Wardley map — strategy as code

Or try:

Syntax reference

Config

title: palette: accent:: config · // comment anywhere
verdict: off: carry no verdict at all. Any other text becomes your line in its place — omit the key and the tool writes one

Components & edges

anchor: Reading: the user need at the top of the chain (one or more)
Recommendations @ custom: a current evolution-position claim: genesis, custom, product or commodity — not a delivery date or forecast
Catalogue DB @ 0.83: or a precise position, 0–1 — dragging a pill writes this
A -> B -> C: "A needs B, B needs C" — chains welcome; depth on the map is derived from these
Audiobook player: no position yet — renders as a ghost until you place or drag it

Start typing — or load an example.

Export

History

Needs… in a component's ⋯ menu rewires dependencies — mouse or touch · snapshot at each strategy review — compare records changed claims

Why a map, and why as code?

A Wardley strategic field makes an inspectable claim about a value chain: what the user needs, what each thing needs, and where each component sits from genesis to commodity. The point is the argument: why are we hand-building something the market sells as a utility? What are we treating as settled that is still genuinely novel? Horizontal position is a claim, not a forecast, delivery schedule, or decision plan.

Here the field is a projection of a text file. Vertical position is derived from the dependency chain — user needs above the things they need — rather than pretending the DSL contains a measured visibility value. Dragging a component along the evolution ruler writes its position back into the text as an ordinary undoable edit; the file stays the single source of truth.

Snapshot compare keeps changes legible: moved positions, new and dropped components, and changed dependencies become factual receipts in the next review. Strategy drift becomes an artefact you can inspect, not a memory you argue about. Use Roadmap for delivery commitments, and Paths when different outcomes could stop, pivot, or expand the work. Source: Simon Wardley's mapping work, CC BY-SA.