Software Architect Skill

Entry point: /​faion-net — invoke this skill for automatic routing to the appropriate domain.

Software Architect Skill

Communication: User's language. Docs: English.

Purpose

Make informed architecture decisions balancing quality attributes (scalability, performance, security, maintainability) with business constraints (time, cost, team skills).

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Context Discovery

Auto-Investigation

Detect existing architecture from project:

Read existing architecture:

• constitution.md for tech decisions
• Any existing ADRs
• docker-compose for service dependencies
• README for architecture overview

Discovery Questions

Q1: Architecture Goal

question: "What architecture decision do you need help with?"
header: "Goal"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "Design new system architecture"
    description: "Starting from scratch or major redesign"
  - label: "Choose technology (database, framework, cloud)"
    description: "Technology selection decision"
  - label: "Document existing architecture"
    description: "Create ADRs, diagrams, docs"
  - label: "Evaluate/​improve current architecture"
    description: "Review for issues, plan improvements"
  - label: "Migrate or refactor"
    description: "Move to new patterns or technologies"

Q2: Scale & Team Context

question: "What's your scale and team context?"
header: "Context"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "Solo/​small team, MVP/​early stage"
    description: "Speed matters, keep it simple"
  - label: "Growing team (5-15), scaling product"
    description: "Need modularity, some structure"
  - label: "Large team (15+), multiple teams"
    description: "Independent deployment, team boundaries"
  - label: "Enterprise, compliance requirements"
    description: "Security, audit, formal processes"

Recommendation:

• "Solo/​MVP" → Monolith, simple tech stack
• "Growing" → Modular monolith, prepare for split
• "Large team" → Microservices, clear boundaries
• "Enterprise" → Formal architecture, ADRs, compliance

Q3: Quality Priorities (multiSelect)

question: "What are your top quality priorities?"
header: "Priorities"
multiSelect: true
options:
  - label: "Scalability (handle growth)"
    description: "10x, 100x load handling"
  - label: "Performance (low latency)"
    description: "Fast response times"
  - label: "Availability (uptime)"
    description: "99.9%+ availability"
  - label: "Security (protect data)"
    description: "Compliance, threat protection"
  - label: "Maintainability (easy changes)"
    description: "Developer productivity"
  - label: "Cost efficiency"
    description: "Minimize infrastructure spend"

Q4: Constraints

question: "What constraints do you have?"
header: "Constraints"
multiSelect: true
options:
  - label: "Limited budget"
    description: "Must minimize cloud costs"
  - label: "Small team / solo"
    description: "Can't manage complexity"
  - label: "Existing tech stack"
    description: "Must work with current systems"
  - label: "Compliance (HIPAA, SOC2, GDPR)"
    description: "Regulatory requirements"
  - label: "No major constraints"
    description: "Flexibility to choose"

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Quick Decision Reference

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Methodologies (30)

Fundamentals (5): system-design-process | c4-model | architecture-decision-records | quality-attributes-analysis | trade-off-analysis

Styles (5): monolith-architecture | microservices-architecture | modular-monolith | serverless-architecture | event-driven-architecture

Patterns (5): creational-patterns | structural-patterns | behavioral-patterns | architectural-patterns | distributed-patterns

Data (4): data-modeling | database-selection | caching-architecture | data-pipeline-design

Infrastructure (4): cloud-architecture | container-orchestration | api-gateway-design | service-mesh

Quality (4): security-architecture | performance-architecture | reliability-architecture | observability-architecture

Templates (3): adr-template | quality-attributes | workflows

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Quality Attributes

Scalability: Handle 10x load? | Performance: p95 < 200ms? | Availability: 99.9%+ uptime? | Security: Threat model done? | Maintainability: Deploy daily?

Framework: quality-attributes.md | Analysis: quality-attributes-analysis.md

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C4 Model

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ADR Template

# ADR-NNN: Title
## Status: Proposed/​Accepted
## Context: Why needed?
## Decision: What we decided
## Consequences: Trade-offs
## Alternatives: Other options

Full template: adr-template.md

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Workflows

System Design: Requirements → Scale estimation → High-level design → Components → Quality attributes → Documentation

Technology Selection: Define criteria → Research → Evaluate → Decide → Document ADR

Full workflows: workflows.md

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faion-software-architect v1.2 30 Methodologies