Graph Explorer

The Explorer is your main workspace for viewing and editing your architecture graph. It combines a visual canvas, an entity browser, and context-sensitive panels for editing, reviewing, and chatting.

Canvas Navigation

The graph canvas occupies the centre of the Explorer. Interact with it using your mouse or trackpad:

• Pan -- Click and drag on empty space to move the view.
• Zoom -- Scroll wheel or pinch to zoom in and out.
• Select -- Click a node or edge to select it and open its detail panel.
• Multi-select -- Hold Shift and click multiple nodes to select them for bulk editing.
• Fit to view -- Use the controls in the bottom-right corner to reset zoom and centre the graph.

Layout Options

Views use the Schematic layout engine to arrange your architecture diagrams:

Grouping

Grouping visually clusters nodes that share a common attribute. Choose a grouping strategy from the toolbar:

• By Specialization -- Groups by Kyb specialization type (e.g., all Databases together, all GKE Clusters together).
• By Type -- Groups by ArchiMate type (e.g., all Application Components together).
• By Layer -- Groups into Business, Application, and Technology bands.
• None -- No grouping; all nodes arranged freely.

Creating Entities

There are several ways to create entities:

• Entity form-- Click the "+" button in the entity browser to open the creation form. Fill in the name, type, and optional description.
• Drag from browser -- Drag an entity from the entity browser onto the canvas to add it to the current view.
• AI chat -- Describe systems to the AI Assistant and it will propose entities for your confirmation.

Creating Relationships

To connect two entities, drag from one node to another on the canvas. A relationship type picker will appear, showing only the relationship types that are valid between the two entity types according to ArchiMate rules. Select the type to create the connection.

You can also create relationships from the entity detail panel by clicking "Add Relationship" and selecting the target entity and type.

Bulk Editing

Select multiple nodes (Shift+click) and the bulk edit panel will appear. From here you can change the type, review status, or confidence of all selected entities at once. This is especially useful after a cloud discovery import when you want to approve or reclassify many elements together.

Focus Mode

Focus mode lets you zoom in on a specific part of the graph. Select one or more entities and activate focus mode from the toolbar. The canvas will show only the selected entities and their neighbours up to a configurable depth (1 to 5 hops). This is useful for understanding the immediate context of a system without the noise of the full graph.

Visual Nesting & Compound Containers

When entities share containment relationships (Composition, Aggregation, or Assignment), Kyb renders the child entities visually nested inside parent container boxes rather than drawing cluttered overlapping arrows.

An automated 3-phase conflict resolution algorithm ensures clean single-parent hierarchies even when multiple containment links exist. Containers feature header badges with child counts and can be expanded or collapsed interactively. See the full Visual Nesting & Containers guide for technical details.

Ancestor Breadcrumbs

When selecting or inspecting an entity deeply nested inside containers, an interactive breadcrumb trail appears along the canvas header:

Click any ancestor in the breadcrumb to immediately select the parent container and view its aggregated properties.

Collapsed Groups & Aggregate Edges

Visual groups (by layer, specialization, or type) can be collapsed into compact pills. When a group is collapsed, individual connections between external nodes and group members are rolled up into a single dashed aggregate edge with a count badge.

Clicking an aggregate edge opens the Aggregate Relationship Panel, allowing you to inspect, browse, and navigate all underlying member relationships without cluttering the canvas.

Manual Positioning & Layout Persistence

You can freely drag and reposition any node or container on the canvas. When custom positions are altered:

• Save Layout -- Commits custom manual coordinates specifically to the current view.
• Revert -- Discards unsaved manual drags and restores the last saved positions.
• Reset to Algorithm -- Clears manual pin coordinates and re-computes optimal automated layout positions.

Global Search & Cross-Project Navigation

The search bar at the top of the canvas supports instant keyword filtering and semantic vector search. Search results show similarity scores, entity types, and originating projects. Selecting a foreign entity seamlessly highlights its cross-project reference on the canvas.

Element Palette & Similarity Detection

Click the “+” icon or configure the Element Palette to keep favourite ArchiMate or custom types on the canvas for instant one-click entity creation.

When inspecting an entity, Kyb proactively searches for Similar Entities across the model to detect potential duplicates or redundant systems, helping you consolidate your architecture graph.

Display Options

Customise canvas visuals and density using the display options dropdown:

• Icons -- Toggle between standard ArchiMate symbols and official GCP service icons.
• Type & Relationship labels -- Show or hide semantic descriptions on nodes and edges.
• Coloured edges -- Tint lines by relationship type (serving, composition, flow, etc.).
• Review indicators -- Display checkmarks on human-verified architecture entities.
• Tags & Badges -- Toggle cross-cutting classification badges directly on canvas nodes.
• Overlap Removal -- Enforce strict non-overlapping collision boundaries on nodes.
• Foreign nodes -- Visually highlight references imported from sister projects.