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ARCA

v1.0.0CommunityGA

Architecture as Code workspace

C4 modelling and architecture diagrams generated from source code. An engineering workspace for distributed systems.

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Problem

What this product solves.

Distributed-systems architecture documentation is born stale. The diagram of record lives in a deck nobody updates, in three Lucid boards owned by different teams, or in a wiki page whose last edit predates the current version of the system. ARCA replaces those artefacts with an Architecture-as-Code workspace: the diagram is generated from the same source the team commits to, the C4 model is versioned, and the engineers responsible for the system are the ones who edit its picture.

Core capabilities

What the product does.

cap_01

C4 modelling toolkit

First-class support for Context, Container and Component levels. Models are typed, navigable, and refactor-aware — renaming a component updates every diagram that references it.

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Diagrams from source

The C4 model is expressed as code. Diagrams are a rendered view of that code, not a parallel artefact. The diagram is always at the version the code is at.

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Distributed systems workspace

Multi-system projects with cross-system relations. Designed for platforms — not for single applications.

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Windows IDE

A native desktop workspace, not a browser tool. Optimised for the long-form architectural work that does not survive tab-switching.

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Engineering-first authoring

Refactoring, search across models, diff between revisions. The workspace treats architecture the way an IDE treats source code.

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Exports for stakeholders

Generate SVG, PNG and presentation-grade renders directly from the model. The diagram in the deck is always the diagram in the workspace.

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Free Community Edition

Proprietary but free for local and commercial use. Architecture-modelling tooling should not be a procurement conversation.

Architecture

How it is built.

ARCA is a desktop application — not a Spring Boot service. It owns a local C4 model store, an editor surface that treats the model as a versionable artefact, and a rendering pipeline that turns models into diagrams. Where the AR* data products terminate at PostgreSQL, ARCA terminates at the engineer’s workstation: the file system and Git are the storage layer.

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Local C4 model store

The model lives in your repository alongside the systems it describes. ARCA reads, writes and refactors it; the format is built to round-trip cleanly.

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Editor surface

Native Windows UX with multi-pane editing, search, navigate-to-definition. The author thinks in terms of code, not in terms of shapes on a canvas.

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Rendering pipeline

Diagrams generated on demand from the current model state. Multiple render targets share the same model — Context view, Container view, Component drill-down.

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Refactoring engine

Symbol-level operations across the model. Rename, extract, move — every reference updates atomically.

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Diff across revisions

When the model is in Git, ARCA shows what changed between revisions semantically (a new component, a renamed relation), not as raw file diff.

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Closed-source, proprietary licence

Free Community Edition for local and commercial use. Future ARCA Enterprise (team collaboration, registry, RBAC) is on the roadmap.

Operator CLI

Operated from the terminal too.

The `arctl` CLI talks to the same control plane as the UI. Same primitives, scriptable, suitable for CI and on-call.

cli_01arctl

Initialise a model in a repo

Scaffolds an arca/ folder with the standard C4 layout next to the code it describes.

arca init --layout=c4
Output
Created arca/landscape.yaml
Created arca/contexts/
Created arca/containers/
Created arca/components/
cli_02arctl

Render a context diagram

Exports a static SVG of the chosen context — embed in a README or a docs site.

arca render context billing-platform -o docs/architecture/billing.svg
cli_03arctl

Validate the model

Lint catches orphan components, missing relationships, undeclared technologies. Non-zero exit on errors — wire into CI.

arca lint --strict
Integrations

What it connects to.

integration

File system + Git

The model is a set of files in your repository. ARCA edits them; Git versions them; CI / code review treats them like any other code change.

integration

C4 model standard

Native Context / Container / Component representation. Drilling between levels is built into the workspace.

integration

SVG / PNG renderers

Diagrams export to vector and raster formats for documentation, decks, and architectural reviews.

integration

MOBIRAN ecosystem narrative

ARCA sits alongside the AR data products in the ecosystem flow `ARCA → ARFlow → ARStreams → ARLake → ARCloud` — it is the design surface for the systems the other products operate.

integration

External diagram tools (export-only)

The model is the source of truth. Renders can be handed to teams using other diagram conventions without surrendering the model itself.

integration

ARCA Enterprise (roadmap)

Future team-mode tier: shared model registry, RBAC, governance, cloud sync. The Community workspace remains free and self-contained.

Use cases

Where it runs in production.

  1. case_01

    Onboarding to a distributed system

    A new engineer opens the workspace, navigates Context → Container → Component, and reaches working comprehension of the platform in hours, not weeks.

  2. case_02

    Architecture review meetings

    The diagram in the meeting is the diagram in source. Edits made in the meeting land in a code review the next day — not in someone’s downloaded copy of a Lucid board.

  3. case_03

    Migration and decommission planning

    Annotate components with lifecycle state directly in the model. Filter views to show only what is migrating; diff against a future state.

  4. case_04

    Regulator-facing architecture evidence

    Export presentation-grade renders alongside the source artefact. The render is reproducible — auditors can re-run the export on the committed model.

  5. case_05

    Cross-team integration design

    Multi-system projects make relations between systems first-class. Teams discuss integration points against the same model rather than against three diagrams that disagree.

Deployment

How it is operated.

ARCA is a desktop application, not a platform service. It installs on Windows and runs locally against models stored in the engineer’s file system or Git working copy. No server, no database, no telemetry.

  • Windows IDE (Community Edition). macOS / Linux on the roadmap.
  • Model lives in your repository — version control with the system it describes.
  • No outbound calls; no SaaS dependency.
  • Free Community Edition for local and commercial use.
  • Future ARCA Enterprise adds team collaboration, model registry, governance.
Core capabilities

Evaluate this product.

Open the workspace if you already hold credentials, or request guided access through the briefing flow.

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