What's New
Notable changes to Farkitect, newest first: the latest release is at the top of the latest month, and each section names the release that brought it. From September 2026 each month is described in detail. Earlier months are summarised under Earlier in 2026. For the complete list, one entry per release, see Releases.
October 2026
Section titled “October 2026”Videos in the docs
Section titled “Videos in the docs”The docs now have a Videos page, where you can watch Farkitect in use. The first is A Random Walk Through Farkitect, a short unscripted tour of a small model. More will follow.
Move element types between layers
Section titled “Move element types between layers”In the Explorer, you can now drag an element type onto another layer of its metamodel, one type or several at once. Its property types go with it and its Palette group changes; nothing else does. Until now a type made in the wrong layer had to be deleted and created again. See How to create an element type.
Edit inheritance between types in a metamodel
Section titled “Edit inheritance between types in a metamodel”You can now set which types a metamodel type inherits from, in the app. Until now that could only be written into a file. It works for element types and relationship types.
- A new Inheritance section in a type’s Properties lists its Superclasses and Subclasses. Click + Add to choose from the types that make sense, or ✕ to remove one. Adding a subclass from the superclass’s side works too.
- Removing asks first when something depends on it. If elements hold values for properties they would lose, choose to move the values into their notes or discard them; a backup of the project is offered first. Relationships that would stop being valid are kept and flagged.
- Abstract now means what it says. Nothing can be created as an abstract type, and it leaves the Palette and the type lists without also ticking Hidden from palette. Abstract types are shown in italics in the Explorer.
- Section headings say what is inside: Inheritance · 1 superclass, Property Types · 1 + 2 inherited, Constraints · 3 pairs, Advanced · abstract. A heading with nothing after its name has nothing inside. The “(0)” counts are gone.
- Subordination is one section. The Is Subordinate tick box has moved from under the name into the section that was Subordinate Types.
If you ticked Abstract on a type that already has elements, those elements are now dimmed in the Explorer. See How to use class generalization.
Constraint changes wait for Save
Section titled “Constraint changes wait for Save”Changes to a relationship type’s Constraints grid are no longer applied the moment you click. They are held until you click Save, and Discard puts the grid back as it was. One click on a row name, a column name, Select All or Clear All changes many boxes at once, and there was no way to take it back.
While changes are waiting, Unsaved changes shows under the grid, the section heading reads Constraints · unsaved, and each changed box has an amber outline. Everything else in a type’s Properties still saves as you edit it. See How to create a relationship type.
Relationship icons show their line pattern
Section titled “Relationship icons show their line pattern”The small line beside each relationship type now shows that type’s line pattern: dashed, dotted or solid. Every one was being drawn solid. You will see it in the Explorer, the Palette, the Context panel, the Properties header and the list of relationship types offered when you connect two elements.
Importing a metamodel whose abstract types have no notation
Section titled “Importing a metamodel whose abstract types have no notation”A metamodel file could fail to import with a long technical error when one of its abstract types had no notation. An abstract type has no appearance of its own, so files written by FarkiBot leave the notation out, as the authoring guide allows. Such a type now imports and is given a plain notation.
If an import of a FarkiBot-generated metamodel failed for you with “does not match the schema”, import the same file again.
FarkiBot: clearer key errors, and switching provider works
Section titled “FarkiBot: clearer key errors, and switching provider works”Three fixes for connecting FarkiBot to a provider directly:
- Test connection says why it failed. Where it used to show only a status such as “HTTP 400”, it now adds the provider’s own reason.
- The LLM list recovers after you replace a key. If the list failed to load under a key that did not work, it stayed a plain text box until the app was reloaded. Saving a new key now loads it.
- Your model carries across a change of provider. The same model has a different name on OpenRouter and on Anthropic; FarkiBot was sending the old name and getting “model not found”. It now uses the new provider’s name, or asks you to choose if that provider does not offer the model.
For a direct Anthropic key, create it in a workspace and not for the whole organisation. FarkiBot Settings now says so beside the key field. See How to set up FarkiBot.
Hide relationships in the Explorer
Section titled “Hide relationships in the Explorer”The Explorer toolbar has a new button, Hide relationships, that takes the relationships out of the tree and leaves the model’s elements and views. In most models that removes more than half the rows. Click it again to show them. It only changes what the tree shows: diagrams, catalogs and exports still include every relationship. Your choice is remembered on that device. See the Explorer.
Double-click on a diagram: a Properties and Notes window, and markers that are links
Section titled “Double-click on a diagram: a Properties and Notes window, and markers that are links”Double-clicking on a diagram now does two clear things.
- Double-click a node, or a relationship line, to open its Properties and Notes in a window. It has the same content as the two side panels, on two tabs, for when you would rather edit in a window. It opens on the tab you last left it on, and saves as you go. Alt+Enter and Properties… on the right-click menu open it too. See The Properties and Notes window.
- Double-click a marker to open what it stands for. The drill-down arrow is now a blue link in the corner of the node: double-click it to open the child diagram. The paperclip is a link to the attached file in the same way, and Image nodes now show one too.
This changes a habit: double-clicking the body of a node no longer drills down or opens its file. Aim for the arrow or the paperclip. From the keyboard, select the node and press Enter to drill down, or use Open Child Diagram on the right-click menu.
Verb labels on relationships
Section titled “Verb labels on relationships”A diagram can now label each relationship line with just the verb of its type, in italics: enables in place of Design & Engineering enables Integrated Quality. The Relationship labels button on the diagram toolbar is now a drop-down with three choices: Name, Verb and None. See Choose what the relationship labels show.
The .farki format is now farki/1.5, which adds this one setting to a diagram. Older files import as before.
Right-click a catalog row
Section titled “Right-click a catalog row”A row in a catalog now has the same right-click menu as a card on a board: Rename, Diagrams… to see and open the diagrams the element is on, and Delete from Model. Before, a catalog row showed only the browser’s menu. See Context menus.
Renaming now works the same way on diagrams, boards and catalogs: Rename or F2 opens the name where it is, already selected, so you can type over it straight away. In a catalog, F2 edits the cell you have selected and no longer jumps to the Explorer.
Catalog drop-down cells are easier to use, with or without a mouse:
- Open the list from the keyboard with F2, Space or Alt+Down, then use the arrow keys and Enter. Escape closes it and returns you to the grid.
- Picking by first letter now works for every letter in either case. A lowercase c or v used to be ignored, on text cells as well.
- Clicking a drop-down in another row moves the cell outline and the row highlight there straight away.
The catalog’s keys now follow a spreadsheet’s more closely:
- Delete clears the cell. Before, it offered to delete the whole element; that is now only on the row’s right-click menu.
- Home, End, Ctrl+Home, Ctrl+End, Ctrl+Arrow, Page Up and Page Down move around the catalog.
- Shift+Enter moves up a row.
- Left and Right save and move on when you have typed over a cell.
- Escape with nothing being edited no longer drops the cell outline.
All the catalog’s keys are listed in Keyboard shortcuts.
Insert related elements
Section titled “Insert related elements”Right-click an element on a diagram and choose Insert Related… to see everything it is directly related to. The ones not yet on the diagram are ticked; click Insert and they appear in a circle around the element, with their relationships drawn. Nothing already on the diagram moves, nothing is nested, and one undo takes it all back. See How to add elements to a diagram.
Link from a diagram to another view
Section titled “Link from a diagram to another view”Drag a diagram, catalog or board from the Explorer onto a diagram to get a view link: its icon and name, in the link colour. Double-click the link to open that view. Links connect a model’s views the way pages of a website are connected, so you can present a model, tell its story step by step, or give people a contents page to find their way around, without anyone searching the Explorer tree.
- Label: press F2 on a link to show your own text, such as “Start here”, in place of the view’s name.
- Tiles: turn on a link’s Border to draw it as a tile, then use Same > Size, Align and Distribute to lay out a set. These commands now work across links and nodes selected together.
- Linked from: a view’s Properties list the diagrams that link to it.
- Kept valid: deleting a view removes the links to it, and the confirmation says how many.
- Files:
.farkifiles carry links, and the format is nowfarki/1.4. Older files import as before.
A view link belongs to its diagram and is not part of the model, so it does not appear in the Explorer, catalogs or XMI exports. See How to link from a diagram to another view.
Drag views from the Explorer’s list of views
Section titled “Drag views from the Explorer’s list of views”The Explorer’s Show all views list, which shows every diagram, catalog and board in the project, now lets you drag a view onto a diagram to make a view link. Views still cannot be rearranged within that list.
Guidance panel and boards
Section titled “Guidance panel and boards”Selecting a board with the Guidance panel open no longer causes an error. The panel now says there is no guidance for boards, as it does for diagrams and catalogs.
A new default layout
Section titled “A new default layout”A new project, and View > Reset Layout, now open with wider side columns, Guidance as a third tab beside Properties and Notes, and the Log hidden until you ask for it from the View menu. Projects you have already arranged keep their layout.
A right-click menu on tabs
Section titled “A right-click menu on tabs”Right-click any tab for Close, Close Others, Close to the Right and Close All. They act on the tabs in that group, so a row of open diagrams can be cleared in one step. Diagrams with unsaved changes are asked about first, one at a time, and Cancel closes nothing. See Panel tab.
Panels come back where they were
Section titled “Panels come back where they were”Hide a panel and show it again, and it returns to the place it had: beside the tabs it shared a group with, or next to the panels it sat beside, at its old size. Before, it always reopened as a tab in the centre. This works whether you hid it from the View menu or with the ✕ on its tab, and is remembered between sessions. If the old place no longer exists, the panel goes to its default place. See The Farkitect Workspace.
Narrow panel tabs
Section titled “Narrow panel tabs”Settings > Appearance > Panel tabs now offers Narrow, which makes the tab bar at the top of every panel shorter and leaves more room for the panels on a small screen. Regular remains the default. See Settings in the modeller.
The website names its release
Section titled “The website names its release”The pill at the top of the Farkitect home page now names the release you are looking at, for example Release 267, in place of “Experimental Release”. Click it to see the details.
A shorter View menu, and a Settings dialog
Section titled “A shorter View menu, and a Settings dialog”- Settings in one place. View > Settings… (Ctrl+, / Cmd+,), or the new gear on the web app’s menu bar, opens a Settings dialog with the theme, Reset layout, automatic metamodel refresh, and shortcuts to FarkiBot’s settings and your account settings. See Settings in the modeller.
- A shorter View menu. It now lists only what you show and hide, in two groups of panels, then Metamodels and Status Bar. Reset Layout stays. Dark Mode, Auto-refresh Metamodels and Refresh Metamodels moved to Settings.
- Theme can follow your computer. Choose Light, Dark or System. Ctrl+Shift+D still switches between light and dark.
- Metamodels refresh automatically by default. If you turn this off, a warning in Settings and an Auto-refresh off marker in the status bar stay visible until you turn it back on.
A friendlier docs home page
Section titled “A friendlier docs home page”The docs home page now has a short introduction and quick routes to what people most often come for: where to start, common tasks, the four kinds of page, help when you are stuck, and the latest release.
Release numbers
Section titled “Release numbers”- Every release has a number. The line that used to read
main · a09a3fc · 02/10/2026, 23:34:10now reads, for example, Release 264 · 3 Oct 2026. You will find it in Help > About in the app and at the foot of the website and the docs. See Find your release. - Details you can read and copy. Click the line to see when the release went live, in your own time zone with UTC beside it, and each technical detail with a label that says what it is. Copy details puts it all on the clipboard for a support message.
- A list of every release. The new Releases page lists each release with its number, date and what it changed. This page, What’s New, remains the month-by-month account.
Appearance on a diagram
Section titled “Appearance on a diagram”- Format is now Appearance. The Properties panel section for changing how one node or edge looks on one diagram is now called Appearance (this diagram only), the same word the metamodel editor uses. It looks like the metamodel’s Appearance section, sits below the name and the property values, and starts closed. Once you open it, it stays open as you click from one node or edge to the next, until you close it. Its heading still shows how many settings are overridden.
- The right-click menu follows. For nodes and edges alike, it has an Appearance submenu with Edit…, Copy Appearance, Paste Appearance and Revert Appearance to Default. The shortcuts are unchanged. The Formatted chip next to an element’s name now reads Custom appearance. See How to change a node’s or edge’s appearance on one diagram.
Metamodel editing
Section titled “Metamodel editing”- Sections stay as you left them. When you edit an element type or relationship type, the Appearance, Property Types, Subordinate Types, Constraints and Advanced sections of the Properties panel each remember whether you last opened or closed them. Click through a metamodel’s types and the sections you are working in stay open. See The Farkitect Workspace.
Projects
Section titled “Projects”- Delete a project from its menu. Project admins now find Delete project… in the ⋯ menu, both in the projects list and on the project’s page. It opens the project’s Danger Zone with the confirmation showing; you still type the project’s name, and a backup is still exported first. See Manage projects.
FarkiBot: web research for every task
Section titled “FarkiBot: web research for every task”- Web research when generating and modifying. Generate M2, Generate M1 and Modify M1 can now use web research, as Ask and Report already could. Each element taken from the web names its source in its notes. See Generate a metamodel.
- Better research. The LLM now writes its own search terms and can search several times, so a question about several things is covered properly. Before, a single search was run on the text of the request.
- A clearer switch. The globe icon is now a button that reads Web research on or Web research off. While it is on, a notice sits above the text box and the send button says so.
- Models that can research are marked in the LLM list with a researcher icon. With research on they are listed first, and choosing one that cannot research turns research off and tells you.
FarkiBot: a tidier conversation
Section titled “FarkiBot: a tidier conversation”- Run summary. When a run finishes, a summary opens with what was done, the LLM, time, tokens and cost. The essentials stay on a line under each answer; click it to see the summary again. See Ask FarkiBot.
- Copy or save the whole conversation from the toolbar, with the same three buttons that sit under each answer.
- Clear chat has moved to the toolbar.
- Questions and answers share the left margin, with your question marked by an accent bar.
Easier reading
Section titled “Easier reading”Formatted text has more room throughout the app: paragraphs stand apart, numbered items are spaced, and bullets stay tight. This applies to the Notes and Guidance panels, FarkiBot, and descriptions on the website. Notes on diagrams are unchanged.
Reliability and speed
Section titled “Reliability and speed”- Deleting a metamodel type cleans up after itself. When you delete an element type, any relationship constraint that named it is removed too. Before, the leftover constraint could make a later export of the project fail to import.
- Deleting and exporting large projects. Deleting packages, deleting a project and exporting a project now read the model in pages, so they keep working as a project grows.
- Less background work. The app no longer refreshes every open view every five minutes, and the website’s project Contents tab stops updating while its browser tab is hidden and catches up when you return.
- Organisation privacy. An organisation’s member list and pending invitations are visible only to its members.
September 2026
Section titled “September 2026”Diagram colours for light and dark mode
Section titled “Diagram colours for light and dark mode”Every colour on a diagram now has a value for light mode and a value for dark mode, so diagrams read well in both.
- Light and dark colours for metamodel types. In an element type’s Appearance, the Fill, Border, Text and Fold colours each have a Light and a Dark swatch; a relationship type has Line and Label colours. The two sides are linked by default, and either can be left on Auto to follow the theme. A live preview shows the type in either theme, and a ⚠ warns when a colour would be hard to read. See Set light and dark colours for a metamodel type.
- The Format section. Select a node or edge on a diagram, and the Properties panel shows its Format — every setting you can change on this diagram only, each starting on the value it inherits and showing where that comes from. Changes are undoable and saved with the diagram. See Format nodes and edges on one diagram.
- Copy Format and Paste Format (Ctrl+Alt+C / Ctrl+Alt+V) copy one node’s or edge’s formatting to others. The right-click Format menu now holds Format…, Copy Format, Paste Format and Revert Format to Default.
- Clearer defaults. Borders and lines are charcoal in light mode and off-white in dark. A folded corner is shaded from its fill. Drop shadows now show on folded, chamfered, chevron and diamond shapes, and in dark mode as a soft white halo.
- Built-in metamodels have curated palettes: their pale grey lines now follow the theme, and colours that carry meaning have a light and a dark value.
.farki1.3. Colours are stored as light/dark pairs. Older files still import and are converted on the way in. See Format versions.
Existing models were converted automatically: grey lines and borders now follow the theme, and every colour anyone had chosen was kept. For how it all fits together, see How colours work in light and dark mode and the format settings reference.
Upgrading a metamodel
Section titled “Upgrading a metamodel”A metamodel in use can now be upgraded in place from a newer version of its file, keeping every model that uses it. Farkitect matches the old and new versions, lets you decide what happens to anything removed or retired, and backs up the project first. See Upgrade a metamodel and Metamodel upgrades.
ArchiMate 4
Section titled “ArchiMate 4”- M2 ArchiMate 4 is a new built-in metamodel: 42 element types in seven domains, 11 relationship types, and the full set of allowed relationships from the specification’s Appendix B.
- Farquind Yachts in ArchiMate 4 is a worked example model with 415 elements, 784 relationships and 28 diagrams. See Farquind Yachts.
Large projects
Section titled “Large projects”- Faster project open. The integrity check no longer runs every time a project opens. It runs after an import, before an export, and when you ask for it. See Use the integrity checker.
- Live progress. Exporting a project, deleting a project and importing a
.farkifile show the current step and counts while they run. - Large packages. Deleting and cloning a large package now work in batches with progress, and rows being deleted show Deleting… in the Explorer. See Clone a package.
- Missing metamodel on import. Importing a model whose metamodel is not in the project now names the metamodel and offers to import it, then carries on. See Import a .farki file.
Diagrams and panels
Section titled “Diagrams and panels”- Chevron shape and icon placement. Element types can use a chevron shape, and a type’s icon can sit in any corner. See Configure notation.
- Property display per diagram. Whether nodes show property names and empty rows is now set on each diagram, not on the metamodel type.
- Zoom range. The canvas zooms out to 5% and in to 400%.
- Artifacts on the canvas. An Artifact node shows its attached file, and a double-click opens it. See Attach files.
- Metamodel structure in the Context panel. Select a metamodel element type to see every relationship it can take part in, and the types at the other end. Select a relationship type to see its allowed pairs. The Context panel now opens by default below the Explorer.
- Palette guidance. Palette tools show a preview with guidance for the type, and the preview can be pinned.
- Smaller fixes. Diamond markers are drawn outside the target node, the Explorer’s views toggle shows where a click will take you, and long text wraps in panels.
Earlier in 2026
Section titled “Earlier in 2026”A summary of what was added each month before detailed notes began.
August 2026
Section titled “August 2026”- FarkiBot web research. An opt-in setting per run lets FarkiBot search the web and cite its sources inline. See Ask FarkiBot.
- FarkiBot reports. Four kinds of written report generated from a model. See Write reports.
- FarkiBot Modify. Rewrite an existing model from an instruction, reviewed as a diff, with a snapshot taken before anything is replaced. See Modify a model.
- Staged preview. Generated packages open as a readable tree before you import them, and Word documents can be attached to a request.
- New-model guidance. File > New M1 Model with a metamodel picker, reminders when a model has no metamodel imported, and a getting-started checklist on the Welcome panel. See Create an M1 model.
- Clearer import and export errors, and an optional enumeration property can be cleared back to no value.
July 2026
Section titled “July 2026”- FarkiBot. The in-app AI assistant arrived: ask questions about a model, and generate metamodels and models from a brief, using your own API key. See the FarkiBot tutorial.
- Board view. A Kanban-style view whose columns come from an enumeration property; dragging a card changes the value. See the Board view tutorial.
- Attachments. Image, Hyperlink and Artifact elements, with files attached to elements and carried in exports. See Attach files.
- Notation additions. Labels outside the shape for icon-centred symbols, and a polished diamond shape.
.farkimoved to version 1.2. - Consistent panel toolbars across the app.
June 2026
Section titled “June 2026”- New starter content on the Farketplace: UAF Lite, the GEA-NZ Technology Reference and Application Portfolio Management, each with a Farquind example.
- Cover images on Farketplace assets.
- Who changed what. Created-by and updated-by names are recorded and shown.
- Projects and Assets lists on the dashboard rebuilt, with filtering and a “Showing X of Y” count.
- Blog added to the website.
May 2026
Section titled “May 2026”- Orthogonal connectors. Right-angled edge routing that adjusts as nodes move. See Route edges.
- Edge endpoints can be dragged to any side of a node.
- Diagram export theme. Each diagram can be exported in light or dark regardless of the app theme. See Export a diagram.
- User and Organisation settings pages redesigned.
April 2026
Section titled “April 2026”- Nesting improvements. Nested elements survive export and import, several nodes can be nested at once, and edge labels stay visible over a parent. See Nest elements.
- More metamodels and examples: TOGAF, Business Motivation Model and Supply Chain, with Farquind, Zespri and Fonterra sample models.
- Farketplace asset pages with rich text descriptions; rich text for project descriptions.
- Contact Support from the dashboard and the app. See Contact support.
- Readable values on nodes. Enumeration and yes/no properties show their labels in node compartments.
March 2026
Section titled “March 2026”- Catalogs. A table view of elements by type, with configurable columns. See the Catalogs tutorial.
- Child diagrams. Create a diagram under an element and drill down into it. See Create a child diagram.
- Owned elements. Element types can own other types, shown in node compartments. See Define owned elements.
- Log panel and integrity checker. See Use the log panel and Use the integrity checker.
- Date, DateTime and UnlimitedNatural property types, and metamodel icons in the Explorer.
- Organisations. Accounts became organisations with members and invitations, and the dashboard gained organisation switching and project management.
- Farketplace introduced for sharing metamodels and models as assets.
February 2026
Section titled “February 2026”.farkifiles. A readable file format for importing and exporting packages. See The .farki format.- Metamodel editor. Create and edit metamodels in the app: element types, relationship types, properties and enumerations. See Creating a metamodel.
- Relationship constraints. A metamodel can say which pairs of types a relationship may connect, and models are checked against it.
- Diagram editing. Explicit save, undo and redo, multi-select with align, distribute and stacking, line styles, and a zoom and position remembered per diagram.
- Clone package, Notes panel and Context panel.
- Accounts and sign-in. User accounts, multiple projects, project members with roles, and email invitations.
- Web app and website. Farkitect runs in the browser as well as on the desktop, with a website and documentation site. The product was renamed from Notation to Farkitect.
- TOGAF, Business Model Canvas and Balanced Scorecard metamodels, and the ArchiSurance, Genesis Energy and KiwiRail sample models.
January 2026
Section titled “January 2026”- The first version. A desktop app with dockable Explorer, diagram canvas and Properties panels, synchronised in real time.
- Models built on MOF. Packages, classes, properties, data types, enumerations and relationships across the M3, M2 and M1 layers.
- Diagrams. Drag elements onto a canvas, resize nodes, connect them with edges that attach to node borders, and add bend points.
- ArchiMate 3.2 metamodel with its icons, and a tool palette for creating elements from any metamodel.
- Typed properties. Metamodel types define properties; model elements carry validated values.
- Menus, status bar and light/dark theme.
- XMI and Ecore export, package imports and class generalisation.