Composite reference architectures

A composite reference architecture brings several reference architectures together into a single blueprint. For example, an edge pattern, an event-driven core, and an analytics platform that together make up your commerce platform.

Composite reference architectures are available on the Enterprise plan. Creating one needs the Member role or higher.

1. Create a composite

1. Open Composite RefArchs in the sidebar.
2. Choose + New Composite RefArch.
3. Fill in the form:
   • Title and Authors, as for any artifact.
   • Diagram (Mermaid): required. Mermaid source for the whole composite. A live preview renders beside the editor, and Add example diagram appears while the box is empty. Paste the source only; surrounding ```mermaid fences are removed for you.
   • Reference architectures: the parts this composite is built from. See Pick the parts.
   • Body (Markdown): pre-filled from your workspace's composite template.
4. Choose Create draft.

2. Pick the parts

The Reference architectures field is a search box:

1. Click into it, or start typing a ref ID or title. With an empty box you see the most recently updated reference architectures.
2. Pick a result with the mouse, or with the arrow keys and Enter. Each result shows its ref ID, title, and status.
3. Your picks are listed below the search box with their status. Remove one with its × button.

Under the picker, a hint shows how many parts you've selected and how many are published.

3. Save drafts freely

A draft can be saved with any number of reference architectures, in any status. That lets you sketch a composite while its parts are still being written.

4. Propose for review

To choose Propose for review (or Resubmit for review), the composite must include at least two published reference architectures. If it doesn't, ArchForge stops the submission and names each part that isn't published yet, for example REF-0011 is Draft.

From there the composite follows the usual review flow: a reviewer publishes it, rejects it, or requests changes. See Reviewing and approving.

5. Fill in the template

The built-in composite template has these sections:

Section	What to write
Overview	What the composite delivers that its parts don't deliver alone.
How the parts fit	Which reference architecture plays which role, walking through the diagram.
Integration points	Interfaces, contracts, and data flows between the parts.
Cross-cutting concerns	Security, observability, resilience, and cost across the parts.
Adoption	How teams adopt the composite, and where they may substitute a part.

Admins can tailor it in Artifact types and templates.

Reading a composite

A composite page shows its own diagram first. Below it, a Composed of section shows each reference architecture as a panel with its ref ID, title, status, and live diagram. Click a panel to open that reference architecture.

A part that has since been Deprecated or Superseded is flagged Retired, so you can see when a composite is built on a blueprint that's no longer current.

Going the other way, every reference architecture page lists the composites that use it under Used in composites.

List and diagram views

The Composite RefArchs list can be shown as a table or as diagram panels. Switch with the List / Diagrams toggle; ArchForge remembers your choice in this browser. The table view has a Rows per page picker, and the diagram view shows 10 composites per page.