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C4 architecture overview template

Origin: Simon Brown's C4 model (Context, Containers, Components, Code).

Start from this templateFree, no account needed. The blank is written with guidance in each section, ready to fill in.

Sections

  1. System context
  2. Containers
  3. Components
  4. Key decisions
  5. Quality attributes

How a tough reader scores it

When you score a draft against this format, the Critic evaluates this architecture overview. The weights add up to 100; the fixes for the weakest criteria arrive as cards in the editor.

CriterionWeight
Context diagram is understandable by non-engineers15
Containers and protocols are complete and accurate20
Components shown where complexity warrants15
Diagrams have legends and consistent notation15
Decisions linked to ADRs15
Quality attributes have measurable targets20

How it works in SecondPen.ai

Open the template and the editor writes the blank once, with a line of guidance under each heading that you delete as you fill it in. Write your abstract and the editor names the format it reads like. Ask for a document with a slash command and it offers to start from the matching format. When the draft is ready, the Critic scores it against the criteria above, the way this format's toughest reader would, and the three highest-leverage fixes become Editor cards.

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