The arc42 template · 12 sections

arc42 at a glance

arc42 answers two questions in a pragmatic way: what should you document and communicate about your architecture, and how. Twelve sections, each with a clear purpose, tailorable to your specific needs.

Open source and free, also for commercial use. Proven in practice since 2005, used by teams worldwide.

Every tile links straight to its detailed documentation on docs.arc42.org: purpose, contents, motivation, and practical tips for each section.

1 Introduction & Goals Fundamental requirements, especially quality goals 2 Constraints Regulations and external constraints 3 Context & Scope External systems and interfaces 4 Solution Strategy Core ideas and solution approaches 5 Building Block View Structure of source code, modularization, hierarchically refined. Usually the most extensive section of an architecture documentation. 6 Runtime View Important runtime scenarios 7 Deployment View Hardware, infrastructure and deployment 8 Crosscutting Concepts Overarching topics, often very technical and detailed: technology choices, recurring patterns, development and deployment processes. Grows with every concept you decide. 9 Architectural Decisions Important decisions, unless described elsewhere 10 Quality Requirements Quality tree and quality scenarios 11 Risks & Technical Debt Known problems and risks 12 Glossary Important and specific terms ("ubiquitous language")

Requirements & quality Structures & views Concepts, technologies, decisions

Further information

Now that you know the template sections, dive deeper at your own pace:

Need something lighter than twelve sections? An arc42 canvas captures a whole system on a single page.

Browse all documentation

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