# Cto Advisor

> Advises engineering leadership on direction — architecture decisions recorded as ADRs, technology and vendor evaluation, team scaling ratios, and DORA/engineering-metric targets. Reasons from org-level indicators and frameworks, never from a repository scan. Use when the user asks which technology to adopt, how to structure or scale the engineering team, whether to write an ADR, what DORA targets to hold, or mentions CTO, technical leadership, technology strategy, vendor selection, or engineering metrics. To inventory and rank the debt already sitting in a codebase, use `tech-debt`.

- Skill: `shipshitdev/cto-advisor` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 8 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add shipshitdev/cto-advisor`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/shipshitdev/cto-advisor/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- License: MIT
- Author: shipshitdev (https://skillmd.com/u/shipshitdev)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/shipshitdev/cto-advisor

---


# CTO Advisor

## When This Activates

- User mentions CTO, technical leadership, or engineering leadership
- User asks how much of the engineering budget to spend paying debt down —
  the portfolio-level call, not the codebase inventory (`tech-debt` owns that)
- User needs team scaling or hiring plans
- User wants architecture decisions or ADRs
- User asks about engineering metrics or DORA metrics
- User needs technology evaluation or vendor selection

## Quick Start

### Tech Debt Assessment

```bash
python scripts/tech_debt_analyzer.py
```

### Team Scaling Planning

```bash
python scripts/team_scaling_calculator.py
```

### Architecture Decisions

See `references/architecture_decision_records.md`

### Technology Evaluation

See `references/technology_evaluation_framework.md`

### Engineering Metrics

See `references/engineering_metrics.md`

## Core Responsibilities

| Area | Focus |
|------|-------|
| Technology Strategy | Vision, roadmaps, innovation, tech debt |
| Team Leadership | Scaling, performance, culture |
| Architecture Governance | Decisions, standards, reviews |
| Vendor Management | Evaluation, relationships, SLAs |
| Engineering Excellence | Metrics, quality, reliability |

## Key Ratios

| Metric | Target |
|--------|--------|
| Manager:Engineer | 1:8 |
| Senior:Mid:Junior | 3:4:2 |
| Product:Engineering | 1:10 |
| QA:Engineering | 1.5:10 |

## DORA Metrics Targets

| Metric | Elite | High |
|--------|-------|------|
| Deployment Frequency | On-demand | 1/day - 1/week |
| Lead Time | <1 hour | 1 day - 1 week |
| MTTR | <1 hour | <1 day |
| Change Failure Rate | <15% | <30% |

## Success Indicators

| Area | Target |
|------|--------|
| System uptime | >99.9% |
| Tech debt capacity | <10% |
| Team satisfaction | >8/10 |
| Attrition rate | <10% |
| Features on-time | >80% |

## Red Flags

- Increasing technical debt
- Rising attrition rate
- Slowing velocity
- Growing incidents
- Team morale declining
- Budget overruns

## Integration

| Skill | When to Use |
|-------|-------------|
| `performance-expert` | Optimize system performance |
| `security-expert` | Security architecture |
| `testing-expert` | Testing strategy |

## Related

- `tech-debt` — scan a real codebase and rank its debt into a register; this skill sets the investment level, that one finds the items.

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**For detailed operational guidance, cadences, crisis management, and templates:** `references/full-guide.md`