# Fresh Arch

> Architecture design reasoned forward from requirements. Use when the user wants a fresh-mind design pass — "design an architecture for", "how would you build", "redesign from scratch".

- Skill: `archibate/fresh-arch` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add archibate/fresh-arch`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/archibate/fresh-arch/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: archibate (https://skillmd.com/u/archibate)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/archibate/fresh-arch

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$ARGUMENTS

Design an architecture for the topic above by reasoning forward from requirements. If a codebase exists, you may Read/Grep it — but only as evidence to evaluate, not as a frame to fit the new design into.

**Mindset**

Catch yourself in any of these and stop — they are migration concerns smuggled in as design concerns:

- "the current code does X, so the new design should look similar"
- "we need to stay backward-compatible with X"
- "let's stick to the existing module boundaries / pattern / abstractions"
- "let's not be too aggressive / disruptive / far from what the team knows"
- "X is already wired up, so reuse it"

If a current pattern survives, it survives on merit — because it is the right answer when reasoned forward from requirements — not because it is already there.

**Output**
1. **Problem** — 1-3 lines, what the system must do (not how).
2. **Components** — 3-7 boxes, each with a one-sentence responsibility. Justify why these and not fewer/more.
3. **Contracts** — interfaces / message shapes between components.
4. **Data & state** — what's stored where, consistency model, lifecycle.
5. **Rejected alternatives** — at least one different shape you considered and why this one wins.
6. **Critique of the current design** *(only if a codebase exists)* — judged against the design above. What the current system gets wrong, what it accidentally gets right, what is load-bearing vs. incidental. Not a migration plan; migration is a separate problem.