🚀 Features

• Delete Elements/Edges in the Editor:
  Select nodes and/or edges in the diagram editor and press delete to remove them from the view. Edges connected to a deleted node are dropped automatically, and the change is added to undo/redo history. Not available for dynamic views.

• Edit Edge Label Positions:
  Select a relationship edge and drag its label to reposition it; the position is saved to the manual layout with undo/redo. A manually placed label moves together with the edge when its curve is reshaped, keeping its offset.

• Accurate Tag Text Color via APCA Contrast:
  Tags with custom hex / rgb colors now get an accurate text color derived from the background via APCA contrast, instead of the previous CSS-filter workaround. Thanks @farhan523, #2978, resolves #2143

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed export png / export jpg failing in the Docker image with browserType.launch: Executable doesn't exist. The bundled Playwright and the installed Chromium browsers are now kept in sync. #3032, fixes #2961

• Fixed favicon 404 in likec4 build --output-single-file by inlining the favicon as a base64 data URI so the single HTML file stays self-contained. Thanks @MichaelMcCodington, #3030

• Fixed deployment relationship filters so source and target metadata predicates use deployed instance metadata. Thanks @ckeller42, #2986

• Nested parallel blocks in dynamic views now produce a clear validation error (Nested parallel blocks are not allowed) instead of a cryptic parser error. Thanks @farhan523, #2985, resolves #988

• Fixed "apply latest" action incorrectly triggering the new AI layout enhancement. #2995

🚀 Features

• Multiple Relationships in Views:
  Support expanding merged relationships into separate edges with the multiple flag. Set multiple true on a relationship kind in specification, or per-view via with { multiple true }, to show each relationship as its own edge with its own label instead of merging them into a single [...] edge. Thanks @galuszkak, #2939, resolves #663

• includeAncestors for Deployment Views:
  Add includeAncestors property to deployment views to include all ancestors of visible nodes. Thanks @Kiiv, #2935, fixes #1483

• --public option for likec4 build and likec4 start:
  Specify a directory that Vite serves and copies as-is into the output (Vite's publicDir). Files in this directory are preserved in the build output, including when --output-single-file is used. Thanks @farhan523, #2968, resolves #1941

• color-scheme Attribute for Web Component:
  Add color-scheme attribute to the web component to force light or dark mode. Thanks @dkapitan, #2955

• Experimental: AI-Assisted Semantic Layout:
  Add AI layout advisor that analyzes diagram semantics and suggests graphviz layout hints (rank constraints, edge weights, invisible edges) for more readable and visually balanced diagrams. Includes a VSCode chat participant, command, and MCP tool for triggering AI layout enhancement. This feature is experimental and may change in future releases. Documentation is coming later; reach out to us on Discord. #2878

• Image Export Options:
  Add --description and --notation options to PNG and JPEG exports to include the view title, Markdown description, and non-overlapping view notation in generated images. Thanks @ckeller42, #2950

• --hmr-port option for likec4 start:
  Specify the HMR WebSocket port via --hmr-port or the HMR_PORT environment variable. If neither is provided, a free port is auto-discovered in the range 24678–24690. Thanks @kieronlanning, #2947

• Emacs Setup Documentation:
  Expand the Emacs section in the editors docs with a complete setup using @likec4/lsp -- covers both Eglot (Emacs 29+) and lsp-mode, with a likec4-mode definition for .c4 / .likec4 files. Thanks @farhan523, #2972, resolves #2268

• AspireC4 Community Docs:
  Add community docs page for AspireC4 -- a .NET Aspire extension that auto-generates live LikeC4 architecture diagrams from the Aspire resource graph. Thanks @kieronlanning, #2952

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed relationship popovers not showing in static embedded views generated with likec4 build. Thanks @ckeller42, #2969, fixes #2962

• Fixed expanded embedded LikeC4 views rendering with a transparent overlay background. Thanks @ckeller42, #2967, fixes #2965

• Fixed formatter to preserve metadata arrays instead of converting them to strings. Thanks @ckeller42, #2944

• Allow reserved keywords such as group as metadata keys. Thanks @ckeller42, #2948, fixes #2932

• Fixed CSS bundling for react/webcomponents when rendered in shadow root.

• Fixed single-project overview page always showing the CLI --title value instead of the title from likec4.config.json. Thanks @kieronlanning, #2952

• Fixed validation of browser property in webcomponent (now accepts string values "true"/"false"/"yes"/"no"), closes #2936

• Fixed overlay animations (relationships browser, element details, search) glitching on open/close. #2976

• Upgraded pnpm to 11

🚀 Features

• Improved Color Palette:
  Element rendering now uses a more accurate color palette that better matches the color specified by the user. Thanks @Kiiv, #2912, closes #2101

• On-demand Icon Loading from CDN:
  Icons are now loaded on demand from CDN instead of bundling all icon components, significantly reducing bundle size. Icons are resolved from local cache, then @likec4/icons package, then fetched from icons.like-c4.dev. #2906

• Extracted @likec4/spa Package:
  Web app extracted into a separate @likec4/spa package, decoupling it from the CLI for better modularity, faster builds and smaller bundles. #2689

• Apply View Changes from dev server:
  Support applying view changes in vite-plugin/CLI (previously was possible only in IDE). #2904

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed greedy output panel that stole focus from the editor on errors in VSCode extension

• Fixed left-click on external links in VSCode extension diagram preview -- links in element details now open in the default browser on left-click. Thanks @ckeller42, #2908

• Improved edge label readability and fixed color token references. #2918

• Updated Mantine to 9.1.0 -- the light variant of Buttons, Alerts, and ActionIcons now uses solid colors instead of transparency. #2921

Full Changelog: v1.55.1...v1.56.0

🚀 Features

• JPG Export:
  Add JPEG export support for architecture diagrams -- new "Export as .jpg" option in the web UI and likec4 export jpg CLI command with --quality option. JPEG renders with a solid background adapting to the current theme. #2899, closes #2892

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed text overflow in relationship popover and element details card when displaying long names, titles, and technology strings. Thanks @ckeller42, #2894

• Fixed search overlay persisting after navigating to a view via Ctrl+K search. Thanks @ckeller42, #2875

• Fixed programmatic config (likec4.config.ts) not being loaded in VSCode extension and standalone LSP. #2896

• Allow using reserved keyword relationship as an identifier in LikeC4 DSL (e.g. as element kind). #2897

• Improved edge visibility in dark mode by increasing background stroke opacity. Thanks @ckeller42, #2891

Full Changelog: v1.55.0...v1.55.1

🚀 Features

• --theme option for likec4 build:
  Set the default color scheme (light/dark) for the generated static website. Thanks @ckeller42, #2874

• likec4.exclude VS Code setting:
  Exclude files and folders from LikeC4 processing via glob patterns. #2861

• Standalone @likec4/mcp package:
  MCP server and tools extracted into a dedicated package for reuse in other projects. #2877

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed relationship styles (color, line, head, tail) not inheriting from specification in dynamic views, closes #2797. #2864

• Fixed custom element description and summary being overwritten by specification defaults in Builder API, closes #2795. #2860

• Fixed wildcard predicate evaluation with where filter applying only to root/scoped elements instead of all elements, closes #2837. #2858

• Fixed crash on views with manual layout in dev mode (applyManualLayout invariant). Thanks @ckeller42, #2883

• Fixed codegen react and view hooks not applying manual layouts. Thanks @ckeller42, #2876

• Fixed external links in VSCode preview opening blank page instead of browser, closes #2422. Thanks @ckeller42, #2880

• Allow data: URIs in markdown image src. Thanks @ckeller42, #2881, fixes #2871

• Improved MCP and agent skill documentation for LeanIX bridge and Draw.io workflows. Thanks @sraphaz, #2828

Full Changelog: v1.54.0...v1.55.0

🚀 Features

• Standalone LSP Package:
  New @likec4/lsp package -- a self-contained, fully-bundled CJS language server with zero runtime dependencies for third-party editor integrations (Neovim, Zed, etc.). Fixes #2840, #2843

• list-icons CLI Command:
  New likec4 list-icons command to list all available built-in icons with --format text|json and --group filter options. #2832

• LikeC4 DSL Agent Skill:
  AI agents can now write correct LikeC4 code without hallucinating syntax. Install skills via npx skills add https://likec4.dev/. Thanks @vincent067, @a-scolan, Resolves #2636, #2782

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed dynamic view variant setting not being honored when navigating to a dynamic view, closes #2802. Thanks @kavishkartha05, #2827

• Fixed manual layout alignment tools (Align Left, Right, Center, Top, Middle, Bottom) not working, closes #2771, #2791

• Fixed LikeC4 generator not emitting element name in DSL output, closes #2815. Thanks @kavishkartha05, #2825

• Fixed element names starting with underscore followed by digit (e.g. _1password) being incorrectly rejected by the parser, closes #2836, #2845

• Improved navigation from VSCode preview panel to sources by showing editor in a different tab group #2826

• Validate LeanIX mapping partials before merge; align exports and mapping registry behaviour with specs. Thanks @sraphaz, #2829

• Hardened likec4:icons virtual module literals for CodeQL; raised floors for transitive dependencies. Thanks @sraphaz, #2831

🚀 Features

• Metadata Filtering in View Predicates:
  Filter elements and relations by metadata key existence (where metadata.key) or value (where metadata.key = 'value'). Works with != for negation and supports source.metadata / target.metadata for relation participants. Thanks @galuszkak, #2769

• LeanIX Bridge Integration:
  New @likec4/leanix-bridge package for syncing architecture models with LeanIX. Includes identity manifest, inventory snapshots, reconciliation, drift reports, governance checks, and ADR generation. CLI adds gen leanix-inventory-snapshot, gen leanix-reconcile, and sync leanix commands. Draw.io export gains a --profile leanix option for bridge-managed metadata round-trip. Thanks @sraphaz, #2746, #2768

• Landing Page Configuration:
  New landingPage config option to control landing page behavior: redirect: true to skip the landing page and go directly to the index view, and include / exclude selectors to filter which views appear in the landing page grid. Thanks @purple52, #2733

• Improved likec4 validate Command:
  Fix exit code (now properly exits with 1 on validation failure), add --json flag for structured JSON output, --file flag to filter errors to specific files, --no-layout flag to skip layout drift checks, and --project support for multi-project workspaces. #2790

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed drag behavior for group nodes #2785

• Fixed scroll in walkthrough notes panel, closes #2729

• Fixed web extension failing to start language server, closes #2702

• Restored Markdown syntax highlighting in triple-quoted strings in VSCode #2785

• Added configurable Node.js path for language server runtime in VSCode #2773

• Draw.io: improved person shape inference on re-import for round-trip fidelity. Thanks @sraphaz, #2685

🚀 Features

• likec4 format CLI Command:
  New likec4 format (alias fmt) command for formatting .c4 source files. Supports --check mode for CI, --project and --files filtering. Thanks @m9810223, #2667

• Overview Page Search, Navigation & Theme Toggle:
  Added search bar (also accessible via Cmd+K), sidebar navigation drawer with file/folder/list grouping, and dark/light theme toggle to the overview page. Fixes #1679. Thanks @ckeller42, #2665

• Disable Implicit Views by Default:
  Auto-generated scoped views for elements without explicit views are no longer created unless "implicitViews": true is set in the project config. To restore the previous behavior, add "implicitViews": true to your likec4.json configuration. #2705

• Draw.io Person Shape Round-Trip:
  Draw.io export now correctly renders elements with shape person as person/actor shapes instead of ellipses. Re-import also infers the person shape for round-trip fidelity. Thanks @sraphaz, #2685, fixes #2679

• Improved Zoom Performance:
  Significant performance improvement with zooming and panning diagrams, thanks to the xyflow update. #2694

• Erode tooling:
  Check documentation, thanks to @parse , #2728

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Added --output alias to all likec4 gen subcommands for consistency with build and export commands, fixes #2706

• Removed deprecated ManualLayoutV1 and related migration command #2713

🚀 Features

• likec4 lsp CLI Command:
  Added new likec4 lsp command to start the LikeC4 language server directly from the CLI. The standalone likec4-language-server binary is now deprecated. #2681

• Improved ?theme= URL Parameter:
  Theme preferences specified via the ?theme= URL parameter are no longer persisted to localStorage — the forced color scheme applies only while the parameter is present in the URL. Thanks @m9810223, #2645

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed "View title cannot contain newlines" error when using implicit views with elements that have multi-line titles, closes #2669, #2672

• Fixed LikeC4 tag color being broken, closes #2637

• docs: Fix broken link to vite-plugin/modules.d.ts location in documentation by @galuszkak in #2668

🚀 Features

• Draw.io Export & Round-Trip:
  Extended Draw.io integration with export options, edge waypoints, and view notation round-trip support. CLI now supports likec4 export drawio --roundtrip to preserve layout and styling when re-exporting. Added "Export to Draw.io" button in the app's export menu. Thanks @sraphaz, #2630, #2639

• New MCP Query Tools:
  Added 10 new MCP query tools: query-graph, query-incomers-graph, query-outgoers-graph, query-by-metadata, query-by-tags, query-by-tag-pattern, find-relationship-paths, batch-read-elements, subgraph-summary, and element-diff. Enhanced read-project-summary with serialized project config and optional metadata field. Thanks @ckeller42, #2638

• Implicit Scoped Views:
  Auto-generate scoped views for elements without explicit views, enabling drill-down navigation out of the box. Configurable via implicitViews option in project config (enabled by default). #2648

• Derive Technology from Icon:
  Automatically derive element technology from icon name when not set explicitly. Elements with aws:, azure:, gcp:, or tech: icons will get a human-readable technology label (e.g. tech:apache-flink → "Apache Flink"). Can be disabled via inferTechnologyFromIcon: false in project config. #2642

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed hollow edge markers (odiamond, oarrow, odot) to display as hollow with background fill instead of solid fill, closes #2634

• Improved state management and error handling in VSCode extension preview, closes #2625

New Contributors

• @m9810223 made their first contribution in #2646

Full Changelog: v1.49.0...v1.50.0