- 6 minutes to read

Sync Diagram Links

Sync Diagram Links is the fastest way to restore missing drill-through navigation across C4 Diagrams as your architecture evolves. As diagrams are imported, created manually, or extended, navigation links can become incomplete. Sync Diagram Links adds missing cross-diagram links for either:

  • the current diagram (diagram-level sync), or
  • selected diagrams in a set (set-level sync).

It also reports warnings when expected related diagrams remain unlinked.

Note

Sync Diagram Links uses the same Repository binding pair logic as Import – Bring C4 Diagrams from Mermaid, PlantUML, Structurizr DSL, or Draw.io XML auto-link creation, and also evaluates scope/domain-boundary expectations to detect unlinked peer diagrams.

If you need Add from Set, Coverage, or Review Impacts, use Diagram Assistance. Sync Diagram Links only rebuilds cross-diagram navigation links.

When two diagrams in the same Diagram Set reference the same Repository entity, Nodinite creates a cross-diagram link between them. This link is what powers the drill-through badge on a node — the visual indicator that lets you navigate from an L1 Context node directly to the L2 Container diagram scoped to that same entity.

The matching key is the Repository binding pair: (RepositoryEntityType, RepositoryEntityId). If an L1 Context diagram has a node bound to a System, i.e. System: ERP, and an L2 Container diagram in the same set is also scoped to System: ERP, a cross-diagram link connects them and a drill-through badge appears on the L1 node.

Import creates these links automatically when Apply runs — but only for diagrams that already exist in the set at that moment. Sync fills the gaps that accumulate as a set grows.

graph LR subgraph "Diagram Set" L1[" L1 Context"] L2a[" L2 Container – ERP"] L2b[" L2 Container – Portal"] L3[" L3 Component"] end Sync[" Sync"] Links[" Cross-Diagram Links\ndrill-through badges"] Sync -->|"compares Repository\nbindings across all diagrams"| L1 Sync --> L2a Sync --> L2b Sync --> L3 L1 -->|"ERP binding"| Links L2a -->|"ERP binding"| Links L2a -->|"API Gateway binding"| Links L3 -->|"API Gateway binding"| Links style Sync fill:#87CEEB style Links fill:#90EE90 style L1 fill:#FFD700 style L2a fill:#FFD700 style L2b fill:#FFD700 style L3 fill:#FFD700

Diagram: Sync evaluates all diagrams in the set together and creates cross-diagram links wherever two diagrams share a Repository binding — the foundation of drill-through navigation between zoom levels.

Sync Diagram Links is add-only and idempotent:

  • Missing links are created by comparing repository bindings and scope relationships
  • Set-level sync runs for the diagrams you select, and each selected source diagram is evaluated against peer diagrams in the same set
  • Existing links — whether created by Import, a previous sync, or manually — are never removed
  • Duplicate links are deduped automatically, so running Sync Diagram Links multiple times in a row is always safe
  • If expected peers are still not linked (for example domain-boundary overlap without a resolvable link), Sync returns warnings listing unlinked expectations
Scenario Why Sync Diagram Links is needed
Added a new diagram to an existing set The new diagram has no links to sibling diagrams yet
Created a diagram manually without using Import Manual creation never triggers auto-link creation
Added nodes to an existing diagram Sibling diagrams do not know about the new Repository bindings
Drill-through badges are missing where expected Links may not have been created at import time
Bulk-imported several diagrams in quick succession Each Apply only saw diagrams present at its own run time
  1. Open a C4 diagram
  2. If the Related Diagrams panel is collapsed, click the vertical Related tab with the warning/count badge
  3. Review the Missing related links message and the potential link count
  4. Click Synchronize
  5. Review the warning in Synchronize Related Diagrams and confirm
  6. Review the success banner, result lines, and any warnings

Diagram-level sync works from Related Diagrams and compares the current diagram against peer diagrams in the same Diagram Set by using the repository binding pair. This flow is useful when you only want to fix one diagram and immediately verify the updated drill-through badges.

Diagram-level Sync Screens

When links are missing, the collapsed Related tab shows a warning icon and count. Open this first so you can inspect the related-link status before running synchronization.

Collapsed Related Diagrams panel with warning count
Example of the collapsed Related Diagrams tab showing a warning indicator and count before the panel is opened for the current diagram.

In the expanded Related Diagrams panel, verify the Missing related links warning and the potential link count. This confirms there are link candidates to add for the current diagram.

Expanded Related Diagrams panel with missing related links warning
Example of the expanded Related Diagrams panel showing the Missing related links message, the potential link count, and the Synchronize action for the current diagram.

3. Confirm the synchronization action

After you click Synchronize, review the warning in the confirmation dialog. It explains that synchronization may re-introduce previously removed related diagrams or links.

Synchronize Related Diagrams confirmation dialog
Example of the Synchronize Related Diagrams confirmation dialog warning that synchronization may re-introduce previously removed related diagrams or links before you continue.

After completion, check the result banner in Related Diagrams to confirm how many related links were added for the current diagram.

Diagram-level synchronization result in Related Diagrams
Example of the diagram-level result banner in Related Diagrams after synchronization added new links for the current diagram.

Set-level Sync (Diagram Set detail)

  1. Navigate to Repository → Architecture Diagrams → Diagram Sets
  2. Open the Diagram Set
  3. Click Sync
  4. Choose which Active and/or Draft diagrams to include
  5. Run sync and review the aggregated result and warnings

Note

Set-level sync does not force all diagrams. You can filter and select diagrams before execution.

This is the safest surface when you want to synchronize selected diagrams instead of working from one diagram at a time. The set-level dialog shows the candidate diagrams, their type badges, and whether each item is Active or Draft before you click Synchronize.

Set-level Sync Screens

1. Open set-level synchronization from the Diagram Set toolbar

From the Diagram Set detail page, use Sync to start a set-level run when you want to process multiple diagrams in one operation.

Sync button on the Diagram Set page
Example of the Sync button on a Diagram Set detail page before you open the set-level synchronization dialog.

2. Select Active and Draft diagrams to include

In the synchronization dialog, review the candidate list and choose which Active and Draft diagrams to include in the run.

Set-level synchronization dialog with selected diagrams
Example of the set-level synchronization dialog where selected diagrams can be filtered and included from both Active and Draft states before you click Sync.

3. Review the aggregated synchronization summary

When the run completes, use the summary panel to verify synchronized diagrams and skipped duplicate candidates.

Set-level synchronization result summary
Example of the aggregated set-level result showing how many diagrams were synchronized and how many duplicate candidates were skipped because equivalent links already existed.

Next Steps