c4d-design

name	c4d-design
description	AI-guided design for Cinema 4D features and major changes in Deadline Cloud integration. Use when designing new features, planning major refactors, creating design docs, or making architectural decisions for deadline-cloud-for-cinema-4d. Triggers on requests like "design a feature", "write a design doc", "plan a major change", or "architect a solution".
tags	["skill","deadline-cloud","deadline-cloud-for-cinema-4d","deadline-cloud-for-c4d","design","architecture","feature-design"]

Cinema 4D Design

Overview

AI-guided interactive design process for Cinema 4D features in Deadline Cloud. The agent drives the conversation — researching, proposing options, and prompting the user for decisions at each step. Progress is saved to disk after each section.

Usage

Use this skill when:

• Designing a new major feature for the Cinema 4D integration
• Planning a major refactor or architectural change
• Creating or refining a design document in docs/designs/

Do not use this skill for small bug fixes, minor enhancements, or changes that can be adequately described in a PR description.

Core Concepts

Agent Role

You are the design driver. The user provides goals and makes decisions. You do everything else:

• Research the codebase, AGENTS.md, and references
• Draft each section with concrete proposals
• Present options with pros/cons for every design decision
• Prompt the user to choose, confirm, or redirect
• Challenge your own proposals — surface weaknesses and edge cases before the user asks
• Iterate based on user feedback before moving to the next section

You MUST NOT dump an entire design doc at once. Work through it section by section, getting user sign-off on each before proceeding.

Saving Progress

You MUST write the design doc to docs/designs/<feature-name>.md incrementally — after each section is approved, write it to disk. This ensures:

• Work survives context window limits
• A new session can resume by reading the file
• The user can review progress at any time

On session start, always check docs/designs/ for an existing draft to resume.

Design Flow

The design doc follows a four-section structure. See references/design-doc-structure.md for the full structure and references/design-workflow.md for the step-by-step workflow.

Step 1: Kickoff

Prompt the user:

What would you like to do?
1. Start a new design
2. Refine an existing design (from docs/designs/)

If new design: Ask the user to describe the feature and any known constraints/specs.

If refining: Read the existing doc, ask what needs to change.

Step 2: Research

Before drafting anything, you MUST:

1. Read AGENTS.md at the repo root for high-level architecture
2. Read the relevant area-specific AGENTS.md files for the components you'll touch:
   • src/deadline/cinema4d_submitter/AGENTS.md for submitter work
   • src/deadline/cinema4d_adaptor/AGENTS.md for adaptor/client work
   • test/AGENTS.md for test structure
3. Read docs/software_arch.md for additional architectural context
4. Search the codebase for existing patterns related to the feature
5. Read references/research-guide.md for Cinema 4D API patterns
6. Read any linked docs, tickets, or prior art the user mentions

Summarize findings to the user. Ask if anything is missing.

Step 3: Work through the four design sections

Work through each section with the user, getting sign-off before moving on:

1. Data Structures to Change or Add
2. UX Changes (Submitter Dialog)
3. Job Template and Bundle Changes
4. Adaptor and Client Changes

For each design decision:

1. Research options — read code, check APIs, look at existing patterns
2. Present 2-3 options with pros/cons, self-challenge weaknesses
3. Wait for user decision

Write each approved section to disk.

Step 4: Testing Plan

Define unit tests and, if applicable, integration tests (Windows only).

Step 5: Create the Appendix

Put all full code implementations in a clearly marked appendix at the end of the design document.

Prompting Patterns

At every decision point, you MUST end with a clear question.

You MUST NOT:

• Proceed to the next section without user confirmation
• Make design decisions without presenting options
• Skip research — always check the codebase first

Code Snippet Style Guide

Use concise inline snippets in the main sections and put full implementations in an appendix.

Inline Code Format

Show only the relevant changes with context:

def existing_function():
    ...existing logic...

    # NEW: Add feature X support
    if feature_x_enabled:
        self._configure_feature_x(data)

    ...rest of function...

Guidelines

1. Data structures are the exception: Always show full definitions — they anchor the design
2. Other sections: Show what changes and where, not full implementations
3. Use ... or comments to indicate existing/unchanged code
4. Flag new sections with <!-- REVIEW: description --> comments in the appendix

Quick Reference

Resource	Location
Design doc structure	references/design-doc-structure.md
Step-by-step workflow	references/design-workflow.md
Cinema 4D API research	references/research-guide.md
Architecture guide	references/deadline-cloud-architecture.md
External references	references/external-references.md
Output directory	docs/designs/
Repo architecture	AGENTS.md (repo root)