tomevault-io Anti-Pattern Detector
Identifies recurring failure patterns in plans and decisions. Anti-patterns look reasonable on the surface but lead to predictable problems. Detecting them early saves months of pain.
Anti-Pattern Categories
1. Architecture Anti-Patterns
| Pattern | Description | Symptoms |
|---|---|---|
| Big Ball of Mud | No clear structure, everything coupled | Can't change X without breaking Y |
| Golden Hammer | Using one approach for everything | "We'll use [tool] for that too" |
| Premature Microservices | Splitting before understanding boundaries | 3 people managing 20 services |
| Distributed Monolith | Microservices with tight coupling | Must deploy all services together |
| Resume-Driven Development | Choices for career, not product | "Let's use Rust for the admin panel" |
2. Timeline Anti-Patterns
| Pattern | Description | Symptoms |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline Fantasy | Optimistic estimates ignoring reality | "6 weeks if everything goes well" |
| Scope Creep Blindness | Not accounting for inevitable growth | Same deadline, 2x scope |
| Parallel Path Delusion | Assuming unlimited parallelization | "Add more people to go faster" |
| MVP Maximalism | MVP that's actually V3 | 47 features in "minimum" product |
| Demo-Driven Development | Building for demos, not production | "It works on my machine" |
3. Team Anti-Patterns
| Pattern | Description | Symptoms |
|---|---|---|
| Hero Culture | Reliance on key individuals | "Only Sarah can fix that" |
| Knowledge Silos | Critical info in one person's head | Bus factor of 1 |
| Conway's Law Violation | Structure doesn't match team | Boundaries don't align |
| Understaffed Ambition | Big plans with tiny teams | 2 people building "the platform" |
| Absent Ownership | No clear owner for components | Issues fall through cracks |
4. Process Anti-Patterns
| Pattern | Description | Symptoms |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo Cult Agile | Ceremonies without principles | Standups but no shipping |
| Analysis Paralysis | Over-planning, under-executing | Month 3 of "finalizing requirements" |
| Infinite Refactoring | Never shipping, always improving | "One more cleanup before release" |
| Documentation Theater | Docs that no one reads | 200-page spec, outdated day 1 |
| Meeting Madness | More meetings than doing | "Let's schedule a meeting" |
5. Technology Anti-Patterns
| Pattern | Description | Symptoms |
|---|---|---|
| Shiny Object Syndrome | Chasing latest tech without reason | "Rewrite in [new hotness]" |
| Not Invented Here | Building what should be bought | Custom auth, custom logging, custom everything |
| Vendor Lock-in Denial | Ignoring exit costs | "We can always migrate later" |
| Premature Optimization | Optimizing before measuring | Caching layer with 10 users |
| Framework Overload | Too many frameworks/libraries | 47 dependencies for a button |
Detection Process
Step 1: Scan for Signals
Look for phrases that indicate anti-patterns:
Timeline signals: "If everything goes well...", "We can do it faster if...", "Just need to hire...", "Should only take..."
Architecture signals: "We'll figure out boundaries later...", "Everything talks to everything...", "It's only temporary...", "We can always refactor..."
Team signals: "Only [person] knows...", "We'll hire for that...", "[Person] will handle all of...", "The team can absorb..."
Process signals: "We don't need docs...", "We'll add tests later...", "Let's discuss in the meeting...", "Requirements are evolving..."
Step 2: Verify Pattern Match
For each suspected anti-pattern:
- Identify: Which specific pattern?
- Evidence: What in the plan matches?
- Severity: How bad? (Critical / High / Medium / Low)
- Context: Could this be a reasonable exception?
Step 3: Check for Combinations
Certain patterns appear together and compound risk:
Startup Death Spiral: Timeline Fantasy + Understaffed Ambition + Hero Culture
- Result: Burnout, missed deadlines, key person leaves
Enterprise Trap: Analysis Paralysis + Documentation Theater + Meeting Madness
- Result: Nothing ships, team frustrated, competition wins
Tech Debt Avalanche: "Refactor later" + No ownership + Premature optimization
- Result: System unmaintainable, rewrite required
Microservices Mistake: Premature Microservices + Distributed Monolith + Understaffed
- Result: Complexity explosion, slower than monolith
Severity Framework
| Level | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Will cause failure if not addressed | Stop and fix before proceeding |
| High | Will cause significant problems | Address in planning phase |
| Medium | Will cause friction and delays | Include in risk mitigation |
| Low | Worth noting but manageable | Track and address opportunistically |
When to Use This Skill
Use antipattern-detector for recognizing known failure patterns (architecture, timeline, team, process, technology). Use assumption-challenger for surfacing hidden assumptions treated as facts. Both run together in /validate.
Pre-Delivery Checklist
Before presenting an analysis, verify:
- Every detected pattern includes a direct evidence quote from the plan
- Every pattern has a severity rating (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Pattern combinations are checked and reported
- "Patterns NOT Detected" section is included for confidence
- Fixes are specific and actionable, not generic advice
Output Format
# Anti-Pattern Analysis: [Plan Name]
## Summary
- **Patterns Detected**: [Count]
- **Critical**: [Count] | **High**: [Count] | **Medium**: [Count] | **Low**: [Count]
- **Overall Risk Level**: Critical / High / Medium / Low
- **Pattern Combinations Found**: [List any compound patterns]
## Critical Issues (Must Address)
### [Pattern Name]
**Category**: [Category] | **Severity**: Critical
**Evidence**: [What triggered detection]
**Risk**: [What will go wrong]
**Fix**: [How to address]
---
## High-Priority Issues (Should Address)
[Same format]
## Medium-Priority Issues (Consider Addressing)
[Same format]
## Patterns NOT Detected
[List patterns checked but not found — builds confidence]
## Recommendations
### Before Proceeding
1. [Critical action]
### During Execution
1. [Mitigation]
### Warning Signs to Monitor
- [Metric or signal to watch]
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