System Design & Architecture Standards
Universal architectural standards for robust, scalable systems. Use when designing new features, evaluating architecture, or resolving scalability concerns.
Best use case
System Design & Architecture Standards is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Universal architectural standards for robust, scalable systems. Use when designing new features, evaluating architecture, or resolving scalability concerns.
Teams using System Design & Architecture Standards should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/system-design/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How System Design & Architecture Standards Compares
| Feature / Agent | System Design & Architecture Standards | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Universal architectural standards for robust, scalable systems. Use when designing new features, evaluating architecture, or resolving scalability concerns.
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
SKILL.md Source
# System Design & Architecture Standards ## **Priority: P0 (FOUNDATIONAL)** ## Architectural Principles - **SoC**: Divide into distinct sections per concern. - **SSOT**: One source, reference elsewhere. - **Fail Fast**: Fail visibly when errors occur. - **Graceful Degradation**: Core functional even if secondary fails. ## Modularity & Coupling - **High Cohesion**: Related functionality in one module. - **Loose Coupling**: Use interfaces for communication. - **DI**: Inject dependencies, don't hardcode. ## Common Patterns - **Layered**: Presentation → Logic → Data. - **Event-Driven**: Async communication between decoupled components. - **Clean/Hexagonal**: Core logic independent of frameworks. - **Statelessness**: Favor stateless for scaling/testing. ## Distributed Systems - **CAP**: Trade-off Consistency/Availability/Partition tolerance. See [CAP & Consistency Patterns](references/distributed-systems.md). - **Idempotency**: Operations repeatable without side effects. See [Idempotency Patterns](references/distributed-systems.md#idempotency). - **Circuit Breaker**: Fail fast on failing services. See [Resilience Patterns](references/resilience-patterns.md). - **Eventual Consistency**: Design for async data sync. See [CAP & Consistency Patterns](references/distributed-systems.md#eventual-consistency). ## Documentation & Evolution - **Design Docs**: Write specs before major implementations. - **Versioning**: Version APIs/schemas for backward compatibility. - **Extensibility**: Use Strategy/Factory for future changes. ## References - [Distributed Systems & CAP Theorem](references/distributed-systems.md) - [Resilience Patterns (Circuit Breaker, Bulkhead, Retry)](references/resilience-patterns.md)
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