Archify

Archify

Create an interactive HTML diagram from typed JSON.

Run commands from your working directory. Unless the user names another location, give each new diagram request its own folder .archify/<type>-<slug>-<YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS>/ there (local time, chosen once when the request starts): keep candidate.json and <slug>.html in it, set meta.output to that HTML path relative to the working directory, and reuse the folder for every repair rerun. A later request gets a new folder, so earlier versions stay intact. Replace bin/archify.mjs in the commands below with the installed package's absolute path, or its path relative to your working directory; input and output paths resolve from that working directory.

For a real codebase, read Repository authoring while tracing the requested behavior. A system description uses the steps below; an existing JSON uses the handoff path.

Existing candidate handoff

When the user supplies a frozen candidate, run finalize first as one CLI invocation. Its passing receipt completes the automated gates; follow any visual review recommendation under Delivery before claiming visual quality. For repair, follow step 5.

finalize includes a bounded update check in its delivery receipt; see Update awareness.

Fast authoring path

Use this path for ordinary generation. Read branch references only when their stated trigger applies.

1. Choose architecture, workflow, sequence, dataflow, lifecycle, erd, class, tree, timeline, or waterfall from the question.

2. Use the exact schema and example paths in the Type router without listing their directories. Read Authoring defaults and the mode's example in a bounded batch separate from project documents and complete schemas so neither is truncated; recover any missing section before writing. For Architecture, use the matching showcase example. For every mode except Architecture, also read the mode and common schemas. Read the relevant schema definition before choosing any new field, enum, or constrained text, especially boundary kinds. Examples teach shape, not facts. Use fresh IDs, wording, and layout. Go directly to the candidate without preliminary help, doctor, starter validation, temporary diagrams, or output-path listing. Query brands only for an explicitly requested mark; read Brand marks for an unknown mark with a user-provided URL.

3. Once the requested scope and, for a real codebase, source evidence are covered, write the complete candidate directly without planning coordinates in prose. Choose Architecture abstraction and connected placement using Authoring defaults before coordinates: show the main user journey and necessary branches, preserve control roles and behavior-changing conditions, and leave enough room for actual relationship labels. No node, relationship, source, view, card, or boundary count is a target or ceiling. Use automatic routes first; add explicit routing only for necessary branch, return, supplied geometry, or measured repair. Set meta.quality_profile to "showcase" unless the user requests dense standard. For ERD, use a table-first layout: show every physical column in entities[].attributes, keep its SQL type and source comment, state every key role a column carries (key takes a role or a list, so a junction column is ["pk", "fk"], and every fk column also needs references like "orders.id"), and never move columns into cards as a substitute for the table. Classify tables into functional domains before placement, give each domain a concise tag, and place its members in one solid rectangle of grid cells — a single row, a single column, or a filled rectangular block, not an L or diagonal. A tagged table always needs row/col, because absolute coordinates have no grid cells and a domain whose tables do not fill one rectangle cannot be drawn as a band: the renderer reports erd/domain-not-drawn instead of publishing a diagram that cannot name the domain. A multi-domain schema reads best as one domain per column — each tag a vertical run — because the reader scales a wide canvas up to the reader width and shrinks a tall one until the page fits, so the wide arrangement is the one that stays complete and legible inside a laptop viewport. A schema-first ERD over roughly 8 tables or 50 fields is itself a dense map: author its first complete-field pass at standard and upgrade only once the layout still reads.

4. Once the complete first candidate is written, run finalize directly. Its first gate is showcase validation; successful first drafts need no separate pre-validation. Keep the candidate unchanged while the command runs:

   node bin/archify.mjs finalize <type> <candidate.json> <output.html> --quality showcase --json
   

   For a repository-backed candidate, include evidence on the first draft and use the complete first command: node bin/archify.mjs finalize <type> <candidate.json> <output.html> --repo-root <repo-root> --quality showcase --json. Pass the --quality that matches meta.quality_profile, such as standard for a dense first ERD pass.

   A passing receipt proves the included validate, deliver, strict check, and real-browser browser-check gates passed. Use its compact summary; run standalone commands only for a separate request or focused failure diagnosis.

5. A non-zero exit is never success. Read compact stdout or evidence.summaryReceipt, then repair the failed gate, including its repair limit. Preserve requested meaning and source evidence. For several tangled Architecture routes, read Architecture layout repair; for measured field or geometry failures, read Authoring contract. Edit the connected neighborhood and rerun the complete finalize command from step 4. Once a run has reached browser-check, the output path owns that evidence: give every later run its own --out-dir <folder>/review-<n>.

Update awareness

finalize and standalone deliver include update in their receipts. Do not run a separate check for the same delivery. If update.noticeRequired is true, read references/update-awareness.md and keep one update line in your final response to the user, even after a quality gate fails. For a task with several diagrams, mention the update once in the final response. Snooze or ignore a reminder only when the user explicitly asks; never install or update on your own initiative.

Before the first candidate, use the authoring references and relevant repository source, not Archify implementation or tests. Inspect Archify implementation if diagnostics remain unactionable after focused repairs.