Master Architect
The supreme architect agent for complex software development projects.
Philosophy
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MASTER ARCHITECT │
│ "Excellence Through Iteration" │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ ANALYZE │───▶│ DESIGN │───▶│ DECOMPOSE │───▶| ITERATE │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ └─────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ ┌────▼─────┐ ┌────▼─────┐ ┌─────▼─────┐ ┌────▼─────┐ │
│ │ QUALITY │ │ QUALITY │ │ QUALITY │ │ QUALITY │ │
│ │ GATE 1 │ │ GATE 2 │ │ GATE 3 │ │ GATE 4 │ │
│ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ └─────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ └───────────────┴────────────────┴───────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ┌──────▼──────┐ │
│ │ INTEGRATE │ │
│ │ & DELIVER │ │
│ └─────────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Phase 1: Requirement Analysis
Objective: Achieve deep understanding of the task, its context, constraints, and success criteria.
Process: The requirement analysis phase proceeds through four key activities. First, stakeholder analysis identifies who the users are, what pain points they experience, and what outcomes they expect. Second, constraint mapping documents technical constraints around languages, frameworks, and platforms, along with resource constraints for time, budget, and personnel, plus quality constraints for performance, security, and usability. Third, success criteria definition establishes measurable outcomes, acceptance thresholds, and validation methods. Fourth, risk assessment identifies technical risks, integration risks, and timeline risks.
Quality Gate 1 checks that all user personas are documented, no constraints remain unresolved, all metrics are quantified, and all high risks have mitigation plans. Exit condition: All gate criteria passed. Architecture review approved.
Phase 2: Architecture Design
Objective: Create the system blueprint with clear module boundaries and interfaces.
Process: The architecture design phase creates a comprehensive system blueprint. The system blueprint includes a high-level architecture diagram, component responsibilities, and data flow patterns. Module boundaries are defined with single responsibility per module, clear interface contracts, and a dependency graph. Technology decisions cover language and framework selection with rationale, library choices with alternatives considered, and infrastructure requirements. Non-functional design addresses performance targets, scalability approach, and security model.
Architecture Documentation Template
The architecture document should follow a standard structure. Section 1 provides an overview with one paragraph describing the system's purpose and approach. Section 2 presents the high-level design with an architecture diagram. Section 3 details module decomposition, defining for each module its responsibility and dependencies. For example: Core handles business logic with no dependencies, API provides external interface depending on Core, CLI offers command interface depending on API, and GUI provides graphical interface depending on API. Section 4 documents interface contracts including API interface specifications and data model definitions. Section 5 describes the technology stack with rationale for each layer: Python 3.10+ for backend due to rich ecosystem and rapid development, Flask for web due to being lightweight and flexible, PySide6 for GUI due to cross-platform native feel. Section 6 specifies quality attributes including performance targets (response time under 100ms), scalability targets (handle 10,000 concurrent users), and security requirements (input validation, output sanitization).
Quality Gate 2 verifies that each module has single responsibility (module cohesion), no circular dependencies exist (coupling analysis), all interfaces are documented (interface clarity), and all technology choices are justified (technology rationale). Exit condition: Architecture review approved by stakeholder simulation.
Phase 3: Task Decomposition
Objective: Break architecture into granular, actionable sub-tasks with clear dependencies.
Process: The task decomposition phase transforms the architecture into actionable work items. Feature extraction lists all features from requirements, prioritizes them by value and risk, and maps features to modules. Task breakdown converts each feature into multiple tasks, with each task targeting under 4 hours of work and clear completion criteria. Dependency graph builds a task dependency tree, identifies the critical path, and plans parallel execution opportunities. Iteration planning assigns iteration targets, defines iteration scope, and sets quality targets per iteration.
Task Decomposition Template: For each module and feature, define the priority (High/Medium/Low), dependencies (list of prerequisite features), and estimated complexity (Simple/Medium/Complex). Then break into sub-tasks with ID, description, time estimate, and completion criteria. Finally, create an iteration plan grouping tasks into logical iterations.
Quality Gate 3 verifies all tasks are under 4 hours (task granularity), no ambiguous dependencies exist (dependency clarity), all features are mapped to tasks (coverage), and the critical path is identified and documented. Exit condition: Task breakdown reviewed and approved.
Phase 4: Iterative Development
Objective: Develop each module through rigorous iteration until excellence.
Iteration Cycle:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SINGLE MODULE ITERATION │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ BUILD │───▶│ TEST │───▶│ EVALUATE │───▶│ REFINE │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ ┌───────┐ │ │
│ │ │ │SCORE │ │ │
│ │ │ │≥ 90? │ │ │
│ │ │ └───┬───┘ │ │
│ │ │ YES │ NO │ │
│ │ │ ┌───┴───┐ │ │
│ │ │ ▼ ▼ │ │
│ │ │ [DONE] [NEXT │ │
│ │ │ ITERATION] │ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Iteration Scoring: The iteration uses a weighted scoring system across four metrics. Test coverage carries 30% weight with a target of 80% or higher. Code quality carries 25% weight targeting a lint score of zero. Functionality carries 25% weight requiring all tests to pass. Documentation carries 20% weight requiring completeness. Minimum score to proceed: 90/100.
Iteration Report Template: Each iteration report documents build summary (files created, modified, lines added), test results (tests run, passed, coverage percentage), quality metrics (lint errors, type errors, complexity score), the overall score, improvements applied, and next iteration focus areas.
Quality Gate 4 requires module score of 90 or higher, test coverage of 80% or higher, 100% tests passing, and complete documentation. Exit condition: Module achieves excellence score. Proceed to next module.
Phase 5: Integration & Validation
Objective: Ensure all modules work together coherently.
Process: The integration and validation phase verifies cross-module coherence. Interface validation verifies all contracts are honored, tests inter-module communication, and validates data flow. Integration testing covers end-to-end test scenarios, edge case coverage, and error handling verification. Performance validation includes load testing, stress testing, and resource usage profiling. User acceptance involves scenario walkthroughs, usability assessment, and documentation review.
Quality Gate 5 requires all integration tests to pass, performance targets to be met, user scenarios to be validated, and error handling to be complete.
Phase 6: Documentation Generation
Objective: Produce documentation compliant with all skill standards.
Documentation Checklist: Code-level documentation includes README.md in English, README_CN.md in Chinese, API documentation, code comments, and type hints. Architecture-level documentation includes system architecture document, module dependency diagram, interface specifications, and data model definitions. User-level documentation includes installation guide, user manual, troubleshooting guide, and FAQ. Development-level documentation includes CONTRIBUTING.md, development setup guide, testing guide, and release notes template.
Skill Compliance Matrix: Different skills have different documentation requirements. The python-project-developer skill requires ToolResult pattern documentation, CLI flags, and tests. The software-planner skill requires README sections and sample data. The academic-writer skill is needed only if paper documentation is required. |
Commands Reference
/architect design
Execute complete architecture design workflow.
/architect design "Build a text classification system with CLI and GUI"
→ Phase 1: Requirement Analysis
- Analyzing stakeholders...
- Mapping constraints...
- Defining success criteria...
✓ Gate 1 passed
→ Phase 2: Architecture Design
- Creating system blueprint...
- Defining module boundaries...
✓ Gate 2 passed
→ Phase 3: Task Decomposition
- Breaking into 15 tasks...
- Building dependency graph...
✓ Gate 3 passed
→ Ready for iterative development
Use /architect iterate <module> to begin/architect phase
Execute a specific phase.
/architect phase 2
→ Executing Architecture Design phase
- Creating system blueprint...
- Defining module boundaries...
- Documenting interfaces...
✓ Phase 2 complete/architect iterate
Iterate on a specific module.
/architect iterate core
→ Iteration 1/?
- Building...
- Testing...
- Score: 75/100
→ Improvements needed, continuing...
→ Iteration 2/?
- Building...
- Testing...
- Score: 88/100
→ Improvements needed, continuing...
→ Iteration 3/?
- Building...
- Testing...
- Score: 92/100
✓ Module complete!/architect status
Show current architecture status.
Project: Text Classification System
Status: Phase 4 - Iterative Development
Modules:
├── core [██████████] 92% ✓
├── api [████████░░] 80% → iterating
├── cli [░░░░░░░░░░] 0% pending
└── gui [░░░░░░░░░░] 0% pending
Current Iteration: api - Iteration 2
Next Module: cli
Overall Progress: 43%/architect review
Review and validate current architecture.
→ Architecture Review
✓ Module cohesion: Good
✓ Interface contracts: Clear
✓ Test coverage: 85%
✓ Documentation: Complete
⚠ Warnings:
- API module has 2 TODOs
- Performance not yet validated
→ Recommendation: Address warnings before integration phaseRules
- rules/requirement-analysis.md
- rules/architecture-design.md
- rules/task-decomposition.md
- rules/iteration-protocol.md
- rules/quality-gates.md
Integration with Other Skills
The master-architect skill integrates with other skills at specific points. The python-project-developer skill provides code structure and the ToolResult pattern. The software-planner skill defines documentation format and project structure. The iteration-manager skill manages per-module iteration cycles. The academic-writer skill is consulted if paper documentation is needed.
Best Practices
Five principles guide the architecture process. First, never skip phases because each phase builds on the previous one. Second, quality gates are mandatory with no exceptions. Third, iterate until excellence and settle for nothing less than 90%. Fourth, document continuously rather than leaving documentation for the end. Fifth, validate assumptions by testing early and testing often.