# Domain Modeling

> Build and sharpen a project's domain model. Use when discussing codebase terminology, writing or editing a CONTEXT.md, or recording or editing an ADR.

- Skill: `akillness/domain-modeling` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add akillness/domain-modeling`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/akillness/domain-modeling/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: akillness (https://skillmd.com/u/akillness)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/akillness/domain-modeling

---


# Domain Modeling

Build and sharpen a project's domain model. Use when discussing codebase terminology, writing or editing a CONTEXT.md, or recording or editing an ADR.

This skill is imported from `mattpocock/skills` (MIT) and is **model-invoked** upstream.

## When to use this skill

- Build and sharpen a project's domain model.
- Use when discussing codebase terminology, writing or editing a CONTEXT.md, or recording or editing an ADR.

## Instructions

## Domain Modeling

Actively build and sharpen the project's domain model as you design. This is the *active* discipline: challenging terms, inventing edge-case scenarios, and writing the glossary and decisions down the moment they crystallise. (Merely *reading* `CONTEXT.md` for vocabulary is not this skill: that's a one-line habit any skill can do. This skill is for when you're changing the model, not just consuming it.)

### File structure

Most repos have a single context:

```
/
├── CONTEXT.md
├── docs/
│   └── adr/
│       ├── 0001-event-sourced-orders.md
│       └── 0002-postgres-for-write-model.md
└── src/
```

If a `CONTEXT-MAP.md` exists at the root, the repo has multiple contexts. The map points to where each one lives:

```
/
├── CONTEXT-MAP.md
├── docs/
│   └── adr/                          ← system-wide decisions
├── src/
│   ├── ordering/
│   │   ├── CONTEXT.md
│   │   └── docs/adr/                 ← context-specific decisions
│   └── billing/
│       ├── CONTEXT.md
│       └── docs/adr/
```

Create files lazily: only when you have something to write. If no `CONTEXT.md` exists, create one when the first term is resolved. If no `docs/adr/` exists, create it when the first ADR is needed.

### During the session

#### Challenge against the glossary

When the user uses a term that conflicts with the existing language in `CONTEXT.md`, call it out immediately. "Your glossary defines 'cancellation' as X, but you seem to mean Y. Which is it?"

#### Sharpen fuzzy language

When the user uses vague or overloaded terms, propose a precise canonical term. "You're saying 'account': do you mean the Customer or the User? Those are different things."

#### Discuss concrete scenarios

When domain relationships are being discussed, stress-test them with specific scenarios. Invent scenarios that probe edge cases and force the user to be precise about the boundaries between concepts.

#### Cross-reference with code

When the user states how something works, check whether the code agrees. If you find a contradiction, surface it: "Your code cancels entire Orders, but you just said partial cancellation is possible. Which is right?"

#### Update CONTEXT.md inline

When a term is resolved, update `CONTEXT.md` right there. Don't batch these up: capture them as they happen. Use the format in [CONTEXT-FORMAT.md](references/CONTEXT-FORMAT.md).

`CONTEXT.md` should be totally devoid of implementation details. Do not treat `CONTEXT.md` as a spec, a scratch pad, or a repository for implementation decisions. It is a glossary and nothing else.

#### Offer ADRs sparingly

Only offer to create an ADR when all three are true:

1. **Hard to reverse**: the cost of changing your mind later is meaningful
2. **Surprising without context**: a future reader will wonder "why did they do it this way?"
3. **The result of a real trade-off**: there were genuine alternatives and you picked one for specific reasons

If any of the three is missing, skip the ADR. Use the format in [ADR-FORMAT.md](references/ADR-FORMAT.md).

## Examples

- Apply this skill to one narrow scope first, confirm the output matches the shape described above, then widen to the full task.
- When a step needs a fact from the repository or the environment, look it up instead of asking the user for it.

## Best practices

- Keep the upstream procedure intact; record deviations explicitly instead of silently improvising.
- Stop and hand control back to the user at every decision point this skill marks as theirs.
- Prefer small reversible changes, and state assumptions rather than burying them.

## References

- Upstream skill: `mattpocock/skills` `skills/engineering/domain-modeling/SKILL.md` (commit `3cca18b`, MIT)
- Companion doc: [references/ADR-FORMAT.md](references/ADR-FORMAT.md)
- Companion doc: [references/CONTEXT-FORMAT.md](references/CONTEXT-FORMAT.md)
- Project standards: `.agent-skills/skill-standardization/SKILL.md`
- Validator script: `.agent-skills/skill-standardization/scripts/validate_skill.sh`