file picker before placement.

Select + in the left canvas toolbar to open the popover.

Canvas insert popover offering references, ERD entities, architecture cards, REST endpoints, gRPC methods, sequence diagrams and cloud blocks.

Choose ERD Entity, Architecture card, REST endpoint, gRPC method or Sequence diagram, then place it on the canvas. Architecture card starts as a service card; change its kind in the editor.

Reference opens a search for an existing document or object. Cloud opens the cloud palette, where you can choose a resource kind or an imported resource.

For the fields available after placement, see structured elements and cloud blocks. References and icons explains when a placed element shares an identity with another document.