Common Node Types
Explore common node types used in planning, architecture, flow, infrastructure, and annotations.
This is a representative guide to commonly used node types, not a complete inventory. The available types depend on the work you are modeling. GROUP is a spatial container for nodes; it is not limited to infrastructure grouping.
Planning
| Type | Typical use |
|---|---|
| EPIC | A high-level body of work. |
| FEATURE | An optional capability grouping under an epic. |
| STORY | A user-facing requirement or outcome. |
| TASK | A concrete piece of work. |
Architecture
| Type | Typical use |
|---|---|
| DOMAIN | A business capability or bounded context. |
| SERVICE | A component that provides functionality. |
| ENTITY | A domain object with fields and identity. |
| DTO | Data transferred between components. |
| AGGREGATE | Related domain objects managed as a unit. |
| COMPONENT | A general architectural component. |
| CONTROLLER | An API entry point. |
| DATABASE | A data store. |
| QUEUE | A message broker or queue. |
| PAGE | A user interface screen. |
Flow
| Type | Typical use |
|---|---|
| START, END | Flow entry and exit points. |
| STEP | A generic action in a process. |
| DECISION | A conditional branch. |
| SERVICE_CALL | A call to a service. |
| ENTITY_OPERATION | An operation on an entity. |
| QUEUE_PUBLISH, QUEUE_CONSUME | Send or process a queued message. |
| HTTP_REQUEST | An outbound HTTP request. |
| EXTERNAL_SERVICE | An external system. |
| DELAY | A wait or timeout. |
Infrastructure
| Type | Typical use |
|---|---|
| INFRA_GROUP | A logical infrastructure grouping. |
| INFRA_RESOURCE | A cloud or platform resource. |
Annotations and containers
| Type | Typical use |
|---|---|
| NOTE | Text placed on the canvas. |
| SCRIBBLE | Freehand annotation. |
| DRAWING | Shapes, arrows, or text created in drawing mode. See Drawing layer. |
| IMAGE | An embedded image. |
| FIGMA | An embedded Figma resource; visibility follows its Figma sharing settings. |
| GROUP | A visual container for spatially grouping nodes. |
| CROSS_VIEW_REF | A reference to a node from another view, used in Brainstorm. |
Drawing layer
Press d, use the toolbar button or the command palette to enter drawing mode, and Esc to leave it. Tools are 1 to 7: select, pen, rectangle, ellipse, arrow, text and eraser. Outside drawing mode, click or tap a drawing's ink to select, move or resize it like any other node; anywhere else in its box reaches the node underneath. Inside drawing mode other nodes are inert.
- A drawing auto-sticks to the node it is drawn fully over. Stick, Unstick, Group, Ungroup and Delete are in the drawing toolbar, which also appears outside drawing mode while a drawing is selected.
- Stuck drawings follow their node, including when it is copied and pasted or duplicated, and are deleted with it.
- Arrow ends bind to node sides and follow the node. If the node is deleted, the end stays where it was last drawn.
- Drawn arrows are annotations, not relationships. To relate nodes, connect them with an edge.
Node relationships (edges)
Common relationship types include FLOW_TO (sequence), RELATED_TO (general association), BLOCKS (dependency), HAS_FIELD (entity field), CONTAINS (containment), BELONGS_TO (membership), DEPLOYED_ON (deployment), and MAPS_TO (mapping).
Create nodes
Use the command palette (Ctrl+K), the canvas context menu, or drag from the palette sidebar. Planning nodes can be placed on the Unified View canvas from the Inbox.