diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_view.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_view.md
index f863549fa..f67fe5160 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_view.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/json_view.md
@@ -243,7 +243,8 @@ elements are not touched, but an iterator that was walking the old layout no lon
 [`get_string()`](../api/basic_json_view/get_string.md) is unaffected either way and stays valid across further
 edits. See [`basic_json_document`'s Edits](../api/basic_json_document/index.md#edits) for the details, and
 [`set`'s Exception safety](../api/basic_json_document/set.md#exception-safety) for what an edit guarantees if it
-throws (the *basic* guarantee, not the strong one `dump()` and the read-only functions provide).
+throws (the *basic* guarantee, not the strong one `dump()` and the read-only functions provide). How edits are kept in
+the index is described in the [architecture overview](../home/architecture.md#node-index-of-json-views).
 
 ## Choosing between `json`, `ordered_json`, the SAX interface, and `json_view`
 
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/architecture.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/architecture.md
index df1f0e06d..3329998f5 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/architecture.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/architecture.md
@@ -194,8 +194,8 @@ packet-beta
 
 | Bytes | Field   | Type       | Contents                                                                                                                      |
 |-------|---------|------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
-| 0     | `kind`  | `uint8_t`  | the type, numbered as [`value_t`](../api/basic_json/value_t.md): 0 null, 1 object, 2 array, 3 string, 4 boolean, 5 signed integer, 6 unsigned integer, 7 float |
-| 1     | `flags` | `uint8_t`  | bits 0-1: where a string's bytes are (0: the source text, 1: the buffer of decoded strings, for strings with escapes); bit 2: the value of a boolean |
+| 0     | `kind`  | `uint8_t`  | the type, numbered as [`value_t`](../api/basic_json/value_t.md): 0 null, 1 object, 2 array, 3 string, 4 boolean, 5 signed integer, 6 unsigned integer, 7 float; 10 for a link (see below) |
+| 1     | `flags` | `uint8_t`  | bits 0-1: where a string's bytes (or a number's token) are (0: the source text, 1: the buffer of decoded strings, for strings with escapes, 2: the edit buffer); bit 2: the value of a boolean; bits 3 and 4: moved and new (see below) |
 | 2-3   | `extra` | `uint16_t` | numbers: the number of integer digits (low byte) and fraction digits (high byte), 255 for more; objects: the number of their hash index (1-based), or 0; otherwise 0 |
 | 4-7   | `off`   | `uint32_t` | where the value starts: the first byte after a string's opening quote (or its position in the buffer of decoded strings), the first byte of a number or literal, the bracket of an array or object |
 | 8-11  | `len`   | `uint32_t` | strings: the length after decoding; floats and literals: the length of the token; arrays and objects: the number of elements |
@@ -244,6 +244,21 @@ flowchart LR
 All `flags` are 0. The integer's bytes 8-15 hold its value, 1; its `extra` says it has one digit. The float's `extra`
 says it has one integer and one fraction digit, and its `len` is that of the token `2.5`.
 
+Editable documents ([`json_editable_document`](../api/json_editable_document.md),
+[`detail/view/edit.hpp`](https://github.com/nlohmann/json/blob/develop/include/nlohmann/detail/view/edit.hpp) and
+[`detail/view/edit_storage.hpp`](https://github.com/nlohmann/json/blob/develop/include/nlohmann/detail/view/edit_storage.hpp))
+never write the source text and never move or resize the parsed index, so views stay valid while the document is
+edited:
+
+- A new scalar is written over its node. Its text (a string, or the token of a number as `dump()` writes it) goes to
+  the edit buffer, which `flags` bits 0-1 then name.
+- An array or object whose elements change gets the flag *moved* (bit 3): its elements then live in a separate
+  sequence (a header node, then the entries), whose number is in `off`. The entries are links (`kind` 10), whose bytes
+  8-15 hold the address of the value's node, so values never move.
+- A node written by an edit gets the flag *new* (bit 4): it has no position in the source text.
+- Views of read-only documents compile without any of this: how views walk the index is a template parameter
+  (`navigation<Editable>`).
+
 ## Input adapters
 
 Input is read via **input adapters** that abstract a source. Every input adapter provides this interface: