DSL Basics

ArchTect uses the Structurizr DSL as its modeling language. This page covers the fundamental syntax you need to get started.

Workspace structure

Every model starts with a workspace block containing a model and views:

workspace "My Workspace" "Optional description" {
  model {
    // elements and relationships go here
  }

  views {
    // view definitions go here
  }
}

Elements and identifiers

See Elements for the full reference on Person, Software System, Container, Component, and Deployment Node — and how identifiers work.

Relationships

The -> operator creates a relationship between two elements:

user -> system "Uses"
system -> db "Reads from and writes to"
webapp -> api "Makes API calls to" "HTTPS/JSON"

The format is: source -> destination "description" "technology"

You can also define relationships inside an element block using implicit this:

softwareSystem "My System" {
  -> externalSystem "Sends data to"
}

See Relationships for more details.

Tags, properties, and groups

See Groups, Tags & Properties for organizing your model and annotating elements with custom metadata.

Styles

Styles control the visual appearance of elements and relationships based on tags:

views {
  styles {
    element "Person" {
      shape Person
      background "#08427b"
      color "#ffffff"
    }
    element "Database" {
      shape Cylinder
    }
    relationship "Relationship" {
      color "#707070"
      thickness 2
    }
  }
}

Directives

`!identifiers`

Controls how identifiers are scoped:

workspace {
  !identifiers hierarchical
  model { ... }
}

Themes

Apply external themes for consistent styling:

views {
  theme default
  themes https://static.structurizr.com/themes/amazon-web-services-2023.01.31/theme.json
}

Complete example

workspace "E-Commerce" "Online store architecture" {
  model {
    customer = person "Customer" "Shops online"

    ecommerce = softwareSystem "E-Commerce Platform" {
      webapp = container "Web App" "Customer-facing UI" "React"
      api = container "API" "Business logic" "Node.js"
      db = container "Database" "Product and order data" "PostgreSQL"

      webapp -> api "Calls" "HTTPS"
      api -> db "Reads/writes" "SQL"
    }

    customer -> webapp "Browses and purchases" "HTTPS"
  }

  views {
    systemContext ecommerce "Context" {
      include *
      autoLayout
    }
    container ecommerce "Containers" {
      include *
      autoLayout
    }
    styles {
      element "Person" {
        shape Person
      }
    }
  }
}