Better designs in a quarter of the time.
Connect read-only to Databricks, Azure, SQL Server and Power BI. Sydal (Systems & Data Lineage) puts your software, systems and data in one view, building architecture diagrams and column-level lineage from what's actually running, and re-syncing when it changes. It runs on your PC with no SaaS account. Sydal's only call home is an optional once-a-day update check to getsydal.com that sends just its version number (turn it off under Settings → Privacy); the Microsoft WebView2 runtime it uses may contact Microsoft for updates. Your models, metadata and credentials never leave your computer except to the systems and AI providers you connect, or when you publish or share.
Windows desktop app (installer or MSI). Map your first platform in an hour, not a quarter-long rollout. Or try the free Sydal Playground in your browser: no download, just a free account.
Illustration of a lineage view, not a product screenshot.
The problem
Your diagrams are out of date, and nobody trusts them.
Architecture lives in slide decks and diagrams drawn by hand. The platform changes every week, and the gap shows up the first time someone asks a simple question.
Stale the week they're drawn
Hand-drawn diagrams drift from reality straight away, so people stop relying on them.
"What breaks if we change this column?"
Answering it takes days of asking around across teams, code and reports.
Two tools, neither complete
Catalogs trace data but don't draw architecture. Drawing tools draw architecture but don't know your lineage.
Rollouts take a quarter
Enterprise architecture suites take months to load with data, and they're cloud-hosted, which many security teams push back on.
Who it's for
Made for the people who own the platform diagram.
Data-platform architects
Azure, Databricks and Power BI/Fabric estates where column lineage stops at a platform boundary. Trace SQL Server → Data Factory → lakehouse → report in one view.
Data and IT consultancies
Map a client's platform in your first session, not your first month. Client metadata stays on your laptop, not in a third-party SaaS. Deliver in PowerPoint, Visio or a published read-only site.
Solution architects
C4, Azure-standard and executive diagrams generated from what's deployed, so the design review starts from reality instead of last quarter's slide.
How it works
Connect, model, view, share.
One model for your software, systems and data. Every diagram is a view of one live model of your estate, so you stop redrawing and start re-syncing.
Connect
Read-only sign-in with Entra ID, service principals, key pairs or CLIs. Passwords and tokens are never saved. Databricks can sign in with your Microsoft work account, with no URL or token to paste, and you can pick just the tables you need.
Model
Everything merges into one model. For example, the SalesDB found in your C# code, in Azure and on the server becomes one element, so lineage runs end to end.
View
Every diagram is a view of the model. Re-sync updates them, and changes arrive as a draft you can review.
Share
PowerPoint, Visio, draw.io, PDF up to 11×17/A3, PNG/SVG, a share card for Teams or Slack, or a read-only published site with diagrams, lineage, a searchable catalog and a glossary.
Typical first run: connect a workspace, sync, and have a platform map in about an hour. That's the target, not a benchmark, and it depends on your estate and on which connectors are Preview.
See it in action
Watch Sydal work on a sample model.
Short clips recorded in the Sydal desktop app with sample data. No mockups.
From schema to diagram in seconds
Import your data model files and Sydal lays out the diagram for you, with keys and relationships drawn.
Know what breaks before you change it
Right-click any column to trace it: see the dashboards it feeds and the pipelines it comes from, across lake, dbt, warehouse and BI.
One model, any diagram standard
Switch the same diagram between Microsoft Azure, C4 and an executive view in one click.
Catch load-order problems early
Sydal puts your load schedules on one 24-hour timeline and flags a load that starts before its input has finished. (Times shown are sample data.)
Share it without a login
Publish a read-only site of your diagrams that anyone can open in a browser.
Key features
Lineage and architecture in one tool.
Catalogs don't draw architecture, and drawing tools don't know lineage. Sydal does both, from one model, for teams on Azure, Databricks, SQL Server and Power BI/Fabric.
Table- and column-level lineage
Follow one column from SQL Server through Data Factory and Databricks to the Power BI measure. Lineage is parsed from stored procedures, views, notebooks and job code, not just what one platform logs. Right-click a report or table and ask Where does its data come from? to follow it upstream to the real source.
Impact analysis
Before you change a column, see every table, report and owner downstream. Path-finding lights up every shortest route between two elements.
Load schedules on one timeline
Every job, load and refresh on one 24-hour timeline, across time zones and midnight. Loads that start before their inputs are ready get flagged.
Illustrative example: a load that starts at 3:15 while its input finishes at 3:40 is flagged before the morning report is wrong.
Review-ready diagrams in one click
Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, Databricks, C4, ArchiMate 3.2, Visio/Office or Executive style, with title block, legend and a standards check based on Microsoft Well-Architected diagram guidance.
Data assessment
Likely foreign keys with their evidence, renamed columns, copy-only tables, and key profiling through sampled read-only queries. Nothing changes until you accept it.
Databricks reference architecture
Lay your model out on lakehouse lanes (source, ingest, transform, serve, analysis) with a bronze/silver/gold band and placeholders for what's missing.
Code maps
Scan a code repository to map classes, functions, calls and imports, plus the connection strings and SQL in your code, so the app is linked to the databases it uses.
Large estates stay readable
Tested to stay smooth with 10,000+ boxes on one diagram. Zones layout and big-picture roll-up keep large views legible.
Optional AI, on your own AI Preview
Runs on your own Azure OpenAI, Databricks serving endpoint, Snowflake Cortex, Claude API or Grok (xAI) API, never ours. It proposes changes as cards, and nothing changes until you accept. It can also ask Databricks Genie or Snowflake Cortex Analyst about your data, and expose the model to your agents over MCP.
Works with your catalog
Sydal reads from Unity Catalog, Purview, Collibra and Alation and adds what sits around them: SQL Server procedures, Data Factory, Power BI, Terraform and your code. Where platform lineage stops at the table or at its own boundary, Sydal parses the code to carry column lineage across, then draws the result to Azure, C4 or executive standards.
Purview, Collibra, Alation and Terraform connectors are Preview.
Also included: application portfolio (TIME, fit, cost, lifecycle), capability heat maps and roadmaps, owners, glossary, classifications, table usage (last read and written), data-quality surveys for owners, notifications, versions you can compare, 18 viewpoints including ERD, infrastructure and threat models, and presentation mode.
Read-only connectors
Supported
Preview
Preview connectors are new and have been tested against sample responses, not yet against many live estates. Run one import from each system you rely on before trusting the results. Imports and exports draw.io, Visio, Structurizr DSL and PlantUML, and exports to PowerPoint.
Local-first & security
Short answers for your security review.
Sydal is a desktop app, not a SaaS platform. There is no Sydal cloud to upload your metadata to, and no account to create.
The free Sydal Playground needs a free Sydal account (your name and email; a phone number is optional). Your account never holds your models: the model lives in your browser tab and in files you save yourself.
Sydal does not currently hold SOC 2 or other certifications.
We're happy to answer your security questions directly; email [email protected].
- Your models are never sent to us. Your model is a file on your computer. It only goes where you send it: an export, a site you publish, or the AI provider you configure.
- Read-only access to every connected system. Key profiling uses sampled read-only queries.
- Passwords and tokens never saved. Host, user and database names are remembered on your PC; passwords and tokens are never saved.
- No usage analytics. Sydal's only call home is an optional once-a-day update check to getsydal.com that sends just its version number (turn it off under Settings → Privacy). The Microsoft WebView2 runtime it uses may contact Microsoft for updates.
- Windows installer or MSI for managed deployment.
- Offline license keys, checked on the computer with no activation call.
- AI is optional and runs on your own AI provider, never ours.
- Feedback stays in your hands. Help → Send feedback writes an email in your own mail app for you to check and send; Sydal sends nothing by itself.
FAQ
Questions architects ask first
What will our security team ask, and what's the answer?
Sydal is a Windows desktop app (installer or MSI). It connects read-only, never saves passwords or tokens (host, user and database names are remembered on your PC), sends no usage analytics and checks license keys offline. Sydal's only call home is an optional once-a-day update check to getsydal.com that sends just its version number (turn it off under Settings → Privacy); your models, metadata and credentials never leave your computer except to the systems and AI providers you connect. The Microsoft WebView2 runtime it uses may contact Microsoft for updates. There's no Sydal cloud and no account. Your model is a file on your computer. Sydal does not hold SOC 2 or other certifications. Ask us and we'll answer your questionnaire directly.
We already have Purview / Unity Catalog / Fabric lineage. Why add this?
Keep them. Sydal reads from them (the Purview and Fabric connectors are Preview). It adds column lineage across platforms, parsed from stored procedures, notebooks and job code, and turns it into architecture diagrams for design reviews.
What does "read-only" cover?
Connectors read metadata, schedules and usage. Key profiling runs sampled read-only queries. Nothing in your estate is created, changed or deleted.
Does it run on Mac or Linux?
The Sydal app is Windows only (installer or MSI); there is no Mac or Linux desktop version. On any computer you can use the free Sydal Playground in a current browser, for models of up to 150 elements and 3 views, without live connectors.
Is there a free version?
Two. The Sydal Playground runs in your browser for small models, with a free Sydal account; Sydal doesn't upload or store your models, so save your work as a file. The desktop app starts with a 30-day full trial, and after it ends the free Viewer still opens and exports every model.
How mature is it?
The current release is 1.0.17. Connectors and AI features marked Preview have been tested against sample responses, so run one import from each system you rely on before trusting the results.
How big a diagram can it handle?
In our testing it stays smooth with 10,000+ boxes on one diagram, and roll-up views keep the big picture readable.
Free in your browser
Try Sydal in your browser, free.
The Sydal Playground runs in a browser tab with no download; you just need a free Sydal account. Build a model of up to 150 elements and 3 views, import your own schemas, and save it as a file that also opens in the desktop app.
- Sydal doesn't upload or store your models. Like the draw.io web app, you open it from a file on your computer and save it back there.
- No autosave. Closing or reloading the tab discards unsaved changes, so save a file to keep your work.
- Free account, no tracking. Sign up with your email address; a phone number is optional. The app has no analytics and no third-party scripts.
- No live connectors yet. Import files instead, or use the desktop app for read-only connections.
Pricing
One plan. One price.
Start with a 30-day full trial. After it ends, nobody loses their work: models still open and export, and a license key unlocks editing.
Sydal Playground
Free
In your browser, for trying Sydal on small models. No download; a free Sydal account is required.
- Build and edit models of up to 150 elements and 3 views
- Lineage and impact, down to the column
- Import SQL DDL, DBML, CSV, Mermaid, draw.io and more
- PNG, SVG and Letter / A4 PDF export with a "Made with Sydal" mark
- Models open from and save to files on your computer; no autosave
Viewer
Free
In the Windows desktop app, for colleagues who read the models, and for everyone after the trial.
- Open and view any Sydal model
- Export your diagrams
- Your work is never locked away when a trial or license ends
- No account to create
Professional
$850 per user / year
or $75 per user / month
For architects and engineers who build and maintain the model.
- Everything in Viewer
- Editing, saving and all read-only connectors
- Lineage, impact analysis and data assessment
- One-click design standards and a published read-only site
- Offline license key: checked on your computer, with no activation call
- Starts with a 30-day full trial
Prices in USD. Current version: Sydal 1.0.17. Same price per user for teams and consultancies. Questions? Contact us.
Free platform-map session
See your own platform mapped in an hour.
Book a free one-hour working session with an architect. There's nothing to send in advance: we set up read-only access together on the call, and you leave with a map of your platform. Questions about connectors, security review or how Sydal fits next to your catalog are welcome too.
- Read-only: nothing in your estate is changed
- No SaaS account: Sydal runs on your PC
- Architect to architect: straight answers, no sales script