Platform Design

Platform Design Command

Get guidance on designing Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs) and improving developer experience.

Usage

/systems-design:platform-design [aspect]

Arguments

• aspect (optional): Specific area to focus on
  • portal - Developer portal design (Backstage, Port)
  • templates - Service templates and software catalogs
  • provisioning - Self-service infrastructure provisioning
  • golden-paths - Standardized development workflows
  • If omitted: Provide comprehensive IDP guidance

Examples

/systems-design:platform-design
/systems-design:platform-design portal
/systems-design:platform-design golden-paths

Workflow

1. Understand Current State

   • Search for existing platform components
   • Look for: Backstage configs, Terraform modules, CI/CD templates
   • Identify current developer workflows

2. Spawn Platform Engineer Agent Use the platform-engineer agent to analyze and design. The agent specializes in:

   • Internal Developer Platform architecture
   • Developer portal design
   • Golden paths and paved roads
   • Self-service infrastructure
   • Platform team operating models

3. Present Design Guidance Provide recommendations organized by:

   • Current State Assessment
   • Recommended Architecture
   • Implementation Roadmap
   • Success Metrics

Output Format

## Platform Design Report

### Current State
- Existing components: [list]
- Developer pain points: [identified or ask]
- Platform maturity: [Level 0-4]

### Recommended Architecture
- [Component diagram or description]
- Key components and their roles
- Integration points

### Golden Paths
1. [Path name] - [Description]
   - Templates needed
   - Guardrails to implement
   - Escape hatches

### Implementation Roadmap
- Phase 1: [Quick wins]
- Phase 2: [Core capabilities]
- Phase 3: [Advanced features]

### Success Metrics
- Developer productivity: [metric]
- Time to first deploy: [metric]
- Platform adoption: [metric]

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