pi-config/skills/archify/renderers/lifecycle

Lifecycle Renderer

Render diagram_type: "lifecycle" JSON files into the standard Archify HTML template.

node archify/renderers/lifecycle/render-lifecycle.mjs input.lifecycle.json output.html

The renderer validates input against archify/schemas/lifecycle.schema.json with the bundled standalone validator. No dependency installation is required.

If output.html is omitted, the renderer uses meta.output from the JSON file or falls back to lifecycle.html in the current working directory.

Input

Lifecycle JSON files must set:

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "diagram_type": "lifecycle",
  "meta": {
    "title": "Agent Run Lifecycle",
    "viewBox": [980, 660]
  },
  "lanes": [],
  "states": [],
  "transitions": [],
  "cards": []
}

Lane ids are semantic and reserved: a lane with id main is required and maps to the top phase band; terminal maps to the bottom outcome band; every other lane id (up to 4 lanes total) shares the single middle event band. The three band headers render from your lane labels — the middle band joins the labels of all event lanes with +. A complete worked example lives at archify/examples/agent-run.lifecycle.json.

The schema lives at:

archify/schemas/lifecycle.schema.json

Legend

The default legend derives kinds from states[].type. Supported meta.legend.entries keys, in stable order, are start, active, waiting, decision, success, failure, neutral, and external. Labels and visibility may be overridden through the shared legend contract; only kinds backed by rendered states receive Semantic Legend controls.

Layout budget

Band	Lane id	Top y	Column centers	Default state
Phase	main (required)	126	col 0–4 → x = 94, 248, 402, 556, 710	118×62
Event	any other id	278	col 0–2 → x = 402, 556, 710	126×58
Outcome	terminal	450	col 0–2 → x = 402, 556, 710	118×58

Constant	Value
viewBox	default [980, 660]; schema minimum [420, 566]
State area	x within [32, width − 32]; state bottom at or above height − 122
State spacing	≥10px between any two states — checked across lanes, because all event lanes share one band; separate same-band states with col or yOffset
Transition length	≥32px between endpoints
Legend row	final baseline y = height − 36; extra measured rows wrap upward

The primary lifecycle rail runs along the phase band and extends to the furthest occupied phase column. Route presets for transitions: straight, drop (bend at channelY, defaulting to the vertical midpoint), bottom-channel, top-channel, right-channel, left-channel, explicit via points, or the default auto. Multi-segment transitions get rounded corners; tune them with cornerRadius (default 10, 0 for sharp bends).

Design Rules

• Treat lifecycle diagrams as a phase map, not a dense state-transition graph.
• Put the primary lifecycle on one horizontal rail using the main lane.
• Use step labels for ordered phases, such as 01, 02, and 03.
• Use lower lanes only for interruptions, recovery, and terminal exits.
• Keep transition labels out of the main SVG unless the label is essential; prefer node labels, tags, legend entries, and summary cards.
• Avoid diagonal and crossing lines. Terminal exits should drop vertically from their source event whenever possible.
• Use success for completion, failure for failure/terminal exits, waiting for pauses, and decision for quality gates.

Schema violations exit non-zero with path-prefixed messages annotated with the element's id or label. The renderer additionally fails when it can detect layout problems, including a missing main lane, duplicate state IDs, unknown lanes, unknown transition endpoints, states outside the lifecycle area, overlapping states (including across lanes), labels colliding with states or other labels, labels wider than their state, unreadably short transitions, or transitions crossing unrelated states (2px Clean Flow clearance). Lifecycle bands remain intentional pass-through containers. Text width is estimated CJK-aware: fullwidth glyphs count as two units.

Set meta.quality_profile to showcase for polished delivery. Unrelated proper X crossings then fail with composition/proper-crossing; default standard keeps them as artifact-receipt warnings. The final artifact check samples rounded Q corners. Collinear corridors remain outside the proper-X rule, but a separate gate warns in standard and fails in showcase when unrelated transitions overlap for at least 8px. Shared semantic endpoints, point touches, and shorter overlaps remain valid. Showcase also rejects any route segment below 8px and any interior turn segment below 16px; ordinary 8–15px endpoint stubs remain valid.