Editor Basics¶
Audience: Beginners | Status: V1 Core | Verified against: v0.43.0
The CloudBlocks editor is a hands-on workspace for learning cloud architecture. Most beginners should start from a guided template or scenario, then use this page as a reference while they explore the canvas, palette, inspector, and validation tools.
Interface Layout¶
The builder uses a 4-panel layout:
- Menu Bar (top) — Access File, Edit, Build, and View menus. Switch between Provider tabs (Azure, AWS, GCP). Manage workspaces.
- Sidebar Palette (left) — Resource palette grouped by category. Click or drag items to create resources.
- Canvas (center) — The main isometric drawing area where you build your architecture.
- Inspector Panel (right) — View and edit details for the selected block. Includes Properties, Code preview, and Connections tabs.
- Bottom Dock (bottom) — Monitor system state through Output, Validation, Logs, and Diff tabs.
Common Interactions¶
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Place a block | Click a resource in the Sidebar Palette, or drag it onto the canvas |
| Select a block | Click on it in the canvas |
| Move a block | Drag it to a new position |
| Connect blocks | Click an output port on the source, then click an input port on the target |
| Zoom | Scroll with mouse wheel or trackpad |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Z (macOS) |
| Redo | Ctrl+Shift+Z or Cmd+Shift+Z |
| Save | Ctrl+S or Cmd+S |
Sidebar Palette¶
The palette organizes cloud resources into 8 categories:
| Category | What It Contains |
|---|---|
| Network | VNet, Subnet, NAT Gateway, Public IP, Route Table, Private Endpoint |
| Delivery | DNS Zone, CDN Profile, Front Door, Application Gateway, Load Balancer, Firewall |
| Compute | Functions, App Service, Container Instances, VM, AKS |
| Data | Blob Storage, SQL Database, Cosmos DB |
| Messaging | Queue (Service Bus), Event Hub |
| Security | Key Vault, Bastion, NSG, Secret Store |
| Identity | Entra ID, Service Principal |
| Operations | Monitoring |
Resources that require a Network block on the canvas will appear disabled until you create one.
Inspector Panel¶
Click any block to open its details in the Inspector Panel:
- Properties tab — View block type, category, and cloud resource mapping. Rename the block or perform actions.
- Code tab — See a live preview of generated infrastructure code (Experimental).
- Connections tab — Review all connections linked to the selected block.
Bottom Dock¶
The Bottom Dock provides real-time feedback:
- Output — Activity log of your actions.
- Validation — Rule check results for your architecture.
- Logs — System messages and warnings.
- Diff — Compare architecture versions.
What's Next?¶
| Goal | Guide |
|---|---|
| Build from a template | First Architecture |
| Understand blocks and connections | Core Concepts |
| Learn all keyboard shortcuts | Keyboard Shortcuts |