Categories

This chapter explains component categories in Latch‑X, which drive model visualization (coloring) and lightweight grouping.

Any category string is allowed on a component.
Predefined categories have built‑in color schemes; other categories fall back to a default color unless you override them in graph settings.

Default categories and colors

These categories ship with predefined colors (from the product’s graph style):

infra → lightblue
application → lightcyan
3rdparty → plum
data → steelblue
risk → salmon
failover → lightgray
maintenance → gold
logical → white
custom → darkorange

Note: You can use any other category name. If it’s not in the list above, it will be colored with a default/fallback unless you provide an explicit mapping.

Setting a component’s category

YAML example:

web_server:
  type: normal
  mttf: 10000
  mttr: 4
  category: application

If you omit category, it defaults to "infra".

Overriding colors per model

You can override category colors per model via graph settings. In the UI (Graph Settings → Advanced / Expert Options), set “Category Colors (JSON)”, or define it directly in the model as:

graph_settings:
  color_mode: category
  category_colors:
    application: "#87cefa"   # light sky blue
    risk: "#ff7f7f"         # light red
    payments: "#c3fdb8"     # custom category you introduced

Any category key you define here will override the built‑in color for that name.
Unspecified categories fall back to the built‑ins; unknown names fall back to a default neutral color.

Where this is used

Rendering DAG/FTA/RBD diagrams: nodes are colored by category when color_mode is set to category.
Model readability: consistent colors make large graphs easier to scan.