| name | plan-eng-review |
| description | Engineering Manager review of any feature plan. Architecture diagrams, data flow, state machines, edge cases, test matrix. Forces hidden assumptions into the open. |
| used_by | ["workflow-architect","backend-dev"] |
Engineering Plan Review Skill
After CEO approves a plan, the engineering lead runs this review before any code is written.
Review Sections
1. Architecture Diagram (ASCII)
Draw the data flow for this feature:
[User Action] → [Frontend Component] → [API Call] → [Backend Route] → [Database Table]
↓
[Response] ← [Business Logic] ← [Result]
Include: which existing components are touched, which are new.
2. State Machine (if feature has states)
[Initial] --action--> [State A] --action--> [State B]
|
+--error--> [Error State]
Reference docs/STATE_MACHINES.md for existing state machines. Flag conflicts.
3. Data Model Impact
- New database tables needed? → flag Tier 3 gate
- Existing tables modified? → flag migration needed
- New API endpoints? → list with method, path, request/response types
- Existing endpoints modified? → list changes
4. Edge Cases (enumerate at least 5)
| # | Edge Case | What happens | Handled? |
|---|
| 1 | User has no profile yet | | |
| 2 | Concurrent requests | | |
| 3 | Network timeout mid-operation | | |
| 4 | Invalid/expired auth token | | |
| 5 | Feature-specific edge case | | |
5. Test Matrix
| Test Type | What to test | Owner |
|---|
| Unit | Component renders, service logic | frontend-dev / backend-dev |
| Integration | API endpoint contract | backend-dev |
| Browser | User flow end-to-end | qa-engineer (qa-browser skill) |
| Security | Auth, input sanitisation | security-auditor |
6. Failure Modes
What happens when each dependency fails?
- Database down → ?
- Storage service down → ?
- External API timeout → ?
- Auth service unavailable → ?
7. Verdict
ENG APPROVED / ENG NEEDS REVISION — [specific items]
Output
Write to docs/plan-reviews/[feature]-eng-review-[date].md
Post to Slack STRATEGY: "ENG REVIEW: [feature] — [APPROVED/NEEDS REVISION]"
Hand off to build team for implementation via handoff envelope.
