> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ironoctopus.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Your app's architecture

> The versioned blueprint of your app: what it contains, how Iron Octopus uses it today, and the ways to create one.

A project's architecture is the blueprint of your app: its parts, what each one is responsible for, how they connect, where data lives, and the decisions behind them. Iron Octopus keeps it as a versioned document. When it plans a feature, it plans against the current published version, so each change fits the app you already have instead of starting from scratch.

## What it contains

Each version has two forms of the same content:

| Part | What it is |
| - | - |
| Architecture document | A readable description, in Markdown: the system's purpose, its components and responsibilities, data, integrations, decisions, risks and constraints. |
| Structured model | The same architecture as structured data: components, the relationships between them, capabilities, decisions and risks. Iron Octopus reads this when planning. |
| Version details | Its number, a short changelog of what changed, and where it came from: written by hand, guided chat or a template. |

## How Iron Octopus uses it

When you [describe an idea](https://docs.ironoctopus.ai/build/start-with-an-idea.md), Iron Octopus plans it against the project's current published architecture. It places new work in the right components, respects existing boundaries and decisions, and records which architecture version each plan used.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Today the architecture shapes **planning**. Publishing a version doesn't add gates, and code review doesn't yet check each change against the architecture.

## Ways to create one

| Way | Best for | Read |
| - | - | - |
| **Managed standard** | A new app with a common shape. Apply one of the Iron Octopus Architecture Library standards. | [Templates](https://docs.ironoctopus.ai/architecture/templates.md) |
| **Define manually** | You know the architecture and want to write it. Start from the structured outline. | [Update and publish](https://docs.ironoctopus.ai/architecture/update-and-publish.md) |
| **Design through chat** | An existing app, or one you want to think through. A Planning worker acts as your architect, reads the project's code, and proposes a draft. | [Learn from your code](https://docs.ironoctopus.ai/architecture/learn-from-your-code.md) |

## Drafts and published versions

An architecture is always either a **draft** you're working on, or a **published** version. Published versions are immutable: to change one, you create a new draft from it, edit it, and publish it as the next version. Only the published version is used for planning. See [update and publish a version](https://docs.ironoctopus.ai/architecture/update-and-publish.md).

## Where you see it

Open a project and choose **Architecture**. The page has tabs for **Draft**, **Guided chat**, **Library**, **Versions** and **Published**.

## On your plan

On Pioneer you can use the managed standards, customize a project's own copy, and keep reusable personal and workspace templates.


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