Artefact Pipeline
The single governed mechanism for sharing architectural content between NeoArc Studio workspaces - with integrity verification, digital signing, version tracking, and full provenance.
What Is an Artefact?
A .neoarc-artefact file is a self-contained JSON package that bundles one or more architectural items with integrity metadata, digital signatures, and provenance information. It is the unit of exchange between NeoArc Studio workspaces.
Exportable Content Types
The pipeline supports 17 content types across five categories. Every type that can be exported can also be imported.
| Category | Content Types |
|---|---|
| Governance | Taxonomy, Registry, Vocabulary |
| Model | Full Model, Model Shared Sets |
| Projections | Baselined Projection, Projection Set |
| Integrations | REST API, Schema, AsyncAPI, Webhook API, GraphQL API, gRPC API, MCP Server |
| Templates | Page Template, Diagram Template |
The Export Ceremony
Exporting an artefact follows a guided ceremony that ensures nothing is missed and every step is visible.
The visual ceremony shows each step as it happens - validation, per-file hashing, digital signing, optional encryption, and final packaging. This is not just a progress bar; it gives the exporter confidence that every integrity measure has been applied.
The Import Ceremony
Importing an artefact is a multi-stage process with verification at every step.
Version Tracking
Every exportable item has a stable identifier (UUID) that persists across exports. When the same item is exported again, the pipeline increments its version number and records the content hash of the previous version. On import, the system compares the incoming version against what already exists in the workspace and classifies items as new, updated, unchanged, or diverged.
Impact Analysis on Import
When an updated item arrives, the pipeline computes a structural diff against the existing content. Changes are classified by severity - breaking (removed or renamed properties, incompatible type changes), additive (new properties or entities), or cosmetic (description changes, annotation updates). The Intent Graph is then traversed to find every downstream construct affected by breaking changes.
Provenance and Chain of Custody
Every imported file gets a .provenance.json sidecar that records where the content came from - the source artefact, the signer, the import timestamp, and the content hash at the time of import. Every import is also logged to the workspace's governance import log, creating a full audit trail of what entered the workspace, when, from whom, and what actions it triggered.
Hub Mode Integration
In hub mode, the artefact pipeline gains additional capabilities. Imported items are registered in the hub's import registry with approval tracking. Content is ingested into the federated intent graph for cross-project querying. Contracts (projections, schemas, APIs) are registered in the contract registry for version governance. The pipeline is the bridge between project-level work and estate-level governance.