Add dependencies

Once you have applications and components modeled, the next step is connecting them with dependencies. Dependencies are what power blast radius analysis.

Prerequisites

• At least two applications or components in your tenant
• Editor or higher role

Creating application-level dependencies

Application-level dependencies describe how entire systems relate to each other.

1. Navigate to the application that depends on another application.
2. Open the Dependencies tab.
3. Click Add Dependency.
4. Select the target application — the system this application depends on.
5. Set the dependency attributes:
   • Type — What kind of interaction (calls, reads, writes, publishes, consumes)
   • Mode — How critical (hard, soft, async, degraded)
   • Required — Is this dependency essential for operation?
6. Save the dependency.

Example

“Order Service” calls “Payment Gateway” with mode hard and required true.

This means the Order Service synchronously calls the Payment Gateway and cannot function without it.

Creating component-level dependencies

Component-level dependencies provide finer-grained accuracy for blast radius analysis.

1. Navigate to a component.
2. Open the Dependencies tab.
3. Click Add Dependency.
4. Select the target component.
5. Set type, mode, and required attributes.
6. Optionally set a timeout value.

Example

“Orders API” reads “Orders Database” with mode Hard, required true.

“Orders API” publishes to “Order Events” with mode Async, required false.

Dependency modes explained

Choosing the right mode is essential for meaningful blast radius results:

• Hard — Total dependency. If the target is down, the source is down. Use for synchronous calls to critical systems.
• Soft — Partial dependency. The source degrades but continues operating. Use for non-essential features.
• Async — Asynchronous coupling. Short-term target unavailability is tolerable because of queues or buffers.
• Degraded — The source continues but with reduced quality. Use for optional enrichments or caches.

Using the graph canvas

You can also create dependencies visually in the graph canvas:

1. Navigate to the Graph view.
2. Hover over a node to reveal connection handles.
3. Drag from the source node to the target node.
4. A dialog will open to set the dependency attributes.
5. Confirm to create the dependency.

This approach is often faster for initial modeling — especially when you’re mapping out a complex landscape for the first time.

What’s next?

With dependencies in place, you can now visualize and edit your landscape in the graph or run blast radius analysis from any node.