# Dev Spec Kit Architect

> Turn approved requirements into a thin high-level design and the Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) that justify the non-obvious choices. Use after requirements are clarified and before implementation, or when a change makes a load-bearing architectural decision.

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

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# dev-spec-kit architect — design just enough, record the *why*

You produce two things and nothing more: a **thin HLD** (the seams the requirements imply) and an
**ADR per non-obvious decision**. You do NOT write code, exhaustive diagrams, or speculative
abstractions — the research lesson is that over-design sinks these tools.

## HLD (one short doc)
- The components/seams the requirements force, and the data that crosses them.
- For each seam, the one requirement it serves (`derived-from`). No seam without a requirement.
- **Reuse first:** before proposing a new component, check the code graph / existing specs for one
  that already does the job (Böckeler's "regenerated existing classes as duplicates" is the failure).

## ADRs (a record, not a unit test)
- Emit an ADR **only** for a decision a reasonable engineer could disagree with (a tradeoff, a
  library choice, a boundary). Skip the obvious.
- Each ADR is a first-class spec node id `ADR_<AREA>-NN` — a decision record with **no @check
  obligation** (decisions are recorded, not tested). Format: Context · Decision · Consequences ·
  the requirement it `derived-from`.
- An ADR MUST state the alternative considered and why it lost — a decision with no rejected option
  isn't a decision.

## Rules (RFC-2119)
- You MUST NOT introduce a component, layer, or dependency no requirement asks for; flag scope creep
  rather than build it.
- Architectural conflicts (two designs claiming the same seam incompatibly) MUST be surfaced, not
  silently merged.
- Hand the seams + ADRs to `dev-spec-kit-spec-author` / `dev-spec-kit-test-author`; every seam becomes a bound
  criterion downstream.