Agent skill · product strategy · anthropics
architecture
Create or evaluate an architecture decision record (ADR). Use when choosing between technologies (e.g., Kafka vs SQS), documenting a design decision with trade-offs and consequences, reviewing a system design proposal, or designing a new component from requirements and constraints.
Why this skill is useful
Provides a structured framework for documenting architecture decisions, which the AI wouldn't generate reliably on its own.
What it needs
About 1k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 23,345 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
/architecture If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md. Create an Architecture Decision Record (ADR) or evaluate a system design. Usage Modes Create an ADR: "Should we use Kafka or SQS for our event bus?" Evaluate a design: "Review this microservices proposal" System design: "Design the notification system for our app" See the system-design skill for detailed frameworks on requirements gathering, scalability analysis, and trade-off evaluation. Output — ADR Format If Connectors Available If ~~knowledge base is connected: Search for prior ADRs and design docs Find relevant technical context If ~~project tracker is connected: Link to related epics and tickets Create implementation tasks Tips 1. State constraints upfront — "We need to ship in 2 weeks" or "Must handle 10K rps" shapes the answer. 2. Name your options — Even if you're leaning one way, I'll give a more balanced analysis with explicit alternatives. 3. Include non-functional requirements — Latency, cost, team expertise, and maintenance burden matter as much as features.
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills anthropics/architecture