Arc42 Profiles

Arc42 profiles in Archflow provide structured business context documentation for your systems and projects, following the Arc42 architecture documentation template.

What is Arc42?

Arc42 is a widely-used template for software architecture documentation. It provides a structured framework covering aspects like business context, quality requirements, and architectural decisions.

Arc42 in Archflow

In Archflow, Arc42 profiles focus on business context --- the business-facing aspects of your architecture that complement the technical details already captured in your systems and connections.

System-Level Profiles

Each system can have an Arc42 profile that documents:

• Business context --- The business domain and stakeholders
• Business boundaries --- Where the system's responsibilities begin and end
• Quality requirements --- Performance, availability, security requirements
• Architectural decisions --- Key decisions and their rationale
• Risks and technical debt --- Known risks and areas needing attention

Project-Level Profiles

The Architecture → Arc42 page provides a project-level Arc42 view covering all 11 sections of the Arc42 template:

This is where you document the overall architectural context that applies to the entire project, not just individual systems.

Creating an Arc42 Profile

System-Level

1. Navigate to a system's detail page
2. Open the Arc42 Profile section
3. Fill in the relevant sections using the per-card editing interface --- each section is an independent card you can expand and edit
4. Save your changes

Project-Level

1. Navigate to Architecture → Arc42 in the project navigation
2. Each of the 11 sections appears as an expandable card
3. Click a section to edit it with the markdown editor
4. Use Archie to generate content for any section

Per-Card Editing

Arc42 profiles use a per-card editing pattern where each section is an independent card:

• Click a section card to expand it for editing
• Edit using a markdown editor
• Save individual sections without affecting others
• Archie can generate or update content for specific sections

Arc42 and AI Documentation

Arc42 profiles significantly improve AI documentation generation. When the AI generates documentation, it incorporates:

• Business domain context for more relevant descriptions
• Quality requirements for architecture decision documentation
• Stakeholder information for audience-appropriate language
• Industry-specific terminology based on the business domain (across 6 industry pattern libraries)

Arc42 and Archie

Archie provides dedicated Arc42 tools for both system-level and project-level profiles:

• Generate Arc42 Section --- AI-generate content for a specific section (system or project)
• Update Arc42 Section --- Update existing section content with new information
• Analyze Arc42 Completeness --- Check which sections need attention
• Get Arc42 Profile --- View the full system or project profile

Best Practices

• Focus on business context --- Technical details belong in system properties and connections
• Document decisions --- Record why architectural choices were made, not just what they are
• Keep it current --- Update Arc42 profiles when business requirements change
• Start with key systems --- You don't need Arc42 profiles for every component
• Use Archie --- Let the AI assistant help generate initial content for each section
• Use project-level for cross-cutting concerns --- Reserve system-level profiles for system-specific context