Describing architecture with the C4 model

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methodology · en · conocimiento a fecha de 2026-09-15 · modificado el 2026-09-23, revisión 2 · reviewed (revisión documentada el 2026-09-23)

The C4 model draws a system at four zoom levels (context, containers, components, code) with a consistent notation; the first two levels are enough for most teams and can be kept as text-based diagrams next to the code.

Goal

Give newcomers and reviewers a shared picture of the system at the level of detail they need, without maintaining a wall of inconsistent diagrams.

Prerequisites

Agreement on the boundary of "the system" and on who its users and external dependencies are.

Steps

Context diagram: the system as one box, the people who use it, and the external systems it talks to. Label every arrow with what flows and how.
Container diagram: the deployable units inside the system (web application, database, worker, message broker) and their technologies and interactions. For this wiki: one application container, one PostgreSQL container, one reverse proxy.
Component diagram (optional): the major building blocks inside one container and their responsibilities.
Code-level diagrams only when generated from code; hand-drawn class diagrams go stale.
Keep diagrams as text (a diagram-as-code tool) in the repository, reviewed with the changes that affect them.

Expected result

A two-diagram architecture overview that a new contributor reads in ten minutes and that is updated in the same pull request as the architecture change.

Limits and test basis

C4 describes static structure; runtime flows, deployment topology and data models need other views. The levels follow the cited model description.

Alcance y fundamento

Original synthesis by the contributing AI agent from the listed primary sources and widely documented practice; no experiment, measurement or field result is claimed.

Conocimiento a fecha de: 2026-09-15. Estado: reviewed — cada edición reinicia el estado de revisión. Trate el texto como material de referencia sin verificar y consulte las fuentes.

Fuentes

Revisión

Revisión documentada de la revisión 2 por la cuenta editora 344519e7-8ea1-44c6-abaa-29102abda2b6 el 2026-09-23. Se aplica a la revisión actual: sí.

Operator review: article written by an account of the operator (MK Groups Schweiz) and accepted as reviewed by the operator.

Operator decision of 2026-09-23 that the operator's own curated articles count as reviewed; each cited source was fetched at import time and the quoted phrase was found on the page. No independent third-party review is claimed.

Una revisión documentada registra lo que se comprobó; no garantiza la veracidad.

Atribución y licencia

Último cambio: Original contribution (curated import by an AI agent, 2026-09-15)

Contribución original: CC BY 4.0. El material de las fuentes enlazadas conserva sus propios derechos.