Arkidor User Manual

Browser-based ArchiMate® modelling tool — Version 1.1.0

1. Overview

Arkidor is a free browser-based ArchiMate® modelling tool supporting ArchiMate 3.2 and 4.0 — and it will stay free. No registration required. It runs entirely in your browser with no server or backend required. No data is saved to the server; all your models are stored locally in your browser. You can create, edit, and visualise enterprise architecture models using the full ArchiMate notation.

Key features

• Completely free — no per-seat licensing, no trial, no paywall
• No registration or sign-up required
• Private by design — no data leaves your browser
• Full ArchiMate 3.2 and 4.0 element and relationship palette
• Multiple diagram views with tabs
• Open and save ArchiMate Open Exchange Format XML files
• Undo/redo with 50+ step history
• Export diagrams to SVG and PNG
• Drag-and-drop element placement
• Find and replace across the model

2. Getting Started

When you open Arkidor, a new empty model is created automatically with a Default View ready for editing.

Start modelling

1. Drag elements from the Palette panel onto the canvas.
2. Select an element to edit its properties in the Properties panel.
3. Save your work with Ctrl+S.

Create a new model

1. Go to File → New or press Ctrl+N.
2. A fresh empty model with a Default View opens.
3. Start adding elements from the Palette panel.

Open an existing model

1. Click Open File… or press Ctrl+O.
2. Select an ArchiMate Open Exchange Format XML file from your computer.
3. The model loads and the Navigator tree populates with all elements, relationships, and views.

3. The Interface

After opening a model, the interface shows four main areas:

• Menu Bar (top) — File, Edit, View, and Help menus
• Navigator (left) — Tree view of your model's elements, relationships, and views
• Canvas (centre) — Diagram area where you view and edit ArchiMate views
• Properties Panel (right) — Edit attributes, appearance, and documentation for selected elements
• Palette (left, next to Navigator) — Element types you can drag onto the canvas

You can show or hide each panel from the View menu:

4. Working with Models

Saving your work

1. Press Ctrl+S or go to File → Save.
2. On first save, you'll be prompted to choose a file location.
3. Subsequent saves update the same file in place.
4. Use File → Save As… (Ctrl+Shift+S) to save a copy with a different name.

Exporting diagrams

1. Open the view you want to export.
2. Go to File → Export as SVG… or Export as PNG…
3. The file downloads with the view's name.

Undo and redo

• Ctrl+Z — Undo the last action
• Ctrl+Y — Redo
• Also available from Edit → Undo / Redo

5. The Canvas

The canvas is where you view and edit diagrams. Each open view appears as a tab at the top of the canvas area. Click a tab to switch between views, or close a tab to remove it from the workspace (the view remains in your model).

Navigation

• Zoom in/out — Ctrl+= / Ctrl+-, or scroll wheel with Ctrl held
• Pan — Hold middle mouse button and drag, or scroll wheel
• Fit to window — Ctrl+Shift+F
• Reset zoom — Ctrl+0

Adding elements

1. Select an element type from the Palette.
2. Click on the canvas to place it, or drag from the Palette directly onto the canvas.
3. The element appears and you can immediately type its name.

Connecting elements

1. Select the Magic Connector tool from the Palette, or hover over a source element to reveal its connection handle.
2. Drag from the source to the target element.
3. Choose the relationship type from the popup menu.

Editing element labels

• Double-click an element on the canvas to edit its name.
• Press Enter or click away to confirm.
• Press Escape to cancel.

Context menu

Right-click on the canvas or an element to access contextual actions such as:

• Delete element
• Rename
• Select connected elements
• Align and distribute
• Change appearance

6. Connection Routing & Appearance

Connections between elements on the canvas use orthogonal (right-angle) routing by default. You can adjust their appearance and manually add bendpoints.

Adjusting connection appearance

1. Select a connection on the canvas.
2. In the Properties panel, switch to the Appearance tab.
3. Adjust line colour, line width, and opacity.

Adding bendpoints

• Click on a connection segment to select it.
• Drag the blue handle that appears mid-segment to create a bendpoint.
• Drag an existing bendpoint to reposition it.
• Right-click a bendpoint and select Remove Bendpoint to delete it.

Why did my connection straighten?

When you move or resize an element, Arkidor checks each connection attached to it. It either keeps the route you drew, or resets it and draws a straight connection.

When the route is kept

The part of a connection that leaves an element is called its end segment. Arkidor keeps your bendpoints when the end segment still works after the change:

• It still leaves the same side of the element, in a straight line.
• It does not start too close to a corner of the element.
• There is still room for the arrowhead between the element and the first bendpoint.
• No bendpoint and no other part of the route now lies inside the element.

A small move, for example a few pixels along the side the connection leaves from, usually keeps the route exactly as it was.

When the route is reset

If the move breaks the straight end segment — for example, the element moves so far that the end segment would bend or run through the element — Arkidor resets the whole route of that connection. It removes all its bendpoints and draws the connection straight again, with right-angle corners where needed. Arkidor never keeps half a route.

The result depends only on where the element ends up, not on how far you dragged it on the way.

Connections are spread along the side

New connections, and connections that Arkidor straightens, are spread evenly along the side of the element instead of all meeting in the middle. A new connection takes a free place on each side, so the connections that are already there do not move.

Keep the route: select both ends

To move a part of your diagram without losing its routing, select both elements of a connection before you move them. When both ends move by the same amount, the whole route moves along with them and keeps its shape.

Undo a reset

The move or resize, and every route it reset, form one step. Press Ctrl+Z (⌘+Z on a Mac) once to undo it: the element goes back and every reset route comes back as it was.

The message "Routing of N connection(s) was reset"

After a move or resize that reset routing you drew, a short message appears, for example:

"Routing of 2 connections was reset. Press Ctrl+Z to undo." (On a Mac it says ⌘Z.)

N is the number of connections that lost a route with two or more bendpoints. Connections with no bendpoint or only one are straightened without a message, because Arkidor often creates such simple routes by itself. The message also does not appear when you use Straighten, when you draw a new connection, or for connections that auto-layout lays out, because there you asked for a new route. The message disappears by itself after a few seconds. You can still undo after it has gone.

Bendpoints inside an element are drawn as a corner

Some files, often made with other tools, store a bendpoint inside the start or end element of a connection. Arkidor used to ignore such a bendpoint. It now draws a right-angle corner just outside the element, so the connection leaves the element the way the file describes. This only changes how the connection is drawn (on the canvas, in exports and in the model report). The bendpoint stored in your file does not change.

7. The Palette

The Palette panel lists all ArchiMate element types organised by layer (Strategy, Business, Application, Technology, etc.) and all relationship types.

Using the Palette

• Drag and drop — Drag any element type from the Palette onto the canvas to create an instance.
• Click to activate — Click an element type to activate the placement tool, then click on the canvas to place it.
• Sticky mode — Double-click a palette item to place multiple elements of the same type. Press Escape to deactivate.
• Search — Type in the search box at the top to filter element types.

8. The Navigator

The Navigator shows the model's complete structure as a tree.

Navigating the model

• Expand/collapse — Click the arrow next to a folder to expand or collapse it.
• Open a view — Double-click a view to open it on the canvas.
• Select an element — Click an element to select it and show its properties.
• Drag to canvas — Drag an element from the Navigator onto the canvas to add it to the current view.

Organising elements

• Drag elements between folders to reorganise your model.
• Right-click a folder to create new sub-folders or elements.
• Press F2 to rename the selected item.

Search

Use Ctrl+F to open Find & Replace, which searches across all element and view names in the model.

9. The Properties Panel

The Properties panel appears on the right side of the interface. It is context-sensitive — the tabs and fields it shows depend on what you have selected.

Tab bar

The panel shows up to three tabs depending on the selection context:

• Main — Always present. Shows identity, naming, documentation, and properties for the selected object.
• Analysis — Appears for elements, relationships, views, and folders. Shows where the selected object is used and how it connects to other objects.
• Appearance — Appears only when an element or connection is selected on the canvas (not in the Navigator). Controls visual styling.

Main tab — Elements

When you select an element, the Main tab shows:

• ID — The element's unique identifier (read-only).
• Type — The ArchiMate element type with its icon (read-only).
• Name — Editable text field for the element name.
• Specialization — Dropdown to assign a specialization (only appears when specializations are defined for this type). An ℹ️ button shows the specialization's documentation if available.
• Documentation — Multi-line text field for free-text documentation.
• Alternate languages — If your model has multiple languages, expandable fields show the name and documentation in each language.
• Specialization Attributes — If the assigned specialization defines typed attributes, additional input fields appear here.
• Properties — Key-value pairs (see User Properties below).

Main tab — Relationships

When you select a relationship (on the canvas or in the Navigator), the Main tab shows:

• ID — Unique identifier (read-only).
• Type — The relationship type with its icon.
• Name — Editable name field (optional for most relationship types).
• Source — Shows the source element's type (with icon) and name. You can double-click the name to navigate to it. Drag the source row onto the canvas to add it to the current view.
• Target — Same as Source, for the target element.
• Type-specific fields:
  • Access relationships — Access Type dropdown (Access / Read / Write / Read-Write).
  • Influence relationships — Strength field (e.g., +, ++, ---).
  • Association relationships — Directed checkbox.
• Multiplicity (ArchiMate 4.0 only) — Source and Target multiplicity fields (e.g., 1, *, 0..*).
• Documentation — Multi-line text field.
• Alternate languages — Same as for elements.

Main tab — Views

When you select a view (by clicking its tab or selecting it in the Navigator), the Main tab shows:

• Type — Always "ArchiMate View".
• Name — Editable view name.
• Viewpoint — Dropdown to assign a predefined or custom viewpoint. The dropdown background colour indicates the viewpoint category.
• Documentation — Multi-line text field.
• Alternate languages — Name and documentation in other languages.

Main tab — Model root

Click the model name at the top of the Navigator tree to see:

• Type — "ArchiMate Model".
• Name — The model name.
• ArchiMate Version — Switch between 3.2 and 4.0 (triggers the Migration dialog).
• Purpose — Multi-line field for the model's purpose statement.
• Documentation — Multi-line documentation.

Appearance tab

The Appearance tab is only available when an element or connection is selected on the canvas (it does not appear for Navigator-only selections).

For elements (nodes):

• Position & Size — X, Y coordinates and W, H dimensions as numeric inputs. A reset button restores the default size.
• Fill — Colour picker and opacity slider (0–255). Reset returns to the type's default colour.
• Line — Colour picker, line width (Normal / Medium / Heavy), and opacity slider.
• Text — Font family (Arial, Courier New, Georgia, Segoe UI, Times New Roman, Verdana, or Default), font size, style (Plain / Bold / Italic / Bold Italic), and font colour.

For connections:

• Line — Colour, width, and opacity (same as for nodes).
• Text — Font family, size, style, and colour.

Each field shows a default badge when using the default value, or a ↺ reset button when customised.

Analysis tab

The Analysis tab shows how the selected object is used across your model. Its content varies by selection type.

For elements and relationships:

• Used in Views (collapsible) — A table listing every view that contains this element. Columns: View name, Viewpoint. Double-click a row to open that view and select the element on the canvas.
• Model Relations (collapsible, elements only) — A table listing all relationships connected to this element. Columns: Relationship type (with icon), Direction (→ outgoing / ← incoming), Element type (icon), Element name.

For views:

• Elements (collapsible) — All elements in the view, with type icon and name.
• Connections (collapsible) — All connections in the view, showing source → type → target.

For folders:

• Elements, Relations, and Views — Catalogues of the folder's contents.

All Analysis tables support:

• Column sorting — Click a column header to sort ascending/descending.
• Filtering — Click the filter icon to reveal filter inputs for each column.
• CSV export — Click the ⬇ button in the section header to download the table as a CSV file.
• Drag to canvas — Drag any row onto the canvas to add that element or relationship to the current view.

User Properties

The Properties section appears at the bottom of the Main tab for elements, relationships, and views. It lets you add custom key-value pairs that are preserved in the Open Exchange Format file.

1. Select an element and scroll to the Properties section at the bottom of the Main tab.
2. Click the + button to add a new property.
3. Enter a key (name) and value. The key field offers auto-complete suggestions from property keys used elsewhere in your model.
4. To remove a property, click the × button next to it.

10. Viewpoints

Viewpoints restrict which ArchiMate element types can be used in a view. They help you focus on a specific concern or stakeholder perspective.

Applying a viewpoint

1. Select a view (click its tab or select it in the Navigator).
2. In the Properties panel, find the Viewpoint dropdown.
3. Choose a viewpoint from the list.
4. The Palette updates to show only allowed element types — disallowed types appear greyed out.

Custom viewpoints

You can create your own viewpoints to match your organisation's needs:

1. Go to Edit → Viewpoints…
2. Click New to create a custom viewpoint.
3. Give it a name and select which element types to allow.
4. Click Save.

Custom viewpoints appear alongside the predefined ArchiMate viewpoints in the viewpoint dropdown.

11. Specializations

Specializations let you create subtypes of ArchiMate elements with custom icons and colours. For example, you might create a "Microservice" specialization of the Application Component type.

Managing specializations

1. Go to Edit → Specializations…
2. Click New to create a specialization.
3. Choose the base ArchiMate concept type (e.g., Application Component).
4. Enter a name for the specialization.
5. Optionally set a custom colour and icon.
6. Click Save.

Using specializations

Once defined, specializations appear in the Properties panel when you select an element of the matching base type. Choose the specialization from the Specialization dropdown in the Main tab.

Specialization attributes

When creating a specialization, you can define custom typed attributes (e.g., "SLA Level", "Cost Centre"). These appear as additional input fields in the Main tab whenever an element has that specialization assigned. Attribute values are stored as element properties in the Open Exchange Format file.

12. Model Validation

The validation panel checks your model for compliance issues — invalid relationships, orphaned elements, incorrect nesting, and more.

Running validation

1. Open the Validation panel from View → Validation.
2. Click the ▶ Validate button.
3. Issues appear grouped by severity: errors, warnings, and informational messages.
4. Click an issue to select the affected element on the canvas.

Issue types

• Invalid relationships — A relationship that is not permitted between the source and target element types per the ArchiMate specification.
• Orphaned elements — Elements that exist in the model but are not used in any view.
• Invalid nesting — Elements nested inside containers where the nesting relationship is not valid.
• Duplicate IDs — Multiple elements sharing the same identifier (typically caused by file corruption).

13. Multi-Language Support

Arkidor supports models with element names and documentation in multiple languages. Each element can have a primary name and alternate language variants.

Setting the working language

1. Click the language badge in the top-right of the menu bar (e.g., EN ▾).
2. Select a language from the quick-switch dropdown.
3. The canvas and Navigator update to display names in the selected language.

Managing languages

1. Click the language badge and select Manage Languages…
2. Add new languages, remove unused ones, or reorder your preference.
3. The first language in the list is your primary working language.

Adding translations

1. Select an element in the Navigator or canvas.
2. In the Properties panel's Main tab, alternate language fields appear below the Documentation field — one name and documentation field per language.
3. Enter the translated name and documentation for each language.

14. Model Report Export

Generate a comprehensive HTML report of your entire model, including views rendered as SVG diagrams, element catalogues, and relationship inventories.

Generating a report

1. Go to File → Model Report… (requires a model to be open).
2. Select which sections to include:
   • Cover page with model statistics
   • Table of contents
   • Model summary
   • Element and relationship inventories per view
   • Full element and relationship catalogues
   • Viewpoint appendix
3. Click Export. The report downloads as an HTML file.

15. ArchiMate Version Migration

Arkidor supports both ArchiMate 3.2 and ArchiMate 4.0 models. You can migrate a model between versions.

Upgrading from 3.2 to 4.0

1. Click the version badge in the menu bar (e.g., v3.2).
2. The Migration dialog opens showing what will change:
   • Layer-based organisation becomes domain-based
   • Some element types are reorganised or renamed
   • Preset specializations are added for backward compatibility
3. Review the type mappings and colour changes.
4. Click Upgrade to apply the migration.

Downgrading from 4.0 to 3.2

1. Click the version badge (v4.0) in the menu bar.
2. Review the downgrade summary — some v4-specific types will be mapped back to their v3 equivalents.
3. Click Downgrade to apply.

16. Getting Help

Arkidor provides several ways to access help while you work.

Contextual help (F1)

Press F1 at any time to open the user manual in a new browser tab. The manual opens at the section relevant to what you're currently working on:

• F1 with the Palette focused → opens the Palette section
• F1 with the Navigator focused → opens the Navigator section
• F1 with the Properties Panel focused → opens the Properties section
• F1 with the Canvas focused → opens the Canvas section
• F1 with no specific panel → opens the manual at the top

Help icon buttons

Each panel has a small ? button in its header. Click it to open the manual at the section for that panel.

Help menu

The Help menu provides:

• User Manual — Opens this manual (same as F1)
• Keyboard Shortcuts — Opens the shortcuts reference section
• Send Feedback… — Opens the feedback form to report issues or suggest improvements
• About Arkidor — Shows version and copyright information

17. Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
New model	Ctrl+N
Open file	Ctrl+O
Save	Ctrl+S
Save As	Ctrl+Shift+S
Undo	Ctrl+Z
Redo	Ctrl+Y
Find & Replace	Ctrl+F
Delete selected	Delete
Select all	Ctrl+A
Zoom in	Ctrl+=
Zoom out	Ctrl+-
Fit to window	Ctrl+Shift+F
Reset zoom (100%)	Ctrl+0
Full screen	F11
Rename selected	F2
Contextual help	F1

18. Tips & Troubleshooting

Tips

• Hold Ctrl or Alt while dropping an element from the Navigator to suppress automatic connection creation.
• Use the Outline minimap (View → Outline) to navigate large diagrams quickly.
• Enable Snap to Grid or Snap to Guides from the View menu for precise element placement.
• Drag an element from the Navigator onto the canvas to reuse an existing element in the current view (rather than creating a new one).
• Double-click a palette item to enable sticky mode — place multiple elements of the same type without re-selecting. Press Escape to deactivate.
• Use Edit → CSV Import/Export to bulk import or export elements and relationships as spreadsheet data.
• Auto-save runs automatically every 5 seconds when you have unsaved changes. If the browser crashes, you'll be offered to restore your work on next launch.
• Press F1 while working in any panel to jump directly to the relevant section in this manual.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
File won't open	Ensure the file is a valid ArchiMate Open Exchange Format XML file (not a binary .archimate file from older Archi versions).
Save isn't working	In Firefox, use Save As (download) since the File System Access API isn't supported. Chrome and Edge support in-place save.
Diagram appears blank	Double-click a view in the Navigator to open it. The canvas is empty until you open a specific view.
Elements are greyed out in Palette	The active view has a viewpoint set that restricts which element types can be used. Change the viewpoint in the view's properties or switch to a view without a viewpoint.