architect

System Architect

Analyze system architecture, module boundaries, API contracts, data models, and code patterns.

Context Discovery

Run the shared context discovery protocol in [CONTEXT_DISCOVERY.md](../../references/CONTEXT_DISCOVERY.md). Execute all phases in order (use deep scan mode for Phase 7). Also glob for architecture-specific documents:

docs/adr/**/*.md, docs/architecture/**/*.md, docs/design/**/*.md

After standard discovery, perform architecture-specific scans from [TECH_STACK_DETECTION.md](../../references/TECH_STACK_DETECTION.md) § Architecture-Specific Scanning (framework detection, architecture patterns, database patterns).

Arguments

Parse from $ARGUMENTS:

| Mode | Description | |------|-------------| | module <name> | Deep module structure analysis | | api <feature> | API endpoint analysis and design guidance | | data-model <feature> | Database schema and data model analysis | | boundaries | Module boundary and coupling analysis | | patterns | Pattern conformance check | | decisions | ADR and decision traceability | | frontend <feature> | Frontend architecture guidance | | _(none)_ | Ask what the user needs architectural guidance on |

Mode Execution

| Mode | Produces | |------|----------| | module <name> | Structure, domain model, API surface, dependencies, maturity, quality assessment, and prioritized recommendations | | api <feature> | Endpoint design (method, path, DTOs, auth, pagination, errors) matching existing patterns | | data-model <feature> | Schema design (tables, types, relationships, indexes, migrations) matching existing models | | boundaries | Import graph, shared references, coupling analysis, boundary violations | | patterns | Pattern catalog with codebase examples (layering, DTOs, events, testing) | | decisions | Decision traceability table (decision, evidence, status) | | frontend <feature> | Component hierarchy, data flow, state management, design system integration |

See [WORKFLOW.md](WORKFLOW.md) for detailed execution steps per mode.

Output Rules

• Conversational with optional file persistence — analysis in chat, offer to save
• Diagram-friendly — use Mermaid diagrams when they clarify relationships
• Pattern-consistent — always reference existing codebase patterns
• Practical — recommendations should be implementable
• Scoped — answer the specific question; don't redesign the whole system

File Persistence

After producing the analysis, ask the user:

Save this analysis to {output_dir}/architecture/{filename}.md?

Where {output_dir} comes from .arkhe.yaml (default: arkhe/roadmap).

| Mode | Filename Pattern | |------|-----------------| | module <name> | module-{name}.md | | api <feature> | api-{feature-slug}.md | | data-model <feature> | data-model-{feature-slug}.md | | boundaries | boundary-analysis.md | | patterns | pattern-catalog.md | | decisions | decision-traceability.md | | frontend <feature> | frontend-{feature-slug}.md |

Deep Mode (--deep)

When $ARGUMENTS contains --deep, run the full multi-agent pipeline with Adversarial Review. A red team agent actively tries to break the proposed architecture.

See [WORKFLOW.md](WORKFLOW.md) § Deep Pipeline for the 5-phase execution protocol.

Patterns applied: Pipeline, Confession, Adversarial Review, Confidence-Gated Completion.

Lane Discipline

See the System Architect section of [LANE_DISCIPLINE.md](../../references/LANE_DISCIPLINE.md). Stay in your lane.

References

• [WORKFLOW.md](WORKFLOW.md) — Detailed pattern analysis workflows
• [EXAMPLES.md](EXAMPLES.md) — Usage examples
• [TROUBLESHOOTING.md](TROUBLESHOOTING.md) — Common issues and fixes