| name | paved-road-registry |
| description | Discovers and records repo-local approved build paths so agents reuse proven patterns instead of inventing parallel architectures. |
| contract_version | 1.0.0 |
| side_effect_profile | read_only |
| activation | {"mode":"core","consumes_manifest":true,"produces":["paved_road_candidates","paved_road_refs","paved_road_gaps"]} |
Paved Road Registry
Purpose
AI-generated code scales when agents build with the repo's proven patterns. This skill discovers those patterns, names where they apply, and records when no paved road exists.
Use this skill to keep monoliths and large codebases consistent as agent throughput increases. It complements reuse-analysis: reuse analysis finds concrete things not to reimplement; paved-road registry captures the broader build contract agents should follow.
The structural pattern registry lives at skills/paved-road-registry/patterns.json and is schema-validated by docs/schemas/paved-road-pattern-registry.schema.json. Use bin/adlc paved-road-patterns --json to list approved patterns, and bin/adlc paved-road-patterns --pattern-id <id> --json to inspect one pattern with its merged exemplar repo/path/commit and real file structure.
Inputs
- PRD or task description
- Graphify evidence and construct-map output when available
- Repo map or codebase research deliverable
- Existing architecture docs, ADRs, manifests, schemas, fixtures, tests, and reference implementations
Discovery Process
- Read Graphify evidence before broad raw-source search when available.
- Identify the capability being built: API, CLI, schema, auth, storage, UI, background job, deployment, test, or integration.
- Find existing examples and conventions for that capability.
- Verify candidates against source files, schemas, tests, docs, or command output.
- Record whether each candidate is
approved, preferred, deprecated, or no_paved_road_found.
- Record when a new abstraction is justified and what would make it a future paved road.
- When an active surface needs
implementation_interface_contract, map the paved road into the contract's reuse, integration points, invariants, and validation gates.
Registry Record
Discovery records may describe any paved road. Structural pattern records are stored in patterns.json so the runtime can generate module_plan from an approved pattern.
{
"id": "string",
"capability": "string",
"status": "approved | preferred | deprecated | no_paved_road_found",
"reference_impl": "path:line | path | null",
"applies_when": ["string"],
"do_not_reimplement": ["string"],
"required_invariants": ["string"],
"verifiers": ["path | command | schema | fixture"],
"allowed_departure": "string",
"evidence": ["path:line | command output | graph query"]
}
Structural Pattern Registry
The first approved pattern is interralis:evidence-module, backed by Interralis PR #225 at commit acad66428a1b5c872a5796cb779787f7d39403a3. Its exemplar path is github.com/interralis/interralis:src/observability/ingestion/harness_sources, with the architecture test at tests/integration/harness_metadata_architecture.rs.
When a task cites pattern:interralis:evidence-module or skill:paved-road-registry#interralis:evidence-module in paved_road_refs, bin/adlc module-plan-check can generate the required module_plan from the pattern. Include ?module_root=path/to/module on the ref, or list pattern-shaped files in files_to_create, so the runtime can fill the template paths. A task that intentionally departs from the matched pattern must include module_plan.pattern_deviation_reason.
Registering a new structural pattern after human approval is cheap:
- Add one object to
skills/paved-road-registry/patterns.json with a stable ID, merged exemplar repo/path/commit, exemplar structure, module_plan_template, and allowed_departure.
- Run
bin/adlc validate-artifact --schema paved-road-pattern-registry --input skills/paved-road-registry/patterns.json --json.
- Run
bin/adlc paved-road-patterns --pattern-id <id> --json.
- Update this skill only if the pattern needs non-obvious matching or departure guidance.
Output Contract
{
"paved_road_candidates": [
{
"id": "string",
"capability": "string",
"status": "approved | preferred | deprecated | no_paved_road_found",
"reference_impl": "string | null",
"applies_when": [],
"do_not_reimplement": [],
"required_invariants": [],
"verifiers": [],
"allowed_departure": "string",
"evidence": []
}
],
"paved_road_gaps": [
{
"capability": "string",
"gap": "string",
"risk": "string",
"evidence": []
}
],
"recommended_task_refs": [
{
"task_id": "string",
"paved_road_refs": [],
"matched_structural_pattern": "pattern id | null",
"generated_module_plan": {},
"implementation_interface_contract": {},
"departure_requires_review": true
}
]
}
Guardrails
- Do not invent a paved road from preference or generic best practice.
- Do not block justified new abstractions when existing patterns cannot safely absorb the change.
- Do not recommend broad rewrites. Prefer the smallest extension of an existing pattern.
- Mark weak evidence as a gap or open question, not a rule.
- For docs, lint-only, and build-validation work, report
not_applicable when no code path or build pattern changes.
Quality Gates
- Every paved-road candidate cites at least one evidence source.
- Every
no_paved_road_found result explains the search path and closest convention.
- Every recommended departure names the invariant or verifier that protects the new path.
- Every implementation-interface recommendation names the existing paved-road surface, the integration point it protects, and the validation gate that proves it.
- Deprecated patterns must include the replacement path or state that replacement is unknown.
- Every structural pattern cites a merged exemplar commit and architecture test.
- Every matched structural-pattern departure carries
pattern_deviation_reason.
Removal Criteria
Remove this discovery skill when models consistently infer repo-local build paths and reuse them without explicit guidance. Keep a smaller verification gate that detects duplicated or inconsistent patterns.
