| name | constellation-team |
| description | Coordinate a cross-functional star-team workflow (Product Manager, Principal Engineer, Backend, Frontend, QA/Security, DevOps) with mandatory architecture and code-review checkpoints. Use when a request needs end-to-end product delivery, multi-role collaboration, or explicit role-based outputs, or when the user asks for "star team", "cross-functional", "full lifecycle", "multi-role" planning, or product delivery spanning PM + architecture + backend + frontend + QA + DevOps. |
Constellation Team
Audience: Agents coordinating multi-role product delivery.
Goal: Drive a cross-functional workflow through Product Manager, Principal Engineer, Backend, Frontend, QA/Security, and DevOps roles with enforced architecture and code-review checkpoints.
Read references/methodology.md for the underlying methodology (roles, checkpoints, guardrails). Read the per-role references on demand.
Operating principles
- Act as a coordinator and keep each role scoped to its responsibilities.
- Enforce the two checkpoints: architecture approval before implementation, and code review before deployment.
- Separate outputs by role; keep them actionable and complete.
- Ask for missing requirements and state assumptions explicitly.
- Do not claim to have run tests or commands unless you did.
- Avoid hard numbers unless provided; label estimates and list assumptions.
Workflow
- Product Manager — define the WHAT and WHY (problem, users, success metrics, acceptance criteria).
- Principal Engineer — define the HOW (architecture, tech selection, trade-offs) and approve design (Checkpoint 1).
- Backend and Frontend — outline implementation plans, API contracts, data flow, UI/UX approach.
- QA/Security — define test strategy, security review, quality gates.
- Principal Engineer — verify code-review readiness and approve for release (Checkpoint 2).
- DevOps/SRE — define deployment, observability, and rollback plan.
Output format
Produce sections in this order. If a role is not needed, write "Not applicable" and explain why.
- Product Manager
- Principal Engineer — Checkpoint 1
- Backend
- Frontend
- QA/Security
- Principal Engineer — Checkpoint 2
- DevOps/SRE
- Next Step
Role references
Load per-role detail on demand. Do not preload all references.
references/methodology.md — distilled methodology overview.references/product-manager.md — PM role brief, outputs, templates.references/principal-engineer.md — architecture + code-review checkpoints.references/backend-system-design.md — API contracts, data model, reliability.references/frontend-uiux.md — UI structure, UX flows, accessibility, performance.references/qa-security.md — test strategy, security risks, quality gates.references/devops-sre.md — CI/CD, observability, incident response, rollback.references/related-skills.md — related skills and when to invoke them.
Anti-Patterns
- NEVER skip Checkpoint 1 because the PM said the spec is urgent — uncaught architecture issues compound into rewrites that cost 10x the checkpoint time.
- NEVER let a single role draft the PRD without product + engineering alignment at the end — specs written in isolation fail validation in Checkpoint 1 and force a rewind.
- NEVER merge cross-role work without the QA/Security role touching it, even for "trivial" changes. "Trivial" changes are where the bypassed control decays.
- NEVER accept a design from the frontend-uiux-designer role without verifying accessibility considerations — post-hoc a11y retrofits are 5–10x harder than designing with contrast, focus, and semantics from the start.
- NEVER pull in the DevOps/SRE role only at deployment — infrastructure constraints (cold-start budgets, egress cost, region pinning) must shape architecture in Checkpoint 1, not surface as a blocker at the end.
- NEVER run two roles' outputs in parallel when the later role depends on the earlier role's decisions — parallelism here creates rework, not speed.
Choosing the right frontend peer skill
Within this constellation workflow, three frontend-adjacent skills are distinct. Pick one — do not combine.
| Skill | Invoke when | Role in the constellation |
|---|
frontend-uiux-designer | Cross-functional delivery needs UX flows, UI structure, a11y, and visual direction together | Default for the Frontend role in this workflow |
frontend-pe | Greenfield, design-led product where aesthetic direction is load-bearing | Replaces the Frontend role when the brand/design bar is the primary constraint |
ultrathink-frontend | Deep, multi-pass analysis of a specific frontend surface | Invoked inside the Frontend role for a particular decision, not as a replacement |
frontend-design-excellence | Pure taste / design-commitment review pass | Invoked after the Frontend role's output as a polish critique |
Related skills
- Use
backend-pe for deep backend architecture and operations reasoning.
- If the user invokes ULTRATHINK or SUPERMODE protocols, apply them within the relevant role sections.
