How to Enable the Deployment-Ownership Engineering Profile in Archify

Declare engineering_profile: "deployment-ownership" inside the meta object of your .architecture.json file to activate strict deployment validation rules and generate compliant receipts.

Archify supports optional engineering profiles that extend validation logic for architecture diagrams. The deployment-ownership profile enforces a fail-closed deployment review requiring explicit component ownership, single-region residency, and strict security boundaries. To enable this profile according to the tt-a1i/archify source code, you only need to modify the diagram's metadata block.

What Is the Deployment-Ownership Engineering Profile?

The deployment-ownership profile is the first optional engineering profile implemented in Archify. When activated, it adds mandatory validation rules ensuring every non-external component has an explicit owner, belongs to exactly one region, and respects security-group and database boundaries. This profile operates on an opt-in basis; omitting it preserves backward-compatible behavior with no additional constraints.

Step-by-Step: Enable the Deployment-Ownership Profile

1. Declare the Profile in the Meta Object

Insert the engineering_profile field with the value "deployment-ownership" inside the meta object of your architecture definition file.

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "diagram_type": "architecture",
  "meta": {
    "title": "My Production Deployment",
    "engineering_profile": "deployment-ownership"
  },
  "components": [
    {
      "id": "web",
      "type": "frontend",
      "label": "Web UI",
      "owner": "team-frontend"
    },
    {
      "id": "api",
      "type": "backend",
      "label": "API Service",
      "owner": "team-backend",
      "region": "us-east-1"
    },
    {
      "id": "db",
      "type": "database",
      "label": "Customer DB",
      "owner": "team-db",
      "region": "us-east-1",
      "private": true
    }
  ]
}

2. Run Validation

Execute the validation command to verify the diagram satisfies the deployment-ownership constraints.

archify validate --json my-deployment.architecture.json

The validator checks that all components define an owner, specify a region, and that databases marked private respect security boundaries.

3. Deliver and Capture the Receipt

Generate the delivery receipt to prove contract satisfaction.

archify deliver --json my-deployment.architecture.json

The output receipt contains the field engineeringProfile: "deployment-ownership" confirming the profile was active during validation.

{
  "engineeringProfile": "deployment-ownership",
  "status": "passed",
  "details": { }
}

Schema Definition and Source References

The engineering_profile field is defined in archify/schemas/architecture.schema.json at line 22, which declares the enum constraint allowing only "deployment-ownership" as a valid value.

A concrete implementation example appears in archify/examples/production-deployment.architecture.json at line 11, demonstrating the profile declaration in a production context.

The profile's design rationale is documented in docs/research-next-stability-delight-slice-2026-07-23.md (lines 13-22), explaining the fail-closed philosophy behind ownership enforcement. General usage guidelines are available in README.md (lines 147-150).

Summary

• Opt-in activation: Add engineering_profile: "deployment-ownership" to the meta object of your .architecture.json file.
• Validation scope: Enforces owner assignment, single-region constraints, and private database boundaries.
• Proof of compliance: Validation and delivery commands emit receipts containing engineeringProfile: "deployment-ownership".
• Source schema: Defined in archify/schemas/architecture.schema.json with examples in archify/examples/production-deployment.architecture.json.

Frequently Asked Questions

What validation rules does the deployment-ownership profile enforce?

The profile requires every non-external component to declare an explicit owner, belong to exactly one region, and respect security-group boundaries. Database components must specify private: true when appropriate. These constraints ensure fail-closed deployment reviews where ownership and residency are explicitly tracked.

Can I use multiple engineering profiles simultaneously?

Currently, the schema defined in archify/schemas/architecture.schema.json only permits the single value "deployment-ownership" for the engineering_profile field. The implementation treats this as an opt-in toggle rather than a composable stack, so only one profile configuration is supported at this time.

How do I verify the profile is active during validation?

Run archify validate --json <file> or archify deliver --json <file>. When the profile is enabled, the generated receipt JSON includes the field engineeringProfile set to "deployment-ownership". If the field is absent from the receipt, the profile was not active during processing.

Is the deployment-ownership profile backward compatible?

Yes. The profile is strictly opt-in. Diagrams without the engineering_profile field in their meta object behave exactly like previous Archify versions, applying only standard validation rules without the additional ownership, region, or security constraints.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}