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Start here to settle how a non-trivial change will be built — interfaces, contracts, file-level structure, and trade-offs.
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Based on SOC occupation classification
| name | design |
| description | Start here to settle how a non-trivial change will be built — interfaces, contracts, file-level structure, and trade-offs. |
| context | fork |
| agent | architect |
Make the work precise. Design the interfaces and contracts, name the exact files and signatures, and define the architecture and its trade-offs. Specify how each unit of work will be verified.
Favor stable interfaces and the simplest design that meets the requirements. Don't over-build — every element of the design must trace to a requirement.
Design for high cohesion (each module does one thing) and low coupling (modules depend on each other's interfaces, never their internals). Apply information hiding — put each likely-to-change decision behind an interface — so change stays local. Stable interfaces over clever internals; the simplest design that satisfies the requirements wins. Definitions: ../../GLOSSARY.md.
For system-wide structure — not just one module — make the architecture explicit:
documentation-and-adrs).Guides stable API and interface design. Use when designing APIs, module boundaries, or any public interface. Use when creating REST or GraphQL endpoints, defining type contracts between modules, or establishing boundaries between frontend and backend.
Guides systematic root-cause debugging. Use when tests fail, builds break, behavior doesn't match expectations, or you encounter any unexpected error. Use when you need a systematic approach to finding and fixing the root cause rather than guessing.
Start here to ship built-and-tested code to its target safely — release steps, rollout, smoke checks, and rollback.
Records decisions and documentation. Use when making architectural decisions, changing public APIs, shipping features, or when you need to record context that future engineers and agents will need to understand the codebase.
Start here to document what shipped — READMEs, API docs, ADRs, and usage — once a feature lands or an interface changes.
Start here to scout an unfamiliar problem space — research existing solutions, patterns, anti-patterns, constraints, and technical feasibility before committing to an approach.