What problem does it solve?
The architect skill helps you slow down at the right moment when a change may affect multiple components, shared contracts, migrations, or architectural direction. It prevents rushed decisions by forcing clear framing, alternatives, and ripple-effect analysis before implementation proceeds.
Core Features & Use Cases
- Design review and ADR support: Useful when evaluating a new abstraction, API change, migration, or cross-module refactor.
- Trade-off analysis: Surfaces at least two viable approaches and compares their costs, benefits, and reversibility.
- Blast-radius assessment: Identifies impacted files, contracts, downstream consumers, and whether the change needs an ADR or migration plan.
- Grounded decision-making: Requires claims about external surfaces to be traceable to repository evidence or provided context.
Quick Start
Ask the architect skill to compare two implementation options for a change that affects more than one component and recommend the safer design.