Skill Architecture Planning

Skill Architecture Planning

Designing and planning multi-skill architectures for complex, multi-step tasks.

When to Plan a Skill Architecture

• Task spans 3+ distinct domains (Docker + PS + WSL2)
• Task has branching logic (if X do Y, else do Z)
• Task requires sequential phases with dependencies
• Workflow will repeat with variations
• Different parts need different expertise levels

Architecture Patterns

Linear Pipeline

Skill A → Skill B → Skill C → Skill D

Use when: Steps are sequential, each depends on previous.

Branching Tree

         ┌→ Skill B → Skill D
Skill A ─┤
         └→ Skill C → Skill E

Use when: Different conditions lead to different sub-flows.

Hub-and-Spoke

         ┌→ Skill B
Skill A ─┼→ Skill C → Skill D
         └→ Skill E

Use when: One orchestrator delegates to multiple specialized skills.

Layered

Skill A (orchestrator)
├── Skill B (planning)
├── Skill C (execution)
└── Skill D (verification)

Use when: Different abstraction levels need separation.

Cross-Reference Convention

At the bottom of each skill, reference related skills:

## See Also
- skill-architecture-planning  — planning multi-skill architectures
- skill-development-workflow   — building and testing skills
- skill-discovery             — discovering existing skills

Pitfalls

• Over-engineering: don't split a 3-step task into 3 skills
• Missing links: always cross-reference related skills
• Stale chains: when updating one skill, check all chain consumers
• Circular deps: Skill A → B → A creates infinite loops
• Skill bloat: a skill covering too many domains should be split