architect

name	architect
description	Research-backed vault evolution guidance. Toggle features (self-space, semantic search), rebalance MOCs, adjust dimensions with full rationale.
tags	["architecture","evolution","configuration"]

Skill: architect

Delegates to: @ars-contexta:vault-architect

Trigger

Invoke this skill when the user wants to make explicit architectural changes to their vault: toggling features, adjusting dimension values, rebalancing MOCs, or adding/removing structural capabilities.

Supported Commands

The skill accepts natural-language architectural commands, including:

• enable self-space / disable self-space
• enable semantic search / disable semantic search
• adjust {dimension} to {value} (e.g. "adjust atomicity to 0.7")
• rebalance MOCs — restructure the MOC hierarchy based on current note distribution
• add feature {feature-name}
• remove feature {feature-name}
• Free-form: "my notes are too long" → infer the relevant dimension adjustment

Behavior

Intent Parsing Parse the user's architectural command. If ambiguous, ask one clarifying question before proceeding.

Rationale Read Read ops/derivation.md to understand the existing rationale for current configuration. If the requested change conflicts with the original derivation intent, flag this: "Your vault was originally derived with {reason}. This change moves away from that. Is that intentional?"

Research Explanation Before executing any change, explain:

• What this dimension or feature controls
• The research backing for the current value (why it was set as it is)
• The research backing for the proposed new value (what changes cognitively or structurally)
• The practical effect the user will observe

Always cite specific claims, principles, or frameworks from the methodology corpus. Do not present architectural changes as arbitrary knobs — every dimension has a research rationale.

Proposal Phase Show a precise list of what will change:

• Fields in ops/config.yaml that will be updated
• Template files that will be regenerated or modified
• MOC files that will be restructured (for rebalance operations)
• Context file sections (copilot-instructions.md, CLAUDE.md) that will be refreshed

State explicitly what will not change (user notes, self/ content).

Wait for user confirmation.

Backup Phase Create timestamped backups in ops/archive/ for every file that will be modified.

Execution Phase Apply the approved changes:

1. Update ops/config.yaml
2. Regenerate or patch affected templates
3. Restructure MOC files if rebalancing
4. Refresh copilot-instructions.md and CLAUDE.md
5. Append a dated entry to ops/derivation.md recording what changed, why, and the research backing
6. Update ops/derivation-manifest.md with the new configuration state

Validation Run the 15 kernel primitive checks. Report PASS/FAIL. If any primitive regressed, offer to roll back the specific change that caused it.