IPAM Hierarchy Rules

InfraLynx renders IPAM as a strict prefix tree grouped by VRF.

Required Rules

• every child prefix must reference an explicit parent prefix ID
• parent and child prefixes must remain in the same VRF
• child prefixes must always be more specific than their parent
• hierarchy cycles are invalid
• prefixes without a parent are treated as VRF roots

Rendering Implications

• VRFs are the first grouping level
• prefixes are rendered in deterministic specificity order
• utilization is precomputed before the tree is handed to the UI

Why These Rules Exist

The hierarchy view is only useful if nesting is authoritative. The UI must not guess parentage or sort relationships from CIDR strings alone.