1. Create with local, publish to server

  1. Create and edit workspaces on your computer using the Structurizr DSL and a text-editor/IDE, using local to view your diagrams and modify their layout - see step-by-step instructions.
  2. Store the workspace.dsl and workspace.json files in version control (e.g. git).
  3. Publish workspaces to a Structurizr server via the workspace API and the push command.

Rating

  • Workspace editing: (fast feedback loop, all Structurizr DSL features are available, workspaces are stored in version control)
  • Diagram viewing: (interactive diagrams, double-click to zoom, etc)

Benefits

  • Workspace editors can use the full set of Structurizr DSL features because the Structurizr DSL parser runs on their computer.
  • local provides the quickest feedback loop, especially when running your text editor/IDE and web browser split screen in conjunction with the auto-refresh option.
  • The workspace.dsl and workspace.json files can easily be stored in version control.
  • Diagram viewers only require a web browser to view the diagrams.
  • Diagrams can be embedded into existing websites using an iframe embed or image embed.

Considerations

  • Workspace editors require Docker or Java 21+ installed to run local.
  • Requires a server to be installed somewhere, accessible to all diagram viewers.
  • The workspace.json file created by local needs to be pushed to the server via the workspace API, either manually or via a build pipeline.