api-and-system-design

What problem does it solve?

This Skill prevents brittle API and system designs by enforcing production-grade conventions for HTTP semantics, security, validation, pagination, versioning, and failure handling.

Core Features & Use Cases

• REST API design: Builds noun-based endpoints with correct methods, status codes, pagination, and OpenAPI coverage from day one.
• Distributed systems discipline: Adds idempotency, retries with backoff, circuit breakers, timeouts, tracing, and dead-letter handling for resilient services.
• Database and event design: Promotes explicit indexes, foreign keys, reversible migrations, versioned event schemas, and idempotent consumers.
• Use Case: A team designing a new orders service can use this Skill to define secure endpoints, choose the right storage patterns, and avoid scale-related failures before implementation begins.

Quick Start

Ask the assistant to design or review your API, database, or microservice architecture using principal-engineer standards.