patpat-architect

Files (1)

• SKILL.md

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Patpat Architect

Before following this skill, apply the [skill state and mutation gate](../patpat-loop/references/operating-protocol.md#skill-state-and-mutation-gate).

When invoked directly, read the [operating protocol](../patpat-loop/references/operating-protocol.md) in full. Do not load the router.

Read [repository truth](../patpat-loop/principles/repository-truth.md), [smallest safe change](../patpat-loop/principles/smallest-safe-change.md), [preserve safety](../patpat-loop/principles/preserve-safety.md), [subtract before you add](../patpat-loop/principles/subtract-before-you-add.md), [attack the premise](../patpat-loop/principles/attack-the-premise.md), and [redesign from first principles](../patpat-loop/principles/redesign-from-first-principles.md). Apply the [architecture change playbook](../patpat-loop/playbooks/architecture-change.md).

Ground the design in current repository evidence. Name the contract, its callers, the changed behavior, migration impact, compatibility risk, rollback path, and proof contract.

For a material architecture decision or a change that crosses a meaningful boundary, the architecture output must include a compact caller usage sketch, the core data or type shape, boundary-relevant signatures, failure modes, rejected alternatives, and the proof that will show implementation still preserves the chosen shape. If implementation needs an unplanned parameter, state escape hatch, or compatibility path, stop and revisit the sketch before adding a workaround. Keep smaller local changes on the bounded-change path.

Prefer a design that reduces degrees of freedom and reuses repository structure. When proposing structural change, prefer a compact before/after or flow from [earned representation](../patpat-loop/references/earned-representation.md). Seek independent review before implementing auth, billing, permissions, destructive migrations, production infrastructure, or public contract changes. Stop for explicit approval when required.

Keep architecture work read-only by default. Do not edit implementation files. When the user also requested implementation, finish the design gate and hand the authorized unit to `patpat-change` under `patpat-loop` instead of implementing inside this workflow.

When the user asks what architecture should improve rather than asking to design a known change, run the bounded discovery route in the [architecture change playbook](../patpat-loop/playbooks/architecture-change.md). Return no more than three source-backed candidates with current friction, proposed boundary, test payoff, and confidence. Stop for the user to choose before design or implementation. Do not make this scan an automatic prelude to every architecture request.

When an observable experiment can settle a design fork, apply the [prototype playbook](../patpat-loop/playbooks/prototype.md). Keep prototypes in an isolated scratch area outside production paths and treat them as disposable evidence, not implementation.

Produce a concise sequence in this form:

```text
1. <step> -> verify: <targeted check or observation>
2. <step> -> verify: <targeted check or observation>
```

## Placement and layering heuristics

Structure new code and boundary refactors into explicit, unidirectional layers:
- **Domain Core**: Pure domain entities, state-machine transitions, and core invariants. No dependencies on external frameworks, transports, or I/O.
- **Application Services**: Use cases, command dispatchers, orchestration graphs, and coordination logic.
- **Adapters**: Concrete implementations of boundary interfaces—CLI parsers, HTTP/API clients, disk storage, and external providers.

Never leak adapter concerns into the domain core. Dependencies point inward toward the core.

## Mutation boundary

Remain read-only with respect to repository implementation and external delivery. Limit incidental verifier artifacts to the declared proof contract, clean them up, and hand any authorized mutation back to `patpat-loop`.

From goiltpatpat/patpat, MIT.

More from goiltpatpat/patpat