Reports and exports
Start with what you need next. A ticket or slide usually needs the picture on screen. A spreadsheet needs the data behind a lens. Graph tooling needs either the graph you shaped or the complete acquired model. A review needs one Architecture Report that can stand on its own.
AtlasArc keeps those outputs separate because they preserve different things. This page is the quick reference for choosing the right one.
Pick the output for the job
| Output | Use it for | What it captures | Available from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snapshot as PNG | Slides, tickets, and a quick visual handoff | The visible lens canvas, including its current focus, zoom, and colour treatment | Every lens you can access |
| Data as CSV | Spreadsheet or notebook work on plotted bubble data | The Subsystems or Hotspots dataset | Subsystems and Hotspots |
| Data as TSV | Sorting and inspecting dependency cells | The Matrix package or source-folder dependency grid | Package Matrix |
| View as DOT | Continuing the graph you shaped in Graphviz tooling | The current semantic Topology projection | Topology Graph |
| Model as DOT | Taking the underlying acquired architecture data elsewhere | The complete retained acquisition graph before policy or view interpretation | Shared Download menu |
| Topology & Governance Summary | A free one-page handoff and durable record of current topology and intent | One whole-model Graph, raw counts, the read-only repository governance register, and Free provenance | Shared Download menu |
| Full Architecture Report | Deep reviews, handoff, planning, and a durable architecture record | Selected global, subject, current-investigation, governance, diagnostic, and cycle evidence, with optional detailed registers | Shared Download menu |
Snapshot as PNG is available from every lens you can use, including Free Topology. The Topology & Governance Summary is also Free. The full workspace adds CSV/TSV, both DOT exports, and the full Architecture Report.
Save what you see with Snapshot as PNG
Open Export in the active lens and choose Snapshot as PNG. The snapshot preserves the visible canvas, including the current focus, zoom, and colour treatment. It is the right answer when the visual itself is the evidence.
Every lens can make a PNG. That does not mean every lens exposes every structured format. The rest of the exports are matched to the data each lens actually owns.
Take lens data with you as CSV or TSV
- Subsystems and Hotspots export their plotted data as CSV.
- Package Matrix exports its package or source-folder dependency grid as TSV.
- Topology Graph uses View as DOT when you need structured graph output.
- Composition has Snapshot as PNG, but no CSV or TSV export in v1.
Use these files when the next step is sorting, filtering, calculating, or incorporating the lens data into another document.
Choose the graph you actually mean
AtlasArc has two DOT exports, and they are deliberately not synonyms.
View as DOT: the Topology graph you shaped
Open Export in Topology and choose View as DOT. It exports the semantic nodes and dependencies in the current Topology projection after focus, view-only exclusions, Hide isolated, cycle filtering, selected-cycle focus, expansion, and opened package internals.
It does not encode pixel geometry, pan, zoom, hover, selection, or animation. DOT tooling gets the graph membership you interpreted, not a screenshot of the canvas.
Model as DOT: the underlying acquired model
Open the shared Download menu and choose Model as DOT. This is the raw-data escape hatch: every retained architecture unit and dependency, plus directly acquired metrics where the backend supports them.
Model DOT is intentionally earlier than repository scope, governance, Safe Havens, cycle settings, focus, filters, and other view state. Use it when you want the acquired model directly, not AtlasArc's current policy or visual interpretation of it.
Generate the Free Topology & Governance Summary
Open the shared Download menu and choose Generate Report…. In Free, AtlasArc generates one fixed, self-contained summary on demand: a canonical whole-model Topology figure, raw structural counts, the read-only repository scope and cycle-governance register, and clear Free-edition provenance.
The summary deliberately does not inherit the added lenses, metrics, focused report modes, or dedicated Cycle Evidence. “Read-only” describes the generated HTML; cycle-governance authoring and maintenance remain available in the Free plugin.
Leave one complete architectural record
A full Architecture Report is not five screenshots glued together. In the full workspace, open the shared Download menu and choose Generate Report…, then select the evidence the review needs. AtlasArc prepares the report from the analysis model without switching the lens you are working in.
Compare four complete generated examples in the Architecture Report Showcases.
| Report choice | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Global architecture model | The canonical whole-model overview and common evidence. Selected by default. |
| Subject audit | Pinned-neighbourhood and boundary evidence for one selected package or source folder. |
| Current investigation | The active lens, focus, filters, heatmap, and structural posture that made the current finding meaningful. |
| Governance audit | The complete repository decision register, including rationale, ticket fields, evaluation status, and current structural context. |
Whole-model report content respects repository scope and durable governance, but it does not inherit temporary view state. Current investigation is the deliberate exception: choose it when the active lens setup is part of what you need to hand over.
Start with the short diagnostic lists
The report's package and visible-dependency sections lead with compact diagnostic lists. Each one starts with the architectural question it can help answer, explains why those rows deserve attention, and then says whether anything clearly stands apart from its peers. Use these lists to find unusual dependency shape, complexity pressure, heavy boundary traffic, or one source whose outgoing traffic is unusually concentrated on a single target. A high value is a prompt to investigate, not a verdict on the code.
When the same package stands out in more than one part of the report, the Architecture Overview brings it forward under Packages Worth a Closer Look. For TypeScript reports, the heading says Source Folders Worth a Closer Look. Each entry explains the separate reasons and links back to the supporting evidence. AtlasArc leaves this shortlist out when nothing has more than one strong reason behind it; a neutral fallback or one unusual measurement is not enough.
If a group has no clear outliers, the report says Highest values and offers no more than five neutral starting points. It does not present that fallback as an outlier result. How AtlasArc selected these rows stays visible beneath each list when you want the population, rule, and cutoff; you do not need that formula to understand the result. In dependency tables, Problem is reserved for an unresolved cycle dependency. An ordinary dependency has no cycle-governance verdict, while a governed cycle keeps its Intentional or Debt label.
Every diagnostic also points to one related guided Workflow as the next live investigation. The report did not run that Workflow: it screened the prepared report evidence, while the Workflow opens the relevant lens and helps you inspect the result. Depending on the question, continue with Show me the backbone, Hard-to-change packages, Ticking time bombs, Audit a module boundary, Review package boundaries, or Identify risky hotspots.
Subject and Boundary Review keep their dependency evidence representative rather than repeating the complete edge population. Inbound, outbound, and neighbour-context rows share one limit of 50, or the lower detailed-table limit you selected. The report keeps every non-empty role represented, tells you how many rows it shows out of the eligible total, and separates the module badge from the package or source-folder name so long identities remain scannable.
Include capped registers when the review needs them
Under the report's detail controls, turn on Include detailed evidence tables. Use this when you need package metrics and dependency rows for a deeper review or handoff. AtlasArc adds a separate Evidence Appendix, capped by Maximum report rows. The appendix is always the final chapter and tells you how many eligible rows each register shows.
Maximum report rows lets you choose 25, 50, or 100 rows for this export, with 50 selected by default. It limits Matrix origin rows and detailed cycle, boundary, and appendix tables; it never changes the short diagnostic lists. The appendix is not a complete machine-readable dataset. For that, choose the export whose scope matches your next step: CSV for Subsystems or Hotspots data, TSV for the full Matrix grid, or View as DOT for the current Topology projection.
On a large project, the report dialog previews how each printable Matrix will fit. Your Maximum report rows choice is the origin-row limit for this export. For each possible package or source-folder depth, AtlasArc keeps every origin row, leaves out target columns that contain no dependency references, and checks whether the remaining evidence will print at the configured minimum scale. It starts from the most detailed whole-depth fit. If the next whole depth is too large, AtlasArc selectively restores finer branches, recalculates their dependency cells, removes empty targets again, and continues while both limits still hold. Reclaimed empty space therefore becomes room for useful structure rather than a field of blank columns. Once that projection is chosen, the Matrix keeps its natural row-label and square cell geometry. A wide table scales down uniformly to fit; a table that already fits stays at 100% rather than stretching into spare width. Dependencies are summed into the matching rolled-up cells, while the selected subject, cycle members, and governed boundaries stay identifiable. The interactive Matrix and TSV remain square. If the protected units still cannot fit safely, the dialog explains the guard and points you toward a narrower subject before generation.
If you leave out the global model and select a focused section, AtlasArc still adds a lightweight Architecture Overview so the evidence has a readable basis.
One report, browsable and printable
AtlasArc writes one report folder with an index.html entry, linked chapter files, and a Printable Version that combines the selected content into one continuous document. Open the index to browse by chapter; open Printable Version when the next step is a PDF or a meeting packet.
Explore the Architecture Report Showcases for complete generated HTML reports.
The strongest report starts with a decision. Use a global review for a project baseline, Subject audit for one architecture unit, Current investigation for a handoff, or Governance audit when the decision register itself needs review.
Where to go next
Run a repeatable review with the Project architecture health review, learn where the controls live on The AtlasArc interface, or read how repository scope and governance affect whole-model evidence.