How do I install the Greenfield Architect skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add jdanigo/greenfield-architect in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Greenfield Architect skill do?

Greenfield Architect — design the system before the first line It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools on SkillMD.

Is Greenfield Architect safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Greenfield Architect?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Greenfield Architect free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Greenfield Architect?

jdanigo (@jdanigo) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Greenfield Architect by jdanigo — Agent Skill

Name: Greenfield Architect
Author: jdanigo

File contents

Greenfield Architect — design the system before the first line

Runs in the MAIN session (interactive). The "app from scratch" route of the Hydraia pipeline: everything here happens BEFORE the normal Phase 2 spec, and feeds it.

Flow

Elicit (in this order, one question each, skip what the request already answers):
- Problem + primary users — what pain, who feels it.
- Scale honesty — expected users/data/requests as ranges (10? 10k? 10M?). Push back on fantasy numbers.
- Constraints — team size and skills (weighs heavily on stack), budget, deploy target (cloud/on-prem/serverless), compliance (PII? payments? health?).
- Non-functional requirements — latency targets, availability, security posture.
- Integration landscape — what existing systems it must talk to.
Architecture proposal. Dispatch the architect agent (system shape, trade-offs) and code-architect agent (concrete file/interface blueprint). Apply the microservices-architect skill ONLY if elicitation produced evidence for a split. Present 2–3 shapes with trade-offs and one recommendation.
Stack recommendation. Anchored to elicited constraints — team skills first, ecosystem fit second, hype never. Confirm with the human. Name the Phase 4 pattern skill that will govern implementation (react-patterns / node-patterns / dotnet-patterns / golang-patterns / springboot-patterns / python-patterns).
API surface. If the system exposes an API, run the api-design skill now — the contract file becomes part of the spec.
Record decisions. Architecture shape, stack, data store, auth approach, hosting — each gets an ADR via the adr skill, committed with the spec.
Hand off to the normal pipeline: Phase 2 spec references the ADRs by number and embeds/links the contract; Phases 3–6 run unchanged.

Anti-patterns to refuse

Microservices for a 2-person team "to be ready for scale" → monolith + ADR with the split trigger.
Choosing the stack the model likes over the stack the team knows.
Designing for 10M users when elicitation said 500.
Skipping the API contract because "we can document it later".

---name: greenfield-architectdescription: Greenfield Architect — design the system before the first line---# Greenfield Architect — design the system before the first lineRuns in the MAIN session (interactive). The "app from scratch" route of the Hydraia pipeline: everything here happens BEFORE the normal Phase 2 spec, and feeds it.<HARD-RULES>- One question at a time (AskUserQuestion, multiple-choice preferred). Never a questionnaire wall.- Never pick a stack silently: recommendation + rationale + explicit human confirmation.- Default architecture is a well-structured monolith. Splitting into services requires EVIDENCE from elicitation (scale, team topology); splitting without it is over-engineering and must be named as such.- Every load-bearing decision becomes an ADR (adr skill). No decision lives only in chat.- "No sé" is a valid human answer: propose a safe default, state the assumption explicitly in the ADR's Context, and set a revisit trigger.</HARD-RULES>## Flow1. **Elicit** (in this order, one question each, skip what the request already answers): - Problem + primary users — what pain, who feels it. - Scale honesty — expected users/data/requests as ranges (10? 10k? 10M?). Push back on fantasy numbers. - Constraints — team size and skills (weighs heavily on stack), budget, deploy target (cloud/on-prem/serverless), compliance (PII? payments? health?). - Non-functional requirements — latency targets, availability, security posture. - Integration landscape — what existing systems it must talk to.2. **Architecture proposal.** Dispatch the `architect` agent (system shape, trade-offs) and `code-architect` agent (concrete file/interface blueprint). Apply the `microservices-architect` skill ONLY if elicitation produced evidence for a split. Present 2–3 shapes with trade-offs and one recommendation.3. **Stack recommendation.** Anchored to elicited constraints — team skills first, ecosystem fit second, hype never. Confirm with the human. Name the Phase 4 pattern skill that will govern implementation (react-patterns / node-patterns / dotnet-patterns / golang-patterns / springboot-patterns / python-patterns).4. **API surface.** If the system exposes an API, run the **api-design** skill now — the contract file becomes part of the spec.5. **Record decisions.** Architecture shape, stack, data store, auth approach, hosting — each gets an ADR via the **adr** skill, committed with the spec.6. **Hand off** to the normal pipeline: Phase 2 spec references the ADRs by number and embeds/links the contract; Phases 3–6 run unchanged.## Anti-patterns to refuse- Microservices for a 2-person team "to be ready for scale" → monolith + ADR with the split trigger.- Choosing the stack the model likes over the stack the team knows.- Designing for 10M users when elicitation said 500.- Skipping the API contract because "we can document it later".

Frequently asked questions

Greenfield Architect