# Explore a Form

Find a resource, read why it is placed or connected, switch between stages and comparisons, and share the result from the Explorer.

The Explorer is the interactive view of a [Form](https://docs.rootform.dev/concepts/forms/), and
this page follows the questions it answers: where is this resource, why is it
placed or connected there, what does this plan change, and what does the
evidence leave open. To try each one without installing anything, open the
[Playground](https://rootform.dev/playground/); the figures below come
from its commerce platform sample.

![The Inspector for subnet prod_data inside VNet prod: six private endpoints counted as scene members, two Contexts, and six incoming context facts](https://docs.rootform.dev/images/explorer/inspector-details-light.webp#gh-light-mode-only)
![The Inspector for subnet prod_data inside VNet prod: six private endpoints counted as scene members, two Contexts, and six incoming context facts](https://docs.rootform.dev/images/explorer/inspector-details-dark.webp#gh-dark-mode-only)

Locally, start from a plan JSON, a state JSON, or a saved Form, and pair the
saved plan when direct traversal evidence matters. By default, `rootform run`
starts a loopback server and opens a browser:

<!-- docs-check:journey-explore-open -->
```sh
rootform run plan.json --plan-file plan.tfplan --no-browser --port 0
```

Copy the Explorer address from the terminal into your browser, and press
`Ctrl+C` in the terminal when finished. Here `--no-browser` leaves the
launch to you and `--port 0` asks the operating system for an available port.
A saved Form opens the same way with `rootform run analysis.json`.

## Where is this resource?

**Search** (`⌘K` on macOS, `Ctrl+K` elsewhere) covers the whole
architecture, including objects outside the current scene. Search by name or
type, then select a result to open its containing context and reveal it. Each
result shows its path, such as `prod / prod` for a subnet in the virtual
network `prod` of the resource group `prod`. The footer shows the displayed
range and total matches, so a short visible list is not the full result set.

The canvas shows the current context and its direct contents. Open a card
with nested objects to make it the current context. The navigation controls
at the top left show your path: **Architecture root** returns to the top,
**Back** and **Forward** revisit locations, and the current-context menu jumps
to any ancestor. Use the parent name to move up one level. When a resource has
more than one established placement, its path menu lists **Also placed in**.

The Explorer draws architectural contexts and relations emitted by Dialect
Rules. Terraform dependencies remain evidence; they do not become connection
arrows on their own.

Select a card to open the Inspector. **Details** shows the instance address,
its interpretation, status, producer actions, and provider. **Contexts** lists
its proven placements; **Incoming contexts** lists objects placed here, and
**Scene members** counts its nested scene contents. **Connections** lists
architectural relations. **Evidence** shows facts, closures, dependencies,
and diagnostics. **Center selection** brings the selected object back into
view after navigation.

**Form details**, at the top right, opens in the Inspector and lists
changes, all instances, and evidence beyond the current scene. Its instance
count includes objects without an applied architecture interpretation, which
may have no canvas card; the toolbar says how many instances the canvas does
not draw.

## Why is it placed here?

A placement appears as containment on the canvas and a context fact under
**Contexts**. In **Evidence**, inspect the fact and its **Resolution** for the
emitting Rule and the source evidence, then read the closure outcome:
`resolved` establishes the fact, `absent` records a supported absence, and
`indeterminate` keeps a reason such as unknown until apply or sensitive
evidence. A closure may stay indeterminate even when an instance is
represented on the canvas.

In the commerce sample, the fact
`azurerm_subnet.prod_data → azurerm_virtual_network.prod` resolves through
Rule `azure.rule.subnet` and the attribute `source.virtual_network_name`; the
[quickstart](https://docs.rootform.dev/getting-started/quickstart/) reads it step by step. When a
value is unknown until apply, the saved-plan traversal settles the fact.
[Pair the saved plan](https://docs.rootform.dev/inputs/plans/#pair-the-saved-plan) explains the
pairing requirement, and
[Trace a placement](https://docs.rootform.dev/getting-started/first-architecture/)
shows the same closure with and without it.

## Why is it connected?

Select a route or a relation in **Connections**. The Inspector identifies
its endpoints, predicate, and evidence. If several relations share visible
endpoints or an endpoint is inside a closed context, the canvas may show an
aggregate route. Select the route to inspect its members, then use
**Reveal endpoints** or open the containing context to see the actual
resources. A route's visual shape is not a claim of live network reachability.

A relation that leaves the current context can show an outside reference
card with its home context. It points to the same resource. Use **Go to** to
open the home context.

## What does this plan change?

The selector under the navigation controls names the current view and the
two stages it compares. A plan opens on **Planned changes**; the other two
views appear when the plan holds their stages.

| View | Compares | Shows |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Planned changes** | Refreshed to Planned | What the plan proposes to change |
| **Reported drift** | Recorded to Refreshed | The architectural effect of the drift the plan reports |
| **Net change** | Recorded to Planned | Drift and planned changes combined |

The info button beside the selector opens **About this view**: what the view
means, its result counted in instances, events, facts, and indeterminate
closures, and **Notes** on how a stage came to be, such as Recorded
reconstructed by reversing drift entries.

When a limit changes how the canvas reads, the button shows a warning icon
and the panel adds **Limits of this view**. A limit is a comparison that is
not comparable, instances the plan did not evaluate, unverified instance
counts, or a plan that reports itself incomplete.

A dot on the button means the view has lists to read. Each one opens
**Form details** in the Inspector at that list:

- **Drift report**: each drift entry, by consequence.
- **Cancelled drift**: the drift that Net change restores.
- **Instance events**: moved, replaced, and recreated instances.

A state Form shows its Recorded architecture without comparison controls. A
comparison Form has a single view, **Differences** between its two selected
stages, and **About this view** also names its two inputs;
[Compare two Forms](https://docs.rootform.dev/guides/compare-architectures/#open-the-comparison-in-the-browser)
opens one.

The reading block at the bottom left chooses the first stage, the
difference, or the second stage: **Refreshed**, **Changes**, and **Planned**
for Planned changes, or **Before**, **Differences**, and **After** for two
inputs. A stage side draws that architecture alone. Under it, four filters
count the comparison entries of the current view as **Added**, **Removed**,
**Changed**, and **Indeterminate**; each tooltip gives the breakdown in
units. Keep one to narrow the canvas to those entries and **Reset** to
release them; on a stage side they only highlight.

The camera at the top right zooms, fits the architecture, and centres the
selection; its zoom readout opens those actions with their keys. The Form
actions next to it open **Form details** and the list of instances the
canvas does not draw. On a narrow screen the camera keeps its Fit button
and stands beside the selector; pinch, wheel, or the keys still zoom.

Do not read “No drift reported in this plan” as proof that no infrastructure
changed. Terraform or OpenTofu may have skipped refresh or limited scope. See
[comparisons and drift](https://docs.rootform.dev/concepts/forms/#comparisons-and-drift), and
[Review planned changes](https://docs.rootform.dev/guides/review-planned-changes/) for the three questions a
plan answers.

## What does the evidence leave open?

The **Indeterminate** filter counts the closures the current view could not
settle; keep it to see the instances they belong to. Their reasons are in
each instance's **Evidence** tab under **Closures**, and **About this view**
lists any limit that changes how the canvas reads, such as instances the plan
did not evaluate. An indeterminate closure is neither a change nor an
unchanged fact; [Limitations](https://docs.rootform.dev/limitations/) lists what stays outside the
evidence altogether.

### Reveal a secondary resource

Some association resources contribute implementation detail without a
permanent card in every scene. Find one through search or from the object
it contributes to, then reveal it for inspection. Its per-instance entry and
provenance remain in the Form even when the scene leaves it collapsed.

## Export and share

Save a reusable Form or a standalone browser view from the same input:

<!-- docs-check:journey-explore-export -->
```sh
rootform run plan.json --plan-file plan.tfplan --no-serve -o analysis.json -o architecture.html
```

The HTML file embeds the Explorer and the Form, makes no network requests,
and needs no server. The JSON file can reopen in `run` or feed `explain`.
Neither contains sensitive values, but both reveal infrastructure names and
topology to anyone who receives them. Review
[security and data handling](https://docs.rootform.dev/security/) and
[output formats](https://docs.rootform.dev/reference/outputs/) before sharing.

## Use the keyboard

Shortcuts apply when focus is outside a text field. `Alt` is `Option` on
macOS.

| Key | Action |
| --- | --- |
| `Escape` | Clear the selection, or move up one level when nothing is selected |
| `Backspace` or `Alt+Left` | Go back |
| `Alt+Right` | Go forward |
| `+` and `-` | Zoom in and out while the canvas has focus |
| `0` or `f` | Fit the architecture in view |
| `c` | Center the selection |

Ask the same questions from the terminal with
[Explain an architecture](https://docs.rootform.dev/guides/explain-architecture/), read the three views of
one plan in [Review planned changes](https://docs.rootform.dev/guides/review-planned-changes/), or
[choose an input](https://docs.rootform.dev/inputs/) for another question.