Core ContainerDiagram Spec¶

Source: core.container-diagram.json

This schema describes the ContainerDiagram spec for the Core backend.

Properties¶

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Type of the diagram. Must be exactly `ContainerDiagram`.
`title`	`string` \| `null`	Optional diagram title.
`elements`	`array[Element]`	Top-level elements.
`boundaries`	`array[Boundary]`	Top-level boundaries.
`relationships`	`array[RelationshipSchema]`	Top-level relationships.

Examples

MinimalAdvanced

JSON source

{
  "type": "ContainerDiagram",
  "title": "Web App",
  "elements": [
    {
      "type": "Person",
      "alias": "user",
      "label": "User"
    }
  ],
  "boundaries": [
    {
      "type": "SystemBoundary",
      "alias": "system",
      "label": "Simple System",
      "elements": [
        {
          "type": "Container",
          "alias": "web",
          "label": "Web App",
          "technology": "React"
        },
        {
          "type": "Container",
          "alias": "api",
          "label": "API",
          "technology": "Python"
        },
        {
          "type": "ContainerDb",
          "alias": "db",
          "label": "Database",
          "technology": "PostgreSQL"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "relationships": [
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "user",
      "to": "web",
      "label": "Uses"
    },
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "web",
      "to": "api",
      "label": "Calls"
    },
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "api",
      "to": "db",
      "label": "Reads/Writes"
    }
  ]
}

JSON source

{
  "type": "ContainerDiagram",
  "title": "Online Shop - Container Diagram",
  "elements": [
    {
      "type": "Person",
      "alias": "customer",
      "label": "Customer",
      "description": "Browses products and places orders.",
      "properties": {
        "properties": [
          [
            "Channel",
            "Web / Mobile"
          ]
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "PersonExt",
      "alias": "support_agent",
      "label": "Support Agent",
      "description": "Investigates customer issues from an external support tool.",
      "properties": {
        "properties": [
          [
            "Organization",
            "Support Vendor"
          ]
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "SystemExt",
      "alias": "payment_provider",
      "label": "Payment Provider",
      "description": "Processes card payments and payment webhooks."
    },
    {
      "type": "ContainerExt",
      "alias": "recommendation_api",
      "label": "Recommendation API",
      "description": "Returns personalized product recommendations."
    },
    {
      "type": "ContainerDbExt",
      "alias": "fraud_db",
      "label": "Fraud Signals DB",
      "description": "External datastore containing fraud intelligence.",
      "technology": "Vendor DB"
    },
    {
      "type": "ContainerQueueExt",
      "alias": "shipping_events",
      "label": "Shipping Events Topic",
      "description": "External topic used by logistics partner.",
      "technology": "Kafka"
    }
  ],
  "boundaries": [
    {
      "type": "EnterpriseBoundary",
      "alias": "acme",
      "label": "Acme Corp",
      "description": "Enterprise boundary for internal platforms.",
      "properties": {
        "properties": [
          [
            "Region",
            "EU"
          ],
          [
            "Business Unit",
            "Digital Commerce"
          ]
        ]
      },
      "boundaries": [
        {
          "type": "SystemBoundary",
          "alias": "shop_boundary",
          "label": "Online Shop Platform",
          "description": "Main system boundary for the commerce platform.",
          "properties": {
            "properties": [
              [
                "Owner",
                "Commerce Team"
              ],
              [
                "Environment",
                "Production"
              ]
            ]
          },
          "elements": [
            {
              "type": "Container",
              "alias": "web_app",
              "label": "Web Application",
              "description": "Serves the storefront and checkout UI.",
              "technology": "React + Next.js",
              "properties": {
                "properties": [
                  [
                    "Runtime",
                    "Node.js"
                  ],
                  [
                    "Team",
                    "Storefront"
                  ]
                ]
              }
            },
            {
              "type": "Container",
              "alias": "backend_api",
              "label": "Backend API",
              "description": "Handles catalog, carts, checkout, and order APIs.",
              "technology": "Python / FastAPI",
              "properties": {
                "properties": [
                  [
                    "Runtime",
                    "Python 3.12"
                  ],
                  [
                    "Team",
                    "Platform"
                  ]
                ]
              }
            },
            {
              "type": "ContainerDb",
              "alias": "orders_db",
              "label": "Orders Database",
              "description": "Stores orders, payments, and status transitions.",
              "technology": "PostgreSQL",
              "properties": {
                "properties": [
                  [
                    "Engine",
                    "PostgreSQL 16"
                  ],
                  [
                    "HA",
                    "Primary / Replica"
                  ]
                ]
              }
            },
            {
              "type": "ContainerQueue",
              "alias": "order_events",
              "label": "Order Events Queue",
              "description": "Publishes asynchronous order lifecycle events.",
              "technology": "Kafka",
              "properties": {
                "properties": [
                  [
                    "Retention",
                    "7 days"
                  ],
                  [
                    "Format",
                    "JSON"
                  ]
                ]
              }
            }
          ],
          "boundaries": [
            {
              "type": "ContainerBoundary",
              "alias": "checkout_boundary",
              "label": "Checkout Subsystem",
              "description": "Groups checkout-related containers.",
              "properties": {
                "properties": [
                  [
                    "Owner",
                    "Checkout Team"
                  ],
                  [
                    "Criticality",
                    "High"
                  ]
                ]
              },
              "elements": [
                {
                  "type": "Container",
                  "alias": "checkout_api",
                  "label": "Checkout API",
                  "description": "Handles checkout and payment orchestration.",
                  "technology": "Python / FastAPI"
                },
                {
                  "type": "ContainerDb",
                  "alias": "checkout_db",
                  "label": "Checkout DB",
                  "description": "Stores checkout sessions.",
                  "technology": "PostgreSQL"
                }
              ],
              "relationships": [
                {
                  "type": "REL",
                  "from": "checkout_api",
                  "to": "checkout_db",
                  "label": "Reads and writes",
                  "technology": "SQL"
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "relationships": [
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "customer",
      "to": "web_app",
      "label": "Uses",
      "technology": "HTTPS"
    },
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "web_app",
      "to": "backend_api",
      "label": "Calls",
      "technology": "HTTPS/JSON"
    },
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "backend_api",
      "to": "orders_db",
      "label": "Reads and writes",
      "technology": "SQL"
    },
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "backend_api",
      "to": "order_events",
      "label": "Publishes order events",
      "technology": "Kafka"
    },
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "backend_api",
      "to": "payment_provider",
      "label": "Creates payment intents",
      "technology": "REST API"
    },
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "backend_api",
      "to": "recommendation_api",
      "label": "Fetches recommendations",
      "technology": "REST API"
    },
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "backend_api",
      "to": "fraud_db",
      "label": "Checks fraud signals",
      "technology": "JDBC"
    },
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "shipping_events",
      "to": "backend_api",
      "label": "Delivers shipping updates",
      "technology": "Kafka"
    },
    {
      "type": "REL",
      "from": "support_agent",
      "to": "backend_api",
      "label": "Queries order state",
      "technology": "HTTPS"
    }
  ]
}

Definitions¶

About labels and aliases

label is a display name for the element.

alias is a unique identifier used for referencing elements in relationships and layouts. If omitted, it is generated automatically.

You can also use label for referencing elements in relationships and layouts, but each label must be unique within the diagram.

BoundarySchema¶

This schema describes the Boundary diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `Boundary`.
`elements`	`array[Element]`	Elements may be nested arbitrarily.
`boundaries`	`array[Boundary]`	Boundaries may be nested arbitrarily.
`relationships`	`array[RelationshipSchema]`	Relationships declared inside the boundary.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

ContainerBoundarySchema¶

This schema describes the ContainerBoundary diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `ContainerBoundary`.
`elements`	`array[Element]`	Elements may be nested arbitrarily.
`boundaries`	`array[Boundary]`	Boundaries may be nested arbitrarily.
`relationships`	`array[RelationshipSchema]`	Relationships declared inside the boundary.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

ContainerDbExtSchema¶

This schema describes the ContainerDbExt diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `ContainerDbExt`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.
`technology`	`string` \| `null`	Optional technology.

ContainerDbSchema¶

This schema describes the ContainerDb diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `ContainerDb`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.
`technology`	`string` \| `null`	Optional technology.

ContainerExtSchema¶

This schema describes the ContainerExt diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `ContainerExt`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.
`technology`	`string` \| `null`	Optional technology.

ContainerQueueExtSchema¶

This schema describes the ContainerQueueExt diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `ContainerQueueExt`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.
`technology`	`string` \| `null`	Optional technology.

ContainerQueueSchema¶

This schema describes the ContainerQueue diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `ContainerQueue`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.
`technology`	`string` \| `null`	Optional technology.

ContainerSchema¶

This schema describes the Container diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `Container`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.
`technology`	`string` \| `null`	Optional technology.

DiagramElementPropertiesSchema¶

JSON schema for tabular diagram element properties.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`header`	`array[string]`	Header columns. Default: `["Property", "Value"]`.
`properties(required)`	`array[array[string]]`	List of rows (each row is a list of string values).
`show_header`	`boolean`	Whether to display the header row. Default: `true`.

EnterpriseBoundarySchema¶

This schema describes the EnterpriseBoundary diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `EnterpriseBoundary`.
`elements`	`array[Element]`	Elements may be nested arbitrarily.
`boundaries`	`array[Boundary]`	Boundaries may be nested arbitrarily.
`relationships`	`array[RelationshipSchema]`	Relationships declared inside the boundary.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

PersonExtSchema¶

This schema describes the PersonExt diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `PersonExt`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

PersonSchema¶

This schema describes the Person diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `Person`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

RelationshipSchema¶

This schema describes the Relationship diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Type of the relationship. Must be exactly `REL`.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Additional details about the relationship.
`from(required)`	`string`	The source element alias (or unique label).
`label(required)`	`string`	The label shown on the relationship edge.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.
`technology`	`string` \| `null`	The technology used in the communication.
`to(required)`	`string`	The destination element alias (or unique label).

SystemBoundarySchema¶

This schema describes the SystemBoundary diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `SystemBoundary`.
`elements`	`array[Element]`	Elements may be nested arbitrarily.
`boundaries`	`array[Boundary]`	Boundaries may be nested arbitrarily.
`relationships`	`array[RelationshipSchema]`	Relationships declared inside the boundary.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

SystemDbExtSchema¶

This schema describes the SystemDbExt diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `SystemDbExt`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

SystemDbSchema¶

This schema describes the SystemDb diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `SystemDb`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

SystemExtSchema¶

This schema describes the SystemExt diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `SystemExt`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

SystemQueueExtSchema¶

This schema describes the SystemQueueExt diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `SystemQueueExt`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

SystemQueueSchema¶

This schema describes the SystemQueue diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `SystemQueue`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

SystemSchema¶

This schema describes the System diagram component.

Properties

Field	Type	Description
`type(required)`	`string`	Discriminator identifying the element type. Must be exactly `System`.
`alias`	`string` \| `null`	Unique identifier for the element. If not provided, it is autogenerated from the label.
`description`	`string` \| `null`	Optional description text.
`label(required)`	`string`	Display name for the element.
`properties`	`DiagramElementPropertiesSchema`	Optional property table metadata.

Core ContainerDiagram Spec¶

Properties¶

Elements¶

Boundaries¶

Relationships¶

Definitions¶

BoundarySchema¶

ContainerBoundarySchema¶

ContainerDbExtSchema¶

ContainerDbSchema¶

ContainerExtSchema¶

ContainerQueueExtSchema¶

ContainerQueueSchema¶

ContainerSchema¶

DiagramElementPropertiesSchema¶

EnterpriseBoundarySchema¶

PersonExtSchema¶

PersonSchema¶

RelationshipSchema¶

SystemBoundarySchema¶

SystemDbExtSchema¶

SystemDbSchema¶

SystemExtSchema¶

SystemQueueExtSchema¶

SystemQueueSchema¶

SystemSchema¶