ArchDocs
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From the canvas to the catalog

Every feature you need for better architecture docs

Everything your team needs to create, maintain, and evolve your architecture documentation.

Native elements

APIs, entities, sequences, and cloud resources.

Work across documents

Tabs, Ctrl+O, and docs opened from references.

Embedded references

Render a referenced doc live inside your diagram.

Impact analysis

Direct and downstream database dependencies.

Docs as code

YAML, Mermaid, MCP, and pull request checks.

Collaboration

Comments, suggestions, reviews, and history.

Native diagram elements

Describe your system with REST and gRPC cards, entity relationship diagrams, sequence diagrams, and cloud blocks on one canvas.

  • Insert from the "+" menu or the Shift+N palette
  • Method, path, params, responses, and streaming modes
  • Typed columns, keys, and crow's-foot cardinality
  • Participants and ordered sequence steps
  • Built-in icons and custom organization icons
  • Shapes, arrows, text, images, laser pointer, and element locking
Native diagram elements
api design
living diagrams
streaming
palette

Work across documents

Keep related documents open in tabs and switch between them as you work.

  • A tab for every open doc
  • Find and open any doc with Ctrl+O
  • Open a doc straight from a reference
  • Each tab keeps its own viewport
Work across documents

Embedded references

Reference another doc and render it live inside your diagram.

  • Update the source once and every embed shows the change
  • Resize the embed to fit your diagram
  • In YAML, set embed: true with an optional width and height
Embedded references

Circuit-style connectors

Route arrows around cards and turn corners at 45 degrees, like traces on a circuit board.

  • Switch any arrow between sharp, elbow, and circuit-style
  • Choose the arrow type in the canvas properties panel
Circuit-style connectors

Smart references and the object catalog

Keep one catalog entry for a service, database, or queue and reference it everywhere it appears.

  • One catalog entry referenced across documents
  • "Used in" derived automatically from references
  • Typed fields, tags, and object templates
  • Custom object kinds on Business and above
  • Embed references or preview them from the canvas
Smart references and the object catalog
objects

Impact analysis

See the direct and downstream dependencies of a database before you change it.

  • See what depends on it, split into direct and transitive dependents
  • Switch direction to see what it depends on
  • Choose the depth to follow dependencies further
  • Open the same view in the dependency graph
  • Derived from your documents, so nobody maintains the list
Impact analysis
Dependency graph

Docs as code

Every diagram is also YAML. Review it in a pull request, generate it from a script, or let an AI agent write it over MCP.

  • YAML editor with live validation for a document or selection
  • Mermaid import and export
  • OpenAPI import and re-import
  • Hosted MCP server for AI agents
  • Docs drift check in pull requests
Docs as code
mermaid

AI assistance

Generate a diagram from a description, or ask questions about your architecture and follow the answer back to its documents.

Team plan and above

  • Describe a system to generate a diagram
  • Ask AI questions over your architecture graph
  • Diagram generation uses AI credits
AI assistance
ask ai

Cloud architecture import

Bring infrastructure into your documentation from AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, or Terraform state, then track what changes.

Business plan and above

  • AWS accounts, including AWS Organizations
  • Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and Terraform state
  • Scheduled sync and cloud drift detection
  • Accounts, regions, VPCs, and subnets on the canvas
  • Cost heatmap overlay for cloud resources
Cloud architecture import

Real-time collaboration

Work on the same canvas, discuss changes, and review proposals with the history close at hand.

  • Live cursors, presence, and co-editing on Team and above
  • Canvas comments and suggest mode
  • Review requests for proposed changes
  • Version history with thumbnails and restore
  • Markdown descriptions for each document
  • Inbox notifications and activity feeds
Real-time collaboration
versions

Architecture decision records

Record why you chose an approach and link the decision to the objects it affects.

  • MADR template for a consistent decision record
  • Capture considered options and tradeoffs
  • Supersede chains show how decisions evolve
  • Link decisions to architecture objects
Architecture decision records
decision detail

Documentation health

See which docs need attention and who owns them before stale information spreads.

  • Stale documentation and coverage gaps
  • Owners for follow-up
  • Daily documentation health digest
Documentation health

Share, embed and export

Put architecture where people read it, from a README to a live embed or a public space site.

  • Share links and live embeds for Notion and Confluence
  • README images
  • Publish a space as a public site
  • SVG, PNG, and PDF export
  • Public sharing on all plans; private sharing on Team and above
Share, embed and export
export

Templates

Start from a reusable architecture template and fill in variables for the system you are documenting.

  • Reusable templates with variables
  • Spaces, folders, favorites, and recent documents
  • Live editing indicators in your workspace
  • Sample workspace and guided tour to get started
Templates
dashboard

Architecture interviewing

Run structured system design interviews on a shared architecture canvas, then replay the session and debrief with human-authored scorecards.

Team: 25 interviews/month. Business and above: unlimited. An admin enables interviews.

  • Progressive prompts revealed live or on a timer
  • The candidate draws on a real architecture canvas, no account needed
  • Anchored rubrics with blind independent scoring
  • Full session replay for the debrief
  • Exportable scorecards and a completion webhook
  • Live or async sessions, hints, and private notes
  • AI drafts kits, suggests probes, and summarizes evidence. AI never scores; humans score.
Architecture interviewing
interview kit

Enterprise controls

Manage organization access with verified domains, single sign-on, custom roles, and an audit trail.

  • SAML 2.0 and OIDC SSO on Enterprise
  • Domain verification, enforcement, and just-in-time provisioning
  • Custom roles and audit log on Business and above
  • Manage users, teams, and invitations
  • Manage billing and AI credits
Enterprise controls
roles

Integrations

Connect documentation to your repositories and team conversations.

GitHub

Push YAML from repositories and work with the @archdocs bot.

PR docs drift check

Use .archdocs.yml and the GitHub Action to check for documentation drift in pull requests.

Slack

Unfurl document links, search with /archdocs, and receive channel posts or direct messages.

Try ArchDocs

Create a free account and start documenting your architecture.

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