<p>We give a local treatment of finite alignment by identifying the finitely aligned part of any (not necessarily finitely aligned) higher-rank graph. We show the finitely aligned part is itself a constellation and forms a finitely aligned relative category of paths together with the original higher-rank graph. We show that the elements of the finitely aligned part are precisely those whose cylinder sets are compact, which allows us to give novel definitions of locally compact path and boundary-path spaces for nonfinitely aligned higher-rank graphs. We extend a semigroup action and the associated semidirect product groupoid developed by Renault and Williams to define ample Hausdorff path and boundary-path groupoids. The groupoids are amenable for nonfinitely aligned <i>k</i>-graphs by a result of Renault and Williams. In the finitely aligned case, the path groupoids coincide with Spielberg’s groupoids, and the boundary-path groupoid has an inverse semigroup model via a result of Ortega and Pardo.</p>