Spine

What’s included

• Four-layer Arcadia modeling: operational, system, logical and physical architecture. Your own AI assistant proposes changes; deterministic validation checks each change against the method’s rules.
• A built-in electric power steering example opens as your own editable copy, with no AI connected. Illustrative example, not a safety case.
• ReqIF requirements import and registration of PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx) and PowerPoint (.pptx) documents for your assistant.
• Start something new from a Seed. For a new feature or component, fill in a Feature Seed or Component Seed: a short structured form that says what it must do, how it is used, what could go wrong and who is responsible. Download both from the Spine page. Your AI proposes all four layers from it, through the gate.
• See what the model still lacks. Spine reports which of thirteen design categories, from interfaces and diagnostics to safety and cybersecurity, a model has nothing for yet. A category you mark as not applicable is still listed as missing in this release.
• Architecture diagrams, an Architecture Document that can be saved as a PDF, recorded change history, traceability and review.
• A regulatory catalogue with unverified, AI-generated summaries. Check every summary against the published regulation; do not cite the summary as authoritative text.
• Design-description exports and results import for a separate DFMEA service run by BIG Intelligence.
• License acceptance on first run, with renewed acceptance when the license changes materially.
• On macOS, clearer update progress and help moving Spine into Applications, where it needs to live to update.

System requirements

• Windows: 64-bit Windows 10, version 1607 or later. Get Spine-MBSE from the Microsoft Store. Installation and updates are handled by the Store.
• Mac: Apple silicon (M1 or newer), macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later. No Intel build. Download the disk image from the latest public release, open the .dmg and drag Spine into Applications.
• Spine is not available in the EU/EEA.

Your assistant and your data

Spine does not include an AI assistant or provide an AI-provider key. Connect your own MCP-capable assistant using your own account. Claude Code has been tested on macOS and Windows; other assistants are not verified.

Evaluate on your own designs on your own machine. Never send us proprietary or confidential material. Review your assistant provider’s terms before giving it access to your work. See the Privacy notice for update checks and data handling.

Known limitations

• Single-engineer desktop use: no shared model, single sign-on or central storage in the download.
• Review and release are not yet tied to a verified person’s name.
• Capella import is not supported.
• Older .doc, .xls and .ppt formats are not supported.
• Spine is not certified under a functional-safety standard and is not a means of compliance. The engineer retains design authority.

Evaluation and service boundaries

Commercial and production use require a separate written agreement. Free DFMEA evaluation is for one public or generic design per person, subject to review and acceptance. Request a public-design evaluation by email. Proprietary DFMEA work requires a commercial agreement before any material is shared.

Do not submit confidential, proprietary, trade-secret, personal, classified or export-controlled information for evaluation. Third-party and open-source components retain their own licenses, listed in the notices shipped with Spine.

Spine Evaluation License · Privacy notice · DFMEA service

Security issues: security@bigintelligenceai.com

The electric power steering example is licensed CC BY 4.0. Built by BIG Intelligence from NHTSA, Functional Safety Assessment of a Generic Electric Power Steering System, DOT HS 812 575 (2018), a US government public-domain report. Its requirements are illustrative and not NHTSA’s official position.