data-model-discovery

name	data-model-discovery
description	Essential questions to ask before designing a data model
languages	["all"]
subagents	["architect/data-model"]
tools_needed	[]

Data Model Discovery Questions

Before designing any data model, ask these questions:

1. What are the core entities and their relationships?

   • Identify nouns in requirements
   • Map relationships (1:1, 1:many, many:many)

2. What are the most common read patterns?

   • Which queries will run most frequently?
   • What filters/sorts are needed?

3. What are the most common write patterns?

   • Insert frequency and volume
   • Update patterns and triggers

4. Are there soft-delete, audit trail, or versioning requirements?

   • Do records need to be recoverable?
   • Is history tracking required?

5. Any known scale constraints?

   • Expected row counts
   • Request volume (reads/writes per second)
   • Geographic distribution

Usage

• Ask all questions before producing designs
• Document answers in design doc
• Use answers to inform indexing and denormalization decisions