Set up environments

An environment is a named deployment context: development, staging, production. Environments differ — dev runs everything on one box, production spreads across a cluster — so each gets its own view of what runs where. The deployment viewer has an environment selector to flip between them.

Step 1 — Add an environment

Environments in the deployment editor's left pane

Open the Deployment editor from the menu. Add an environment per deployment context you want to describe. Name them what your team calls them ("Production", "Staging", "Dev laptop").

Step 2 — Build its contents

Build each environment's contents separately — the next guide covers nodes and instances.

Step 3 — Switch in the viewer

The environment selector in the deployment viewer

In the viewer, the environment selector in the title bar switches the whole canvas to that environment's topology.

Rename an environment

Click the edit icon next to an environment name in the left pane to rename it inline. The name is what you call the deployment context; keep it short and clear ("Production", "Staging", "Dev").

Delete an environment

Click the delete icon next to an environment to remove it. If the environment contains deployment nodes or instances, a confirmation dialog shows you what will be deleted. You cannot undo a delete; if you're uncertain, use Copy to make a backup first.

Copy an environment

If two environments are mostly the same — staging mirrors production, or you're adding a new region — duplicate one environment and edit the copy. In the editor, select an environment in the left pane and choose Copy from its menu.

A dialog opens asking for the new environment name and which items to link in the copy. Any item you select will become a linked instance — changes to it in the source environment will update the copy automatically. Items you leave unchecked will be independent copies with their own lifecycle.

When you copy, already-linked items (from a prior linked-instance copy) are locked and always included in the new linked set; you can only choose whether to link previously independent items.

After copying, you get a new environment with all its nodes and instances duplicated; adjust names, instances counts, or deployment groups as needed.

One view per environment — why

A single diagram claiming to cover all environments either misrepresents some of them or drowns in conditionals. When environments diverge (and they always do), separate views keep each one honest. Repetition between them is fine — it's the differences that carry information.

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