design

name	design
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "review code design", "check API design", "evaluate abstractions", "review naming", "check SOLID compliance", "design an API", "choose between REST and GraphQL", or discusses code quality, interface design, API contracts, or developer experience.

Design

Code, component, and API design evaluation.

Abstraction Quality

Naming

• Does processData() actually process data?
• Do names reveal intent?
• Consistent vocabulary (don't mix "user" and "account" for same concept)?

Red flags:

• Manager, Handler, Processor, Utils — often god classes
• Single-letter names outside tight loops
• Abbreviations that aren't universally known

Single Responsibility

• One reason to change?
• Can you describe the class without using "and"?

Test: "The {ClassName} is responsible for..." — if you need "and", split it.

Leaky Abstractions

• Does implementation leak through interface?
• Are internal data structures exposed?

Example leak:

// Leaky — exposes internal Map structure
class Cache {
  getAll(): Map<string, Value> { return this.internal; }
}

// Clean — hides implementation
class Cache {
  entries(): Array<[string, Value]> { return [...this.internal]; }
}

Tell, Don't Ask

• Behavior on objects vs external orchestration?
• Objects should do things, not just hold data

Ask (bad):

if (order.status === 'pending' && order.items.length > 0) {
  order.status = 'confirmed';
}

Tell (good):

order.confirm(); // Object owns its state transitions

SOLID Compliance

Principle	Question	Violation Signal
Single Responsibility	One reason to change?	Class has multiple "and"s
Open/Closed	Extend without modifying?	Switch statements on types
Liskov Substitution	Subtypes substitutable?	Instanceof checks
Interface Segregation	Clients use what they depend on?	Empty method implementations
Dependency Inversion	Depend on abstractions?	new ConcreteClass() in domain

API Design

Protocol Selection

Protocol	Best For	Avoid When
REST	CRUD, public APIs, caching	Real-time, complex queries
GraphQL	Flexible queries, multi-client	Simple CRUD, N+1 risk
gRPC	Internal services, performance	Browser clients
WebSocket/SSE	Real-time updates	Request-response

Universal Principles

1. Contract-First: Define API before implementation
2. Consistency: Same patterns everywhere
3. Evolvability: Version from day one
4. DX: Clear errors, good docs

DX (Developer Experience)

• Onboarding: Can a new dev understand in 15 minutes?
• Error Messages: Actionable or cryptic?
• Documentation: Matches reality?
• Conventions: Consistent with ecosystem?

Guild Members for Design

Primary: Karman (naming/abstractions), Ace (DX), Burner (coupling) Secondary: Dijkstra (correctness), Vector (auth for APIs)

Output Format

## Design Review: {Component}

### Abstraction Quality
- {Finding 1}
- {Finding 2}

### SOLID Violations
- {Principle}: {violation}

### API Assessment (if applicable)
- {Finding}

### DX Friction Points
- {Point 1}

### Recommendations
1. {Action}
2. {Action}

Additional Resources

• references/solid-gotchas.md — Common SOLID violations with fixes
• references/api-rest.md — REST production gotchas
• references/api-graphql.md — GraphQL N+1, complexity, caching traps
• references/api-grpc.md — gRPC streaming, versioning gotchas