tmcfarlane/oh-my-cursor/architect
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Design system architecture and high-level technical strategy
Install
npx vskill@latest install tmcfarlane/oh-my-cursor/architectSKILL.md
Architecture Design
Design system architecture and make strategic technical decisions.
Core Principle
Good architecture enables change while maintaining simplicity.
Name
han-core:architect - Design system architecture and high-level technical strategy
Synopsis
Architecture vs Planning
Architecture Design (this skill):
- Strategic: "How should the system be structured?"
- Component interactions and boundaries
- Technology and pattern choices
- Long-term implications
- System-level decisions
Technical Planning:
- Tactical: "How do I implement feature X?"
- Specific implementation tasks
- Execution details
- Short-term focus
Use /architect when:
- Designing new systems or subsystems
- Significant system change (new subsystem, major refactor)
- Affects multiple components or teams
- Major refactors affecting multiple components
- Technology selection decisions
- Defining system boundaries and interfaces
- Long-term technical strategy needed
- Need to evaluate multiple approaches
- Decisions have broad impact
Use /plan when:
- Implementing within existing architecture
- Implementing specific feature within existing architecture
- Tactical execution planning
- Breaking down known work
- Architecture is already decided
- Task sequencing and execution
Architecture Process
1. Understand Context
Business context:
- What problem are we solving?
- Who are the users?
- What are the business goals?
- What are the success metrics?
Technical context:
- What exists today?
- What constraints exist?
- What must we integrate with?
- What scale must we support?
Team context:
- What's our expertise?
- What can we maintain?
- What's our velocity?
2. Gather Requirements
Functional requirements:
- What must the system do?
- What are the features?
- What are the user scenarios?
Non-functional requirements:
- Performance: Response time, throughput
- Scalability: Expected load, growth
- Availability: Uptime requirements
- Security: Compliance, data protection
- Maintainability: Team size, skills
- Cost: Budget constraints
Example:
3. Identify Constraints
Technical constraints:
- Must use existing authentication system
- Must integrate with legacy inventory system
- Database must be PostgreSQL (existing infrastructure)
Business constraints:
- Budget for infrastructure
- Must support EU data residency
Team constraints:
- Team experienced in Python, less in Go
- No DevOps specialist on team
- Remote team across timezones
4. Consider Alternatives
Never design in a vacuum - consider options:
Example: Data storage choice
Option 1: PostgreSQL
- Pros: Team knows it, ACID guarantees, rich query support
- Cons: Vertical scaling limits, setup complexity
Option 2: MongoDB
- Pros: Flexible schema, horizontal scaling
- Cons: Team unfamiliar, eventual consistency
Option 3: DynamoDB
- Pros: Fully managed, auto-scaling
- Cons: Vendor lock-in, query limitations, cost at scale
Decision: PostgreSQL
- Team expertise outweighs scaling concerns
- Can re-evaluate if scale becomes issue
- Faster initial development
5. Design System Structure
Define components and their responsibilities:
Component descriptions:
6. Define Interfaces
API contracts:
{ "email": "user@example.com", "password": "secure_password" }
{ "token": "eyJ...", "user": { "id": "123", "email": "user@example.com", "name": "John Doe" } }
7. Plan for Failure
What can go wrong?
- Database unavailable
- External API down
- Network partition
- High load
- Data corruption
Mitigation strategies:
- Retry with exponential backoff
- Circuit breakers for external services
- Graceful degradation
- Health checks and monitoring
- Database backups
Example:
8. Document Decisions
Architecture Decision Record (ADR):
Architecture Document Structure
┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │ Client │────▶│ API │────▶│ Database │ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └──────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌─────────────┐ │ Cache │ └─────────────┘
Architecture Principles
1. Simplicity
Start simple, add complexity only when needed.
Apply YAGNI: You Aren't Gonna Need It
- Don't build for hypothetical future
- Add when actually needed
- Simpler is easier to maintain
2. Separation of Concerns
Each component has one clear responsibility.
Apply SOLID principles:
This is the start of the file. Read the full SKILL.md on GitHub.
Security
- Security scanPassed, 100 of 100Pattern checks on the skill's files.
- Model reviewPassed
Quality evaluation
- Task evaluationNot runNo evaluation yet. Run one in Skill Studio.
Source
- SKILL.md in the repositoryCheckingskills/architect/SKILL.md
Popularity
- Repository stars
- 109
- Repository forks
- 14
- 7-day trend score
- 24
Stars and forks are for the whole GitHub repository, not this skill alone. Refreshed 19 Mar 2026, 7 months ago.
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