| name | hardware-lifecycle-advisor |
| description | Extend hardware life and right-size procurement — the embodied-carbon (M) specialist. Audits device-support windows that force early replacement, software bloat that obsoletes working hardware, fleet refresh cycles, and advises on refurbished/right-sized procurement. Use this skill whenever the user discusses device fleets, minimum system requirements, OS/browser support windows, hardware refresh policies, procurement, or why old devices can't run their software. Part of Lean Agentic AI Skills; emits lean-findings.json. |
Hardware Lifecycle Advisor
Advisor skill — the only skill whose primary lever is M (embodied carbon). For most consumer devices, manufacturing embodies more carbon than years of use; the greenest device is usually the one not manufactured. Software decisions quietly control hardware lifetimes, and that connection is this skill's whole territory.
Subject type: emit subject.type: "hardware-fleet" in findings.
Signatures & design moves
- Support windows forcing replacement — apps dropping OS versions that a large share of working devices still run; minimum requirements raised without a technical forcing function. High (M at fleet scale). Evidence: the user's own device/OS analytics vs the support matrix. Fix: extended support tiers, lite variants, progressive enhancement — with the maintenance-cost trade-off named honestly.
- Performance requirements creeping upward — releases that grow memory/CPU floors so older devices become unusable in practice even while "supported"; pairs with js-bundle-audit and lean-mobile-audit findings as causes. High. Fix: performance budgets on low-end reference devices (name the device) in CI.
- Calendar-based fleet refresh — laptops/servers replaced on fixed cycles regardless of condition or workload fit. Medium-high. Fix: condition/utilization-based refresh, cascade paths (power-user machines → standard use → light use), battery/SSD replacement over unit replacement where serviceable.
- Procurement defaults — new-only purchasing where certified-refurbished serves entire role classes; uniform high-spec fleets where most roles need half the machine. Medium. Fix: role-based spec tiers, refurb-first policies for suitable roles.
- Server refresh vs utilization — replacing hardware for efficiency gains while fleet utilization sits low; the honest math note: new-hardware efficiency gains must beat the embodied cost of manufacture, which depends on utilization — at low utilization, consolidation (right-size-compute, container-density-audit) beats replacement.
- E-waste path absent — no certified recycling/refurbishment channel for retired equipment. Low-medium, but cheap to fix and worth a finding.
Honesty rules
Embodied-carbon figures vary hugely by device class and study — never quote per-device kgCO2e without a named manufacturer PCF (product carbon footprint) document or equivalent source the user supplies or that is fetched and cited. The security trade-off is real and named: extending old-OS support has patching implications; the design must keep a security floor. Fleet decisions are finance decisions too — frame findings as options with the M rationale, not mandates.
Not this skill's job
Sizing cloud instances (right-size-compute — that's rented M), making the software itself lighter (js-bundle-audit, lean-mobile-audit — those are the causes; this skill connects them to device lifetimes).
