C4 Model Diagrams

Overview

The C4 model, created by Simon Brown, is a hierarchical approach to software architecture diagramming. It uses four levels of abstraction — Context, Container, Component, and Code — to describe a software system at different zoom levels. The primary tooling for C4 is the Structurizr DSL, a text-based domain-specific language purpose-built for C4 modeling.

The Four Levels

Level 1: System Context

The highest level of abstraction. Shows the system under consideration and its relationships with users (actors) and other systems. Answers: "What is the system and who uses it?"

workspace {
    model {
        user = person "User" "A customer of the system."
        email = softwareSystem "Email System" "Sends transactional emails." "External"
        system = softwareSystem "My System" "Handles core business logic."

        user -> system "Uses"
        system -> email "Sends emails via"
    }
    views {
        systemContext system "SystemContext" {
            include *
            autolayout lr
        }
    }
}

Level 2: Container

Zooms into a single software system to show the high-level technology choices — web apps, APIs, databases, message brokers, etc. Answers: "What are the major technology building blocks?"

workspace {
    model {
        user = person "User"
        system = softwareSystem "My System" {
            webapp = container "Web Application" "Serves the UI." "React"
            api = container "API Service" "Handles business logic." "Node.js"
            db = container "Database" "Stores data." "PostgreSQL" "Database"
        }

        user -> webapp "Visits"
        webapp -> api "Calls" "HTTPS/JSON"
        api -> db "Reads from and writes to" "SQL/TCP"
    }
    views {
        container system "Containers" {
            include *
            autolayout lr
        }
    }
}

Level 3: Component

Zooms into a single container to show the logical components inside it and their interactions. Answers: "What are the major structural building blocks inside a container?"

workspace {
    model {
        system = softwareSystem "My System" {
            api = container "API Service" {
                controller = component "API Controller" "Handles HTTP requests." "Express Router"
                service = component "Business Service" "Implements domain logic." "TypeScript Class"
                repo = component "Repository" "Data access layer." "TypeORM Repository"
            }
            db = container "Database" "PostgreSQL" "Database"

            controller -> service "Delegates to"
            service -> repo "Uses"
            repo -> db "Reads/writes" "SQL"
        }
    }
    views {
        component api "Components" {
            include *
            autolayout lr
        }
    }
}

Level 4: Code

The lowest level. Shows the internal structure of a single component — typically a UML class diagram or similar. This level is usually auto-generated from code and is optional in most C4 workflows.

Note: Level 4 is often omitted in practice because it can be generated directly from source code by IDEs or static analysis tools. Use it only when the internal structure of a component is complex enough to warrant explicit documentation.

Structurizr DSL Reference

Workspace Definition

Every Structurizr DSL file starts with a workspace block that contains a model and views.

workspace "Name" "Description" {
    !identifiers hierarchical

    model {
        // Define people, software systems, containers, components
    }

    views {
        // Define diagrams (views) of the model
    }
}

Model Elements

Relationships

source -> destination "Description" "Technology" "Tag"

Examples:

user -> system "Uses"
webapp -> api "Makes API calls to" "HTTPS/JSON"
api -> db "Reads from and writes to" "JDBC"

Views

Styles

views {
    styles {
        element "Person" {
            shape Person
            background #08427B
            color #ffffff
        }
        element "Software System" {
            background #1168BD
            color #ffffff
        }
        element "Database" {
            shape Cylinder
        }
        element "External" {
            background #999999
        }
        relationship "Relationship" {
            thickness 2
            color #707070
            style dashed
        }
    }
}

Available Shapes

Box (default), RoundedBox, Circle, Ellipse, Hexagon, Cylinder, Pipe, Person, Robot, Folder, WebBrowser, MobileDevicePortrait, MobileDeviceLandscape, Component

Complete Workspace Example

workspace "Online Bookstore" "Architecture of the online bookstore system." {
    !identifiers hierarchical

    model {
        customer = person "Customer" "A person who buys books online."
        admin = person "Admin" "Internal staff managing the catalog."

        bookstore = softwareSystem "Online Bookstore" "Allows customers to browse and purchase books." {
            webapp = container "Web Application" "Delivers the storefront to customers." "Next.js" "WebBrowser"
            api = container "API Gateway" "Routes requests to microservices." "Kong"
            catalogService = container "Catalog Service" "Manages the book catalog." "Go" {
                catalogController = component "Catalog Controller" "Handles catalog HTTP endpoints." "net/http"
                catalogLogic = component "Catalog Logic" "Business rules for catalog management." "Go package"
                catalogRepo = component "Catalog Repository" "Reads/writes catalog data." "GORM"
            }
            orderService = container "Order Service" "Processes customer orders." "Java/Spring Boot"
            catalogDb = container "Catalog Database" "Stores book catalog data." "PostgreSQL" "Database"
            orderDb = container "Order Database" "Stores order data." "PostgreSQL" "Database"
            queue = container "Message Queue" "Asynchronous event processing." "RabbitMQ"
        }

        payments = softwareSystem "Payment Gateway" "Processes credit card payments." "External"

        # Relationships
        customer -> webapp "Browses and purchases books via"
        admin -> webapp "Manages catalog via"
        webapp -> api "Sends requests to" "HTTPS/JSON"
        api -> catalogService "Routes catalog requests to" "gRPC"
        api -> orderService "Routes order requests to" "gRPC"
        catalogService -> catalogDb "Reads from and writes to" "SQL/TCP"
        orderService -> orderDb "Reads from and writes to" "SQL/TCP"
        orderService -> queue "Publishes order events to" "AMQP"
        orderService -> payments "Processes payments via" "HTTPS"

        # Component-level relationships
        catalogController -> catalogLogic "Delegates to"
        catalogLogic -> catalogRepo "Uses"
        catalogRepo -> catalogDb "Queries" "SQL"
    }

    views {
        systemContext bookstore "Context" {
            include *
            autolayout lr
        }

        container bookstore "Containers" {
            include *
            autolayout lr
        }

        component catalogService "CatalogComponents" {
            include *
            autolayout lr
        }

        styles {
            element "Person" {
                shape Person
                background #08427B
                color #ffffff
            }
            element "Software System" {
                background #1168BD
                color #ffffff
            }
            element "Container" {
                background #438DD5
                color #ffffff
            }
            element "Component" {
                background #85BBF0
                color #000000
            }
            element "Database" {
                shape Cylinder
            }
            element "WebBrowser" {
                shape WebBrowser
            }
            element "External" {
                background #999999
                color #ffffff
            }
        }
    }
}

Structurizr CLI Commands

# Validate a workspace DSL file
structurizr-cli validate -workspace workspace.dsl

# Push a workspace to Structurizr (cloud or on-premises)
structurizr-cli push -id <workspace-id> -key <api-key> -secret <api-secret> -workspace workspace.dsl

# Pull a workspace from Structurizr
structurizr-cli pull -id <workspace-id> -key <api-key> -secret <api-secret>

# Export diagrams to various formats
structurizr-cli export -workspace workspace.dsl -format plantuml
structurizr-cli export -workspace workspace.dsl -format mermaid
structurizr-cli export -workspace workspace.dsl -format json
structurizr-cli export -workspace workspace.dsl -format png

# Run Structurizr Lite locally (Docker)
docker run -it --rm -p 8080:8080 -v $(pwd):/usr/local/structurizr structurizr/lite

Mermaid C4 Support

Mermaid supports C4 diagrams natively, making it possible to embed C4 models directly in Markdown rendered by GitHub, GitLab, and other platforms.

C4Context
    title System Context Diagram for Online Bookstore

    Person(customer, "Customer", "A person who buys books online.")
    System(bookstore, "Online Bookstore", "Allows customers to browse and purchase books.")
    System_Ext(payments, "Payment Gateway", "Processes credit card payments.")

    Rel(customer, bookstore, "Browses and purchases books via")
    Rel(bookstore, payments, "Processes payments via", "HTTPS")

C4Container
    title Container Diagram for Online Bookstore

    Person(customer, "Customer")
    System_Boundary(bookstore, "Online Bookstore") {
        Container(webapp, "Web Application", "Next.js", "Delivers the storefront.")
        Container(api, "API Gateway", "Kong", "Routes requests.")
        ContainerDb(db, "Database", "PostgreSQL", "Stores data.")
    }

    Rel(customer, webapp, "Uses", "HTTPS")
    Rel(webapp, api, "Calls", "HTTPS/JSON")
    Rel(api, db, "Reads/writes", "SQL")

Best Practices

• Start at Level 1. Always begin with a System Context diagram to define boundaries and external dependencies before zooming in.
• Use hierarchical decomposition. Each level should tell a coherent story at its abstraction level. Do not mix abstractions (e.g., do not show database tables in a Container diagram).
• Name elements consistently. Use the same name for an element across all levels so readers can trace from Context down to Component.
• Limit detail per diagram. Keep each diagram to 5-20 elements. If a diagram is too crowded, it means the container or component needs further decomposition.
• Tag elements for styling. Use tags like "Database", "External", "WebBrowser" to apply consistent visual styles.
• Skip Level 4 unless necessary. Code-level diagrams are better generated from source code. Reserve manual Level 4 diagrams for algorithmically complex components.
• Version your DSL. Store workspace.dsl in Git alongside the source code it describes. Treat it as a first-class artifact.
• Use autolayout to get consistent, automated positioning. Override with explicit positioning only when automatic layout produces poor results.
• Add deployment views for infrastructure mapping — they show how containers map to cloud services, VMs, or Kubernetes clusters.
• Export to Mermaid for embedding in Markdown documentation. Use the Structurizr CLI export -format mermaid command.