Archi Compatibility

Archi Online treats fidelity to desktop Archi as its specification. This page explains what that means in practice when you move models between the two tools.

Same file format

Both tools read and write the same native .archimate document. Asset-free models are plain XML; image-bearing models are Desktop-compatible ZIP archives with model.xml and referenced images/* entries. A model saved in Archi Online opens in Desktop Archi and vice versa — element ids, folders, view layouts, specializations, images, label expressions, complete Phase 1 appearance, Dublin Core metadata, key-value properties, recursive connection endpoints, router modes and dormant bendpoints, note connections, and native legend configuration are preserved.

Round-trip fidelity is verified against Archi's official Archisurance model plus reciprocal Phase 1 and Phase 2 fixtures. The Phase 2 pair consists of an Online-authored source contract and a separately hand-authored Desktop-native source, semantic contract, and frozen Desktop 5.9 load/save golden. npm run verify:phase2 checks both contracts on every platform. npm run verify:phase2:desktop requires exact Desktop Archi 5.9.0.202604140726, rebuilds the frozen Desktop golden from its hand-authored source in a temporary path, requires exact Desktop output bytes and independent source semantics, round-trips both fixtures, and proves committed evidence did not change.

Phase 3 adds a frozen Online analysis/reuse fixture. npm run verify:phase3 checks deterministic graph traversal, typed validator results, import/merge preview, native model round-trip, the exact template entry contract, and fresh IDs when a template creates a model. npm run verify:phase3:desktop additionally requires the pinned Desktop 5.9 build and load/saves the standard nested model.archimate payload through Desktop in a temporary directory.

Two details worth knowing:

• Bendpoints are stored in Archi's relative offset format (startX/startY/endX/endY), exactly as desktop Archi writes them, so manually routed connections survive the round trip.
• Connection endpoints retain node-to-connection, connection-to-node, and recursive connection chains. Endpoint cycles and missing targets are rejected atomically instead of being repaired silently.
• Routers use Desktop's native manual (0) and Manhattan (2) values. Switching to Manhattan does not delete stored manual bendpoints.
• Images retain their original PNG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, or ICO bytes. Browser-incompatible sources use a derived PNG only for rendering. Assets are deduplicated and are included in autosave, sharing, viewer, and export flows.
• Browser-local data (settings, scripts, extensions, autosave, layout) is never written into .archimate files — files stay clean for exchange.

Same interchange formats

Archi Online also implements desktop Archi's interchange workflows:

• ArchiMate Open Exchange .xml — Open… imports vendor-neutral ArchiMate 3 exchange files as new, unsaved models, and Import/Export ▾ → Model to Open Exchange (.xml)… writes the current model back to the exchange format.
• Archi CSV — Import/Export ▾ → Model to CSV… writes elements.csv, relations.csv, and properties.csv; Import CSV into model… updates or creates objects by ID in a single undoable operation.

The Open Exchange importer/exporter preserves concepts, relationships, folders, views, viewpoints, diagram coordinates, styles, property definitions, language-tagged values, all 15 Dublin Core fields, folder organization, and specialization properties. Export can validate locally against the five bundled Archi 5.9 schemas and optionally copy them beside the XML. CSV import/export follows Archi's three-file schema, including specialization creation and assignment, special relationship properties, duplicate rejection, and atomic failure. See Import & Export for the workflows.

Archi Online also reads and writes Desktop-shaped .architemplate ZIP files: manifest.xml, nested model.archimate, and optional numbered Thumbnails/*.png entries. The optional archi-online.json catalog ID and categories are ignored by Desktop. Template export and model creation each remap every model/object ID while preserving profiles, assets, views, styling, and recursive connection topology.

Same static HTML report outcome

Import/Export ▾ → Static HTML Report (.zip)… produces a self-contained offline report package with model-tree navigation, literal search, stable view/object deep links, object documentation and properties, Model Relations, Used in Views, and shared-renderer SVG diagrams with zoom controls. Extracted index.html opens through file:// or static hosting without Archi Online, a server runtime, or network requests.

This implements Desktop's portable navigable-report outcome with a web-native static package. Report masking and query tools remain tracked separately as OUTPUT-02. The report includes the selected model content but excludes browser-profile data such as settings, extensions, scripts, autosave, file handles, sharing credentials, tokens, dock layout, and undo history.

Same metamodel and rules

• The full ArchiMate 3.2 metamodel: every element type across Strategy, Business, Application, Technology, Physical, Motivation, and Implementation & Migration layers, plus Junction, and all relationship types.
• The allowed-relationship matrix is generated directly from Archi's own relationships.xml data file, so relationship validity — including what the magic connector offers — matches desktop Archi exactly. The connector supports forward/reverse choices, semantic relationship reuse, atomic target creation on canvas or in Groups, desktop menu polarity, and sticky palette tools.
• Automatic Relationship Management uses Desktop-compatible normal, reverse, and hidden-while-nested relationship masks. The preferences are browser-local; the relationships, containment, and occurrences they create are ordinary native model data.
• Set Concept Type, relationship inversion, advanced tree search, previewed find/replace, and global property-key operations use one reviewed, undoable transaction and stay isolated to the captured model session.
• Default sizes and fill colors for new elements follow Archi's defaults.
• Native Archi 5.8/5.9 legends round-trip as Note figures with the exact legend feature encoding. Their contents are derived live from recursively nested element and relationship occurrences, including primary specializations, and render identically in the editor, read-only viewer, outline, and image export. Older Archi versions safely see a blank Note named Legend; the existing C4 textual legend remains a separate feature.
• The viewpoint definitions (which element types each ArchiMate viewpoint allows) are ported from Archi's viewpoints.xml; the palette greys out disallowed element types on views that declare a viewpoint, matching desktop Archi's default behavior.
• The model Validator pins the eight desktop Archi 5.9 Hammer checkers (illegal relationships, unused elements and relationships, duplicate names, viewpoint violations, empty views, nested-element and junction checks), keeping Archi's fixed severities. Its configurable rule toggles are browser-local. Additional ID/reference/folder/view/topology checks are explicitly labelled Model integrity, not presented as Desktop Hammer rules. See User Guide.
• The Navigator, graphical Visualiser, Generate View For, the Properties panel's Analysis tab, and tree Duplicate (Ctrl+D) follow their desktop Archi counterparts' semantics. See User Guide.

Same figures

Element figures are ported from Archi's Java source rather than redrawn:

• Each element supports the same two figure variants as Archi — the default box/rounded box with a corner icon (octagon for motivation elements) and the classic notation shape. Switch per object via Figure in the Properties panel.
• Corner icons are 1:1 transcriptions of Archi's icon-drawing code.
• Diagram appearance includes Desktop gradients, solid/dashed/dotted/hidden outlines, normal/medium/heavy widths, fill/line/font opacity and color, icon visibility and color, derived line color, ten image positions, and editable font family, point size, bold, and italic.
• Label expressions follow the Archi 5.9 grammar, prefixes, recursive ten-pass evaluation, and visible diagnostics without preventing a view from loading.

Known limitations

• A deeply nested create-target menu can overlap an earlier menu column near the right edge of a narrow browser viewport. Keyboard arrows and Enter remain fully supported, and placing the target farther left avoids the overlap. This does not affect the created model data.

• Sketch and Canvas views (desktop Archi extras outside the ArchiMate standard) are not supported. They are skipped when a file is opened — and therefore dropped if you re-save that file from Archi Online. Keep a copy, or keep models containing Sketch/Canvas views in desktop Archi.

• Anything else desktop Archi writes that Archi Online does not model is likewise not preserved across a re-save. The safe workflow for mixed-tool teams is to check the file into version control (the XML diffs cleanly) so nothing is lost silently.

Scripting compatibility

The scripting API follows jArchi conventions — selectors, collections, wrappers, and creation APIs — so many jArchi scripts run unchanged. Desktop-platform APIs (file system, Java interop, external script loading) are not available in the browser. See Scripting API for the exact surface.

Scripts are stored and exchanged as .ajs files, the same extension jArchi uses.

Related pages:

• Getting Started — opening and saving files.
• Development — how fidelity is maintained (generated rules, round-trip tests).