About FractalForm

FractalForm is a language for creating interactive walkthroughs of systems. Each walkthrough shows how a system is structured while its behavior unfolds step by step. Data moves between components, state changes, and explanations appear when they matter.

A diagram can begin with a single line:

client -> api: GET /users

FractalForm is designed to read naturally. Arrows connect components, while optional declarations add labels, shapes, icons, groups, tags, and initial state. A diagram can start simple and gain detail as the explanation grows.

Quick Notation makes sketching even lighter. Compact markers, indentation, and simple connections let you map a system much like writing an outline. The full language is available when you need playback, changing state, or more precise control.

Every diagram remains plain text, so it can be reviewed, diffed, generated, revised, and shared like code. The rendered diagram stays interactive, allowing people to play through it or explore it at their own pace.

FractalForm is especially useful when structure alone does not tell the whole story. It can walk through a request, authentication handshake, deployment, retry, failure, or recovery while keeping the relevant parts of the system in view. Motion, stages, notes, callouts, and structured state help explain not only what happens, but why it matters.

Start in the editor, browse the reference, or use the authoring guide to create a diagram with an AI assistant.