Export

The export command allows you to export your workspace definitions into various formats (currently focusing on JSON) for use in other tools or for visualization.

Usage

restruct export [options]

Options

Option	Description	Default
-f, --format <format>	The output format to use. Currently supports: json, svg, dsl.	json
-p, --pretty	Pretty-print the output (primarily for JSON).	false
-o, --output <dir>	The directory where the exports folder will be created.	. (current working directory)
--meta	Include metadata like authors and last modified date (only for JSON).	true

Formats

Each exported workspace is saved to the exports directory, which is created automatically if it doesn't already exist.

Format	Output	Description
json	${workspaceName}/${workspaceName}.json	A standard JSON representation of the entire workspace.
svg	${workspaceName}/${viewKey}.svg	Renders all views within the workspace into SVG files. Each view is saved as a separate file.
dsl	${workspaceName}/${workspaceName}.dsl	Re-exports the workspace definition in Structurizr DSL format.

Examples

JSON Export (minified)

Export all workspaces to the exports folder as minified JSON.

restruct export

SVG Export

Generate SVG images for all views defined in your workspaces.

restruct export --format svg

DSL Export

Export your workspace definitions into the Structurizr DSL format.

restruct export -f dsl

Pretty-printed JSON with Metadata

Export workspaces with human-readable JSON and include git-derived metadata.

restruct export --pretty --meta

Metadata Requirements

When using the --meta flag (which is enabled by default), restruct attempts to enrich the workspace exports with information from your version control system.

Constraints & Prerequisites

1. Git Client: A native git client must be installed on your host machine and available in your system's PATH.
2. Git Repository: The command must be run within a directory that is part of a Git repository (or a Git worktree).
3. Default Branch history: To reliably extract the full list of contributors and timestamps, the tool relies on accessing the history of the current branch (falling back to main or master if necessary).

If these requirements are not met, the Command will still succeed, but the authors list will be empty and the lastModifiedDate will default to the current system time.

How it works

restruct scans the source files associated with each workspace and uses git log --follow to trace the entire history of those files, including renames and moves, to gather a complete list of unique contributors.