System
A System represents a software application, service, or platform that implements business capabilities.
Key Fields
- Name: System identifier
- Description: Purpose and technical overview
- Tags: Classification tags for categorization
- URL: System URL or repository link
- Team: Team responsible for this system
- Business Products: Products this system enables
- Regions: Regions where deployed
- Hosted Contexts: Contexts implemented by this system
- Connections: Manual system-to-system connections
How It Works
graph TB
System[System] -->|contains| Modules[System Modules]
System -->|hosts| Contexts[Contexts]
System -->|scoped to| Products[Products]
System -->|deployed in| Regions[Regions]
Modules -->|contains| Features[Features]
System Connections
The Connections field defines explicit integrations:
- Target System: The system being connected to
- Protocol: Communication method (REST, GraphQL, gRPC, etc.)
- Description: Purpose of the connection
- Exchanged Interfaces: Specific interfaces used
- Exchanged Events: Specific events exchanged
Derived vs Explicit Connections
Korgraph shows both types of system connections:
Explicit (manual):
- Defined in the Connections field
- Complete control over protocol and description
Derived (automatic):
- From context interface/event relationships
- From process feature usage across systems
- No manual maintenance required
System Types
Systems can represent different types of technical components:
- Cloud: Cloud-hosted applications and services
- OnPrem: On-premises software and infrastructure
- Physical: Physical world systems for non-IT processes
Physical Systems
The Physical system type allows modeling of:
- Paper-based document workflows
- Physical object movements
- Non-digital process steps
- IoT and sensor integrations
Example:
system:
- name: "Physische Welt"
systemType: "Physical"
description: "Paper documents and physical processes"
Learn more about Physical World Modeling →
Integration
- Storage:
korgraph database, type system
- Hierarchy: Child of
systemlandscape
- Relationships: Many-to-many with contexts, one-to-many with modules
Tips
- Use descriptive names (e.g., "Order Management API")
- Document technical stack in description
- Set URL to link to repo or documentation
- Assign products/regions to show deployment scope
- Use tags for technology classification (Java, React, PostgreSQL, etc.)
- Reference contexts to show which business capabilities are hosted