Architecture Validation
Good enterprise architecture is governed by rules: “Every production service must have a designated team owner”, “Databases cannot directly connect to external internet endpoints without an intermediate service”. Kyb includes a real-time Architecture Validation Engine that continuously audits your graph against semantic constraints and technical writing standards.
Opening the Validation Sidebar
Click the Validate button (shield check icon) in the Explorer top action bar to open the Validation drawer. Audits run asynchronously in the background and re-evaluate dynamically as you make edits to the graph.
Dual Validation Engines (SHACL & STE100)
Kyb provides two specialized audit modes selectable via the toggle at the top of the validation panel:
1. SHACL Structural & Semantic Validation
Built on the W3C Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL) standard. Validates the structural integrity of your model against ArchiMate rules and custom organizational constraints:
- • Cardinality rules: Required properties (e.g.
sh:minCount 1for owner or description). - • Permitted connections: Validates that relationship types (Composition, Realization, Flow) are legally permitted between the source and target entity layers.
- • Custom shapes: Validates organization-specific schema constraints defined in the Metamodel Studio.
2. ASD-STE100 Technical English Validation
Built for defense, aerospace, and high-compliance enterprise standards. Audits relationship verbs and textual architecture descriptions against the ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English dictionary:
- • Approved verb compliance: Flags ambiguous or unapproved relationship action verbs.
- • Clarity & precision: Detects passive voice, complex sentence fragments, and slang in system documentation.
Validation Scopes (View vs Model)
Choose the scope of the audit using the header segment control:
- View Scope: Audits only the entities and relationships currently rendered in your active diagram view. Ideal for focused cleanup before exporting diagrams.
- Model Scope: Audits the entire project graph, including hidden or unmapped elements. Essential for full project governance reviews.
Severities & Click-to-Focus Navigation
Validation findings are categorized by severity:
- Error: Invalid relationships, violating SHACL constraints, or missing mandatory compliance fields.
- Warning: Unapproved verbs, unreviewed cloud discoveries, or missing descriptions.
- Info: Architectural suggestions, non-standard naming conventions, or dead-end elements.
Clicking any issue item in the validation sidebar immediately selects and centers the affected entity on the graph canvas, allowing you to fix issues without hunting through large diagrams.
Next: Custom Metamodel & Shapes
Learn how to customize classes and define your own SHACL validation shapes in Custom Metamodel & Shapes.