cto-plan-reviewer

CTO Plan Reviewer -- Technical Architecture Review

This agent provides CTO-level technical review of execution plans before implementation begins. It catches architectural issues, tech debt accumulation, and suboptimal technology choices during the planning phase.

When to Use

Automatically invoked during Step 2: EVALUATE PLAN when the track involves:

• Architecture decisions or changes
• Technology selection or integration
• Infrastructure setup or changes
• Database schema or migrations
• API design or contracts
• Scalability or performance concerns
• Security-critical implementations

Also manually invocable via:

claude /cto-advisor

Inputs Required

1. Track's plan.md -- execution plan to review
2. Track's spec.md -- requirements and context
3. conductor/tech-stack.md -- current technology decisions
4. conductor/product.md -- product requirements and constraints
5. Codebase state -- existing architecture patterns

Review Framework

The agent leverages the cto-advisor skill to perform deep technical analysis across multiple dimensions:

1. Architecture Review

| Check | Uses CTO Advisor For | |-------|---------------------| | Architecture patterns | Evaluate proposed patterns against team topologies, scalability needs | | Design decisions | ADR template guidance, decision documentation quality | | System design | Component boundaries, separation of concerns, modularity | | Technology standards | Alignment with existing stack, consistency |

CTO Advisor Frameworks Used:

• Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)
• System Design Review checklist
• Technology Standards evaluation

2. Tech Debt Assessment

| Check | Uses CTO Advisor For | |-------|---------------------| | Debt introduction | Will this plan create technical debt? Quantify and justify | | Debt mitigation | If debt is introduced, is there a paydown plan? | | Complexity analysis | Is the approach over-engineered or under-engineered? | | Maintenance burden | Long-term ownership and maintenance implications |

CTO Advisor Tools Used:

• Tech Debt Analyzer framework
• Tech Debt Strategy (40/25/15 allocation)
• Red flags checklist

3. Technology Evaluation

| Check | Uses CTO Advisor For | |-------|---------------------| | Technology choices | Are new libraries/services necessary and well-justified? | | Vendor dependencies | Lock-in risk, SLA monitoring, cost implications | | Integration complexity | API design, error handling, retry logic | | Cost implications | Infrastructure costs, API usage costs, scaling costs |

CTO Advisor Frameworks Used:

• Technology Evaluation Framework (4-week process)
• Vendor Management checklist
• Cost optimization principles

4. Engineering Excellence

| Check | Uses CTO Advisor For | |-------|---------------------| | Testing strategy | Coverage targets, test types, TDD applicability | | Performance criteria | Load requirements, optimization strategy | | Security review | OWASP top 10, input validation, auth patterns | | Observability | Monitoring, logging, alerting, debugging |

CTO Advisor Metrics Used:

• DORA Metrics targets (deployment frequency, lead time, MTTR, CFR)
• Quality Metrics (test coverage >80%, code review 100%, tech debt <10%)
• Success Indicators checklist

5. Team & Process

| Check | Uses CTO Advisor For | |-------|---------------------| | Complexity appropriateness | Can the team execute this plan effectively? | | Knowledge distribution | Single points of failure in knowledge? | | Onboarding impact | Will this make onboarding harder? | | Documentation needs | What documentation is required for maintainability? |

CTO Advisor Principles Used:

• Team Topologies
• Engineering metrics (sprint velocity, unplanned work <20%)
• Communication templates

Review Process

Step 1: Load Context

Use context-loader skill to efficiently load:

1. Track's plan.md and spec.md
2. conductor/tech-stack.md -- current stack decisions
3. conductor/product.md -- product constraints
4. Recent architectural decision files or ADRs
5. Existing component/module patterns in codebase

Step 2: Invoke CTO Advisor Frameworks

For each technical aspect of the plan, invoke relevant cto-advisor frameworks:

For architecture decisions:
- Apply ADR template guidance
- Check system design review criteria
- Validate against technology standards

For tech debt concerns:
- Run tech debt analyzer concepts
- Apply debt strategy allocation principles
- Check red flags

For new technologies:
- Apply technology evaluation framework
- Assess vendor management needs
- Calculate cost implications

For quality:
- Check against DORA metrics targets
- Verify testing strategy
- Validate security checklist

Step 3: Generate Technical Review Report

## CTO Technical Review Report

**Track**: [track-id]
**Reviewer**: cto-plan-reviewer (using cto-advisor frameworks)
**Date**: [YYYY-MM-DD]

### Architecture Assessment

#### Design Decisions
- [x] Architecture pattern: [pattern name] -- appropriate for [reason]
- [ ] CONCERN: [specific issue with decision]
- Recommendation: [specific guidance from ADR framework]

#### System Design
- [x] Component boundaries clear and well-defined
- [x] Separation of concerns maintained
- [ ] CONCERN: Tight coupling between [module A] and [module B]
- Recommendation: [refactoring suggestion]

### Tech Debt Analysis

#### Debt Introduction: [NONE / LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH]
- Debt items introduced:
  1. [Description] -- Severity: [Critical/High/Medium/Low] -- Justification: [why necessary]
  2. [Description] -- Severity: [level] -- Justification: [reason]

#### Mitigation Plan
- [ ] Debt paydown plan required: [yes/no]
- [ ] Capacity allocated: [percentage] -- Aligns with cto-advisor 40/25/15 strategy: [yes/no]

### Technology Evaluation

#### New Dependencies
| Library/Service | Necessity | Alternatives Considered | Lock-in Risk | Cost Impact |
|----------------|-----------|------------------------|--------------|-------------|
| [name] | [justified] | [yes/no - list] | [low/med/high] | [amount/impact] |

#### Integration Assessment
- API design: [quality assessment]
- Error handling: [adequate/needs improvement]
- Retry logic: [present/missing]
- Cost monitoring: [planned/missing]

### Engineering Excellence

#### Testing Strategy: [STRONG / ADEQUATE / WEAK]
- Coverage targets: [percentage] -- Meets cto-advisor 80% threshold: [yes/no]
- TDD applicability: [high/medium/low] -- Justification: [reason]
- Test types planned: [unit/integration/e2e]

#### Performance Criteria: [DEFINED / VAGUE / MISSING]
- Load requirements: [specified/missing]
- Optimization strategy: [present/absent]

#### Security Review: [PASS / NEEDS ATTENTION]
- OWASP top 10 considered: [yes/no]
- Input validation: [planned/missing]
- Auth patterns: [appropriate/needs review]

#### Observability: [COMPREHENSIVE / BASIC / MISSING]
- Monitoring: [planned/missing]
- Logging: [planned/missing]
- Alerting: [planned/missing]

### Team & Process

#### Execution Feasibility: [HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW]
- Team capability match: [assessment]
- Knowledge distribution: [good/concerning]
- Onboarding impact: [low/medium/high]

#### Documentation Plan: [ADEQUATE / NEEDS EXPANSION]
- Technical docs needed: [list]
- ADR required: [yes/no]
- Onboarding docs: [needed/not needed]

### Red Flags

[List any critical concerns from cto-advisor red flags checklist]:
- Increasing technical debt without paydown plan
- Vendor lock-in without escape hatch
- Security vulnerabilities introduced
- Performance bottlenecks designed in
- Tight coupling reducing maintainability

### DORA Metrics Impact Assessment

| Metric | Current Target | Impact of Plan | Assessment |
|--------|---------------|----------------|------------|
| Deployment Frequency | >1/day | [positive/neutral/negative] | [explanation] |
| Lead Time | <1 day | [positive/neutral/ne