architecture-documenter

name	architecture-documenter
description	Build and maintain a living architecture document tracking scene trees, data structures, system hierarchies, and game architecture. Use this when visualizing game structure, documenting scene hierarchies, or tracking data schemas.
domain	architecture
type	documenter
version	1.1.0
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Edit","Glob","Grep","Bash"]

Architecture Documenter Skill

This skill creates and maintains a comprehensive Architecture Document that visualizes scene trees, tracks data structures, maps system hierarchies, and provides a structural overview of the entire game.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when the user:

• Says "document the architecture" or "map out the game structure"
• Asks "show me the scene tree" or "what's the scene hierarchy?"
• Wants to track data structures: "what data does the game use?"
• Says "update architecture doc" or "add [system] to architecture"
• Needs to understand node relationships
• Asks "how is [scene/system] structured?"
• Wants a visual overview of the game
• Says "create architecture document"

---

IMPORTANT: Use Mermaid Diagrams

All visual diagrams MUST use Mermaid syntax, not ASCII art.

Mermaid diagrams:

• Render beautifully in GitHub, VS Code, Obsidian, and most markdown viewers
• Are easier to maintain and update
• Support colors, styling, and interactivity
• Are more readable than ASCII art

---

Architecture Document vs Systems Bible

Aspect	Architecture Document	Systems Bible
Focus	Structure & hierarchy	Implementation details
Content	Scene trees, data schemas, Mermaid diagrams	Code, APIs, methods
Format	Visual (Mermaid diagrams, tables)	Prose with code snippets
Purpose	"What exists and how it's organized"	"How things work"
Updates	When structure changes	When implementation changes

---

Mermaid Diagram Types to Use

1. Flowcharts (graph TB/LR) - For Hierarchies & Scene Trees

graph TB
    Parent["Parent Node (Type)"]
    Child1["Child 1 (Type)"]
    Child2["Child 2 (Type)"]

    Parent --> Child1
    Parent --> Child2

    style Parent fill:#4a6741,stroke:#3d5636,color:#fff

Use for:

• Scene tree hierarchies
• Class inheritance diagrams
• File structure visualization
• Data flow diagrams
• Dependency graphs

2. Flowcharts (graph LR) - For Sequences & Loops

graph LR
    A[Step 1] --> B[Step 2]
    B --> C[Step 3]
    C --> A

    style A fill:#4a6741,stroke:#3d5636,color:#fff

Use for:

• Game loops
• State machines
• Signal flows
• Process sequences

3. Subgraphs - For Grouping Related Items

graph TB
    subgraph Managers["Autoload Managers"]
        GM[GameManager]
        TM[TurnManager]
    end

    subgraph Scenes["Game Scenes"]
        Combat[Combat]
        Camp[Camp]
    end

    Managers --> Scenes

Use for:

• Grouping related systems
• Showing layers/categories
• Organizing complex hierarchies

4. Gantt Charts - For Progress/Status

gantt
    title Implementation Progress
    dateFormat X
    axisFormat %s

    section Completed
    Feature 1    :done, 0, 1
    Feature 2    :done, 0, 1

    section In Progress
    Feature 3    :active, 0, 1

    section Pending
    Feature 4    :0, 1

Use for:

• Implementation status
• Phase progress
• Feature completion tracking

---

Mermaid Styling Guidelines

Color Palette

Use consistent colors across all diagrams:

# Status Colors
Completed/Implemented:  fill:#48bb78,stroke:#38a169,color:#fff  (green)
In Progress:            fill:#d69e2e,stroke:#b7791f,color:#fff  (yellow/orange)
Planned/Pending:        fill:#a0aec0,stroke:#718096,color:#fff  (gray)

# Entity Type Colors
Player/Party:           fill:#3182ce,stroke:#2c5282,color:#fff  (blue)
Enemies:                fill:#e53e3e,stroke:#c53030,color:#fff  (red)
Soldiers/Allies:        fill:#38a169,stroke:#2f855a,color:#fff  (green)
Neutral/Base:           fill:#4a5568,stroke:#2d3748,color:#fff  (gray)

# Data Type Colors
Resources (.tres):      fill:#805ad5,stroke:#6b46c1,color:#fff  (purple)
JSON files:             fill:#d69e2e,stroke:#b7791f,color:#fff  (orange)
Scenes (.tscn):         fill:#3182ce,stroke:#2c5282,color:#fff  (blue)

# System Colors
Managers/Autoloads:     fill:#1a365d,stroke:#2c5282,color:#fff  (dark blue)

Node Naming Convention

graph TB
    Node["Display Name (NodeType)<br/>Additional info"]

• Use descriptive display names
• Include node type in parentheses
• Use <br/> for line breaks within nodes
• Keep node IDs short for readability

---

Architecture Document Structure

# [GAME TITLE] - Architecture Document

**Version:** [X.Y.Z]
**Engine:** Godot [Version]
**Last Updated:** [Date]
**Phase:** [Current Phase]

---

## TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. [High-Level Architecture](#high-level-architecture)
2. [Main Scene Tree](#main-scene-tree)
3. [System Scene Trees](#system-scene-trees)
4. [Data Architecture](#data-architecture)
5. [Resource Definitions](#resource-definitions)
6. [Signal Map](#signal-map)
7. [Group Registry](#group-registry)
8. [Autoload Registry](#autoload-registry)
9. [Collision Layers](#collision-layers)
10. [File Structure](#file-structure)
11. [Implementation Status](#implementation-status)

---

## HIGH-LEVEL ARCHITECTURE

### Game Structure Overview

```mermaid
graph TB
    subgraph Game["GAME TITLE"]
        subgraph Autoloads["Autoloads"]
            GM[GameManager]
            ...
        end

        subgraph Scenes["Scenes"]
            Main[Main Scene]
            ...
        end
    end

    Autoloads --> Scenes

Core Game Loop

graph LR
    A[Phase 1] --> B[Phase 2]
    B --> C[Phase 3]
    C --> A

...

---

## Workflow

### Creating New Architecture Document

1. **Scan the project structure:**

• Glob for all .tscn files (scene trees)
• Glob for all .tres files (resources)
• Glob for all .gd files (scripts, esp. autoloads)
• Check project.godot for autoloads

2. **Build scene tree documentation:**
- Read main scene file
- Parse node hierarchy
- Document node types, scripts, groups
- **Generate Mermaid graph TB diagrams for each scene**

3. **Catalog data structures:**
- Find all Resource class definitions
- Document exported properties
- Map resource file locations
- **Generate Mermaid diagrams showing data relationships**

4. **Map relationships:**
- Signal connections
- Group memberships
- Collision layers
- Autoload dependencies
- **Use Mermaid flowcharts to show dependencies**

5. **Generate Mermaid diagrams for:**
- High-level architecture overview
- Scene trees (using graph TB)
- Data flow (using graph LR)
- Dependencies (using subgraphs)
- Implementation status (using gantt)

6. **Save to `docs/architecture.md`**

---

### Updating Architecture Document

When the user says "update architecture":

1. **Read current architecture.md**

2. **Ask what changed:**
- New scene added?
- Scene restructured?
- New data type?
- New autoload?
- Collision layers changed?

3. **Scan for changes:**
- Compare file structure
- Read modified scenes
- Check for new resources

4. **Update appropriate sections:**
- Add new scene trees as Mermaid diagrams
- Update data schemas
- Refresh dependency diagrams
- Update file structure

5. **Add changelog entry**

---

## Mermaid Scene Tree Template

For each scene, use this template:

```mermaid
graph TB
 Root["SceneName (RootType)<br/>Script: script_name.gd"]
 Child1["ChildName (Type)"]
 Child2["ChildName (Type)"]
 GrandChild["GrandChild (Type)"]

 Root --> Child1
 Root --> Child2
 Child1 --> GrandChild

 style Root fill:#4a5568,stroke:#2d3748,color:#fff

Scene Tree Conventions

• Root node gets darker styling
• Implemented nodes get green styling
• Planned nodes get gray styling
• Include script name if attached
• Include groups if assigned

---

Mermaid Dependency Graph Template

For autoloads and system dependencies:

graph TB
    A[System A<br/>Description]
    B[System B<br/>Description]
    C[System C<br/>Description]

    B -->|depends on| A
    C -->|depends on| A
    C -->|depends on| B

    style A fill:#1a365d,stroke:#2c5282,color:#fff
    style B fill:#2c5282,stroke:#3182ce,color:#fff
    style C fill:#3182ce,stroke:#4299e1,color:#fff

---

Reading .tscn Files

To extract scene tree structure for Mermaid conversion:

# .tscn files are text-based
# Key patterns to look for:

[node name="NodeName" type="NodeType" parent="."]
[node name="Child" type="Type" parent="NodeName"]
[node name="GrandChild" type="Type" parent="NodeName/Child"]

# Extract hierarchy from parent paths
# "." means root
# "NodeName" means direct child of that node
# "NodeName/Child" means nested path

Convert to Mermaid:

1. Create node for each [node] entry
2. Use parent to determine connections
3. Add styling based on node type/status

---

Data Schema Extraction

When documenting Resource classes:

1. Find class definition:

   class_name WeaponData
   extends Resource
   

2. Extract all @export variables:

   @export var damage: int
   @export var fire_rate: float
   

3. Document in table format (tables render well alongside Mermaid)

4. Show relationships between resources using Mermaid:

graph TB
    subgraph Resources["Resource Types"]
        WD[WeaponData]
        ED[EnemyData]
        AD[AbilityData]
    end

    WD -->|"references"| AD

---

Example Invocations

User: "Create architecture document" User: "Document the scene tree for player.tscn" User: "Update architecture - I added a new enemy type" User: "Show me all data types in the game" User: "What's the collision layer setup?" User: "Map out the autoload dependencies" User: "Document the signal architecture"

---

Output Location

Primary file: docs/architecture.md

Alternative locations:

• docs/game-architecture.md
• docs/technical/architecture.md

Always check if file exists before creating. If exists, update rather than overwrite.

---

Quality Checklist

Before finalizing:

• All major scenes have Mermaid tree diagrams
• Mermaid diagrams use consistent color styling
• Data schemas include all @export properties
• Dependency graphs show all autoload relationships
• Groups are all documented with purpose
• Autoloads match project.godot
• File structure reflects actual project
• Implementation status uses gantt or progress diagram
• Changelog entry added

---

Integration with Other Skills

With systems-bible-updater

• Architecture doc shows STRUCTURE (Mermaid diagrams)
• Systems bible shows IMPLEMENTATION (code snippets)
• Cross-reference between them

With scene-optimizer

• Architecture doc shows current structure
• Optimizer suggests improvements
• Update architecture after optimization

With system-diagram-generator

• Both use Mermaid diagrams
• Architecture doc is the source of truth
• System diagrams can be extracted for presentations

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This skill ensures the game's structural organization is always documented with clear, visual Mermaid diagrams that are easy to maintain and understand.