🚀 New in Compass: Vertical Dependencies (“contains/contained by”)!

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We’re excited to announce the launch of vertical dependencies in Compass! 🎉

What’s new?

You can now model hierarchical relationships between your components using the new “contains/contained by” dependency type. This means you can represent how components are grouped by application, capability, etc. right alongside existing horizontal (peer-to-peer) dependencies.

Key highlights:

• Add, view, and manage vertical dependencies between any component

• Visualize hierarchies in both list and map views, making it easier to understand your architecture at a glance

• Quickly navigate between “contains” and “contained by” relationships for any component

• Compass now defaults to map view for a big-picture understanding of your component landscape

Why does this matter?

Platform engineers and developers can now map their software architecture in Compass the way their organization actually works. Vertical dependencies help you:

• Accelerate onboarding and decision-making

• Improve visibility into complex systems

• Make Compass your single source of truth for service ownership and documentation

How does it work?

• Add vertical dependencies via the UI or API, just like you do with horizontal dependencies

• See both horizontal and vertical relationships in the dependency map, just expand the current component

• Easily switch between “contains” and “contained by” lists for each component (in the list view)

We’d love to hear your feedback! Try out vertical dependencies in Compass and let us know how it helps you model your architecture more effectively.