Import the model, review it before it lands
Archify reads a repository and emits an open JSON intermediate representation: components, connections, boundaries, and the source references behind each one. Yantra Studio imports that file through a review screen rather than dropping shapes straight onto the page.
The review screen counts what arrived — components, connections, boundaries, evidence records, guided views — and tells you how many component roles it was unsure about, instead of guessing quietly. You can override any role from your own catalogue before the import commits, and the choice is recorded as yours.
- Repository URL and the exact revision the model was built from
- Component, connection, boundary, evidence and view counts
- An explicit “unsure roles” count you can correct in place
- Sequence-diagram documents import the same way
Every component carries its evidence
Select any imported shape and the Trace tab shows the evidence behind it: the file and line range, the source type, the commit SHA, a verification status and a confidence figure. Where the repository is on GitHub or GitLab, an “Open at this commit” link takes you to those exact lines at the revision the claim was captured from.
Links are only offered when the evidence carries a commit. A link to a branch tip would show code that has moved on since the claim was made, which is the failure that pinning to a SHA exists to prevent — so a claim without a commit says so rather than linking somewhere plausible.
Re-import without losing your layout
The second import of a document is the one that matters. Yantra Studio recognises that the document is already on the page and merges it: existing shapes are updated in place, new components are added and parented into the right boundary, and nothing is duplicated.
You choose whether to keep the layout you arranged or take the document’s. Components the codebase no longer has are counted and reported — never deleted. Removing something from your architecture is a decision for an architect, not for an importer.
What this covers in the product
Every capability below is part of this area of Yantra Studio.
- Import Archify (.json)
- Export ▸ Archify (.json)
- Architecture model…
- Trace ▸ Evidence
Questions
Does re-importing overwrite the layout I arranged?
No, unless you choose to. The merge screen offers keep-the-canvas-layout or take-the-document’s, and keep is the default.
What happens to shapes I drew by hand?
They are left alone. Merging only applies to shapes an Archify import created, matched by their external id, so hand-drawn annotations and notes are never touched.
Can I export back to Archify?
Yes. File ▸ Export ▸ Archify (.json) writes the page back out in the same format, so the model is not trapped in the tool.
Related capabilities
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Diagrams in Git, on branches, with history
Store diagrams in your own GitHub repository, work on branches, browse version history and merge diagrams — the same workflow your code already uses.
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A canvas that does the tedious parts for you
A browser diagramming canvas with hierarchical, circular, force-directed and orthogonal auto-layout, alignment tools, templates, shape packs and freehand drawing.
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Interactions, in order, as a first-class model
Model interactions as sequence diagrams with participants, steps, segments and activations, and present a diagram as an ordered walkthrough.