How do I install the Octopus Architecture skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add nyldn/octopus-architecture 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.

Is Octopus Architecture safe to use?

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

Which AI agents work with Octopus Architecture?

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 Octopus Architecture free to use?

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

Who published Octopus Architecture?

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

Octopus Architecture by nyldn — Agent Skill

Name: Octopus Architecture
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: nyldn

File contents

Host: Codex CLI — This skill was designed for Claude Code and adapted for Codex. Cross-reference commands use installed skill names in Codex rather than /octo:* slash commands. Use the active Codex shell and subagent tools. Do not claim a provider, model, or host subagent is available until the current session exposes it. For host tool equivalents, see skills/blocks/codex-host-adapter.md.

Architecture review

Load skills/blocks/engineering-method-selection.md from the installed plugin and apply only the methods relevant to this task. Preserve this entry point's execution contract and output format. Read referenced skills as instructions; do not invoke the current command recursively or add provider calls from a seat.

Run this method on the current host. A routine architecture review makes zero additional provider dispatches. --peer-review, an explicit independent-review request, or an existing risk policy may add one bounded external reviewer through Octopus routing. Report incomplete independent coverage if that reviewer cannot read the source or does not return a grounded contribution.

Method

Read and apply skills/blocks/architecture-simplification.md from the installed plugin root. Pin the source revision and inspect implementation, callers, tests, recent churn, and failure behavior before recommending a boundary.

For a single simplification, produce one evidence-backed interface. For a design choice, produce two alternatives from the same immutable requirements:

Draft A minimizes caller knowledge and configuration.
Draft B makes the next demonstrated extension easier.

Label two host-generated drafts as correlated alternatives from one model. If an independent reviewer is authorized, send it the same source and requirements but not Draft A before its first response. Transport diversity does not prove model family diversity. Unknown family means unknown independence.

Completion

Return Evidence, Caller contract, Proposed interface, Migration, Test impact, and Decision. The decision is keep, simplify, or investigate. simplify requires exact source evidence and a concrete caller example. A design review never authorizes an automatic refactor.

LSP Integration

When the host exposes language-server tools, use document symbols, workspace symbols, definitions, and references to confirm module boundaries and caller relationships before proposing an interface. Treat LSP results as an index: verify consequential claims against source and tests, and fall back to repository search when the language server is unavailable or incomplete.

Adapted from codebase-design and DESIGN-IT-TWICE in mattpocock/skills at commit 3cca18b368ae95cdbdebbff572ccafa662551015 under the MIT License. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

---name: octopus-architecturedescription: Review system architecture, simplify boundaries, or compare interface designs from repository evidence--- > **Host: Codex CLI** — This skill was designed for Claude Code and adapted for Codex. > Cross-reference commands use installed skill names in Codex rather than `/octo:*` slash commands. > Use the active Codex shell and subagent tools. Do not claim a provider, model, or host subagent is available until the current session exposes it. > For host tool equivalents, see `skills/blocks/codex-host-adapter.md`. # Architecture review Load `skills/blocks/engineering-method-selection.md` from the installed plugin and apply only the methods relevant to this task. Preserve this entry point's execution contract and output format. Read referenced skills as instructions; do not invoke the current command recursively or add provider calls from a seat. Run this method on the current host. A routine architecture review makes zero additional provider dispatches. `--peer-review`, an explicit independent-review request, or an existing risk policy may add one bounded external reviewer through Octopus routing. Report incomplete independent coverage if that reviewer cannot read the source or does not return a grounded contribution. ## Method Read and apply `skills/blocks/architecture-simplification.md` from the installed plugin root. Pin the source revision and inspect implementation, callers, tests, recent churn, and failure behavior before recommending a boundary. For a single simplification, produce one evidence-backed interface. For a design choice, produce two alternatives from the same immutable requirements: - Draft A minimizes caller knowledge and configuration. - Draft B makes the next demonstrated extension easier. Label two host-generated drafts as correlated alternatives from one model. If an independent reviewer is authorized, send it the same source and requirements but not Draft A before its first response. Transport diversity does not prove model family diversity. Unknown family means unknown independence. ## Completion Return `Evidence`, `Caller contract`, `Proposed interface`, `Migration`, `Test impact`, and `Decision`. The decision is `keep`, `simplify`, or `investigate`. `simplify` requires exact source evidence and a concrete caller example. A design review never authorizes an automatic refactor. ## LSP Integration When the host exposes language-server tools, use document symbols, workspace symbols, definitions, and references to confirm module boundaries and caller relationships before proposing an interface. Treat LSP results as an index: verify consequential claims against source and tests, and fall back to repository search when the language server is unavailable or incomplete. Adapted from `codebase-design` and `DESIGN-IT-TWICE` in `mattpocock/skills` at commit `3cca18b368ae95cdbdebbff572ccafa662551015` under the MIT License. See `THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md`.

Frequently asked questions

Octopus Architecture