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Export Designs

Export a design as a design file, an OCI image, a Kubernetes manifest, a Helm chart, or an embeddable script, and know what each format keeps.
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Export writes a design out of Kanvas so you can back it up, move it between Meshery deployments, hand it to Helm or kubectl, or put it on a web page. Every export is generated from the current state of the design. You cannot export an earlier version.

Export is a File menu action, disabled on an empty design. In Operator mode, Export instead downloads the open view as <view name>.json.

FormatKeeps layout, annotations, and metadataUse it for
Design file (YAML)YesBackups, moving designs, re-import into Kanvas
Design (OCI image)YesStoring and versioning a design in a container registry
Kubernetes manifestNokubectl apply and pipelines that expect plain manifests
Helm chartNoHelm repositories, Argo CD, Flux, Artifact Hub
Embed design (JavaScript)Snapshot of the canvasShowing a design on a web page

Kanvas offers at least one of the first four. Which ones appear can depend on the capabilities of your Layer5 Cloud account. Per-format options and size limits are not exposed. To capture the canvas as a PNG picture, use Take Screenshot instead. See Canvas Actions.

A complete copy of the design, including layout, annotations, component grouping, and configuration. The download is named <design name>.yml. Kanvas can import it back without loss.

The same lossless content packaged as an OCI image archive. Push it with a registry tool such as docker push or oras push to version and distribute designs alongside application artifacts. Kanvas imports the archive back, taking the design file in its layers. See Import and Merge Designs.

A design can be exported as the kind of source it was built from. Both formats are lossy: layout, annotations, and comments are dropped because neither format can carry them. To keep a design fully editable, export the design file instead.

Docker Compose is an import source only. A design cannot be exported to Compose.

Plain Kubernetes resource definitions, ready for kubectl apply.

A .tar.gz chart archive that contains the Kubernetes resource definitions. Install it with helm install <release> <chart>.tgz or place it in a Helm repository.

Re-importing a manifest or chart restores the resources, but not the layout, so the graph does not reappear as you drew it.

The Embed Design option downloads a JavaScript module and shows a two-line snippet to paste into an HTML page. The embed is a static snapshot, not a live view. See Embed Designs.

  • Exporting needs no sign-in for a public or published design. Anonymous callers can download the design file of any public or published design, not just their own. A private design is downloadable by its owner, a provider administrator, a user the design is shared with, or a user holding the View Designs permission.
  • Each download of the design file writes an audit event and raises the design’s download count. Anonymous downloads record as “Anonymous viewer downloaded”.
  • No plan tier gates export, and exporting your own design needs no permission key. Layer5 Cloud’s catalog table shows its Download action to roles with the Download a Design permission.
  • The browser either prompts for a save location or saves to your downloads folder. Success shows <name> design downloaded. Failure shows “Failed to download design”.

A design has a single current version, and the save history is an event log, not a set of snapshots. To keep a restorable point, export a design file or an OCI image at that moment and store it. For an OCI image, push it to a registry under a tag.

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Last modified October 15, 2026: docs(kanvas): design-lifecycle - point canvas screenshot readers to Canvas Actions (3cfff25f082)