Add or remove component dependencies

What are component dependencies?

A component dependency is a relationship between two components, where one component relies on another for functionality or availability.

A distributed architecture has a collection of components that depend on one another. As you add more components to your architecture, the number of dependencies increases, leading to a complex orchestration of components. When components depend on one another, several factors such as downtime, deployment, security issues, and status of a component affect its dependent components. In a complex architecture, it is difficult to identify the impacts.

Mapping component dependencies enables you to identify the things that impact a component or those that a component impacts. It helps you to:

• understand your infrastructure and how components connect
• determine if you are affected by downtime or when an incident occurs
• provide faster incident resolution when you see the impact of components depending on one another

Add a dependency to a component

You can add a component dependency from the Dependencies section on the component’s details page.

Currently, Compass supports the Depends on dependency type. Learn more about the available component dependency types

To add a dependency to a component:

1. In Compass, go to your component’s details view. Learn how to view a component's details
2. Select Dependencies from the left navigation.
3. If this is the first dependency, follow these steps:
   1. Select the component that you depend on from the Search and select a component list.
   2. Select Add dependency.
4. If the component already has dependencies, follow these steps:
   1. Select the add icon () at the top of the Depends on list.
   2. Select the component you depend on from the Search and select a component list.
   3. Select Add.
5. If the component you want to add as a dependency does not exist in Compass yet, you can combine creating a component and adding it as a dependency into a single action. Follow these steps:
   1. From the Search and select a component list, select + Create component.
   2. Enter the new component’s details and select Create.
      • We'll create your new component and add it as a dependency of your current component.

The component's dependency is recorded in Compass.

View a component's dependencies

The component dependencies have two visual presentations:

• Dependency list: Shows a list of component dependencies recorded in Compass. You can add or remove component dependencies from the dependency list.

• Dependency map: A spatial and interactive representation of the component dependencies recorded in Compass. When you add component dependencies in Compass, the dependency map generates a visualization of these dependencies giving you a component-centric view of your software infrastructure. You can traverse the map to view and understand the interdependencies amongst the components.

To view a component’s dependencies:

1. If you are not already there, go to your component’s details page in Compass.
2. Select Dependencies from the left navigation.
3. By default, you’ll see the dependencies list. In the list view:
   • add or remove component dependencies
   • view, add, or edit the owner team for dependencies
   • navigate to a dependency component’s details page by selecting the component
4. Select Map at the upper-right side to see the dependency map. You can:
   • traverse the map by selecting the component cards on the map
   • view the component’s basic details by expanding the component card
   • navigate to the component’s details page by selecting View component

Add or edit a component’s owner team from the dependencies list

Component ownership helps assign and identify responsibility for maintaining and operating a component. Having up-to-date ownership information ensures people know who to reach out to for information about that component. Learn more about the importance of adding component ownership

You can view, assign, and change the ownership of your component dependencies from the dependencies list.

To add or edit the owner team for a component’s dependencies:

1. Go to your component’s details page in Compass.

2. Select Dependencies from the left navigation and stay on the List view.

3. Select the more actions icon () for the dependency component you want to add or edit the owner team.

   • For assigning component ownership for a component with no owner team, select Add owner team.

   • For changing the existing ownership of a component, select Edit owner team.

4. On the dialog that appears, select an owner team from the list. Then, select Save.

   • If the owner team doesn’t exist, select + Start a team to start a new team and add it as the component’s owner.

The component owner team’s name appears in the dependency list.

Remove a dependency from a component

You can remove the record of a component’s dependency on another component from the Dependencies section on the component’s details page.

To remove a dependency from a component:

1. Go to your component’s details page in Compass.
2. Select Dependencies from the left navigation.
3. You can only remove dependencies from components listed in the Depends on list. Select the more actions icon () for the component you want to remove then select Remove dependency.
4. On the confirmation dialog that appears, select Remove.

The component dependency is no longer recorded in Compass.

Available component dependency types

Your Compass site comes with the following dependency type:

Depends on

Describes the relationship of a component on another component that is necessary for it to operate.

For example, you could describe that an application component dependsOn a library component as part of its build.

Any type of component can depend on any other type of component in Compass.