Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Avylo, the living architecture model, AI reasoning, and collaboration.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Avylo?
Avylo is an AI-native Architecture Operating System for technical founders, lead architects, and engineering reviewers. It maintains one living, explainable software architecture model connecting product intent and requirements to technical decisions and components.
Who is Avylo for?
Avylo is built for:
- Technical founders & CTOs designing initial systems or major greenfield rewrites.
- Lead engineers & Architects evaluating technology trade-offs and communicating design decisions.
- Reviewers & Advisors inspecting system feasibility and providing high-signal feedback.
Is Avylo an architecture diagram generator?
No. While Avylo visualizes your system interactively, diagrams are derived views of an underlying semantic architecture graph. In Avylo, the Canonical Architecture Model is the authoritative source of truth, not a drawing file.
Does Avylo replace a software architect?
No. Avylo acts as an AI reasoning partner and operating system. It accelerates research, evaluates trade-offs, detects gaps, and formulates structured proposals, but the human Creator retains final authority over all architectural commitments.
What is Architecture V1?
Architecture V1 is the first canonical architecture baseline produced by Bootstrap Discovery. It represents a coherent, complete system model ready for deep exploration and iteration in the workspace.
What is Project Knowledge?
Project Knowledge is the private, revisioned source material provided by the creator, including product goals, user personas, traffic projections, and business constraints.
What is a Blueprint?
A Blueprint is the structured synthesis of your product intent derived from Project Knowledge. It defines the core product thesis, business boundaries, and primary operating constraints before selecting technologies.
What is an Architecture Decision?
An Architecture Decision is an explicit, explainable record of a material architectural choice. It details the context, AI recommendation, evaluated alternatives, trade-off matrix, evidence citations, and confidence score.
What is an Assumption?
An Assumption is an AI-inferred baseline value or standard configuration that the creator has not yet explicitly confirmed (e.g., standard relational storage for user profiles). Assumptions can be reviewed with Accept or Change.
What is an Open Decision?
An Open Decision is an unresolved, high-impact architectural fork where multiple viable alternatives exist and the choice meaningfully alters downstream topology and tech stack.
What is the difference between an Assumption and an Open Decision?
- Assumption: Low-risk AI default inference. Non-blocking; system operates with the default until modified.
- Open Decision: High-impact architectural fork requiring creator review and explicit trade-off evaluation.
What is the Canonical Architecture Model?
The Canonical Architecture Model is the single editable source of truth for your software system in Avylo. It defines all system components, databases, queues, boundaries, and connections.
Can the AI Architect change my architecture automatically?
No. The AI Architect never silently mutates your canonical architecture. All proposed structural changes are delivered as previewable Change Sets that require your explicit approval.
What is Architecture Health?
Architecture Health is an evidence-based assessment of your project across dimensions like Business Understanding, Architecture Coverage, Decision Confidence, and Missing Requirements. It is calculated from actual grounded evidence, not a decorative vanity score.
What is Architecture Maturity?
Architecture Maturity is an objective measure of where your system stands in the lifecycle:
Idea → Business Defined → Capabilities Complete → Architecture Stable → Deployment Ready.
Maturity can regress if foundational business evidence becomes stale.
Can someone else review my architecture?
Yes. You can invite external reviewers (advisors, staff engineers, design partners) with scoped access. Reviewers can explore the model and submit structured feedback without the ability to overwrite your canonical model.
How does Avylo explain architecture decisions?
Avylo provides graph-grounded explainability. When inspecting any node or decision, clicking Why? reveals the full chain of evidence: from the original Project Knowledge statement, through the Capability and Requirement, to the chosen Architecture Decision.
What happens when architecture evolves?
When your product requirements expand, update your Project Knowledge. The AI Architect analyzes the delta, identifies affected components, and proposes an atomic Change Set that updates the canonical model while preserving history in the Activity Timeline.