Guided Journey · Engineering

Design Code Architecture

Deliberate architecture for a new system

Takes you from an app idea to a deliberate architecture: boundaries, domain model, data decisions, and resilience, making only the expensive-to-reverse decisions and deferring the rest. It orchestrates its eight skills phase by phase, asking you the decision questions at every step and recording every result in your project's docs/ folder so the journey resumes across sessions.

Written to your repo
  • docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
  • docs/TECH-DEBT.md
  • docs/RELIABILITY.md
  • docs/TESTING.md
  • docs/DESIGN-CODE-ARCHITECTURE-PLAN.md journey tracker — stop anytime, resume any session

One prompt runs it

Every phase asks before it acts, and every decision lands in your project’s docs/ folder as a living document — quit anytime, resume in any session.

Use it when you need to
  • Design a new system's structure before the first sprint locks it in
  • Draw boundaries and model the domain so the code speaks the business language
  • Size the system honestly and skip the scaling machinery you don't need
  • Make data, consistency, and failure-handling decisions explicitly
  • Cut speculative abstractions with an appetite-bounded review
Install this metaskill
npx skills add wondelai/skills/design-code-architecture --global

This skill is compatible with Claude, Claude Code, Claude Cowork, Codex, Cursor, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, and other agentskills.io-compatible agents.

Journey Map

8 phases, one deliberate order

Each phase invokes one skill from the library, asks you the decision question, and writes the answer to your project’s docs/ before moving on.

  1. 01 Do source-code dependencies point inward — is the core testable with no DB, web, or framework? Clean Architecture clean-architecture → docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
  2. 02 Where does the business actually split, and what does each term mean? Domain-Driven Design domain-driven-design → docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
  3. 03 How little system does our real load actually need? System Design system-design → docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
  4. 04 Which data model, storage engine, and consistency does each workload need? Data-Intensive Apps ddia-systems → docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
  5. 05 Is complexity hidden behind deep modules, or is this classitis? Software Design software-design-philosophy → docs/TECH-DEBT.md
  6. 06 Will it degrade gracefully when a dependency is slow or down? Release It! release-it → docs/RELIABILITY.md
  7. 07 What thin slice proves the boundaries, and what habits keep them reversible? Pragmatic Programmer pragmatic-programmer → docs/TESTING.md + docs/TECH-DEBT.md
  8. 08 What is essential for v1, and what speculative abstraction do we cut? The 37signals Way 37signals-way → docs/ARCHITECTURE.md + docs/TECH-DEBT.md
In Practice

Design the Architecture Before the Code Locks It In

A new system is starting; the first sprint's shortcuts will become the permanent architecture unless you decide now.

We're designing [system] expecting [load/scale context]. Run the
design-code-architecture journey: boundaries, domain model, honest
sizing, data decisions, failure design — every expensive-to-reverse
decision logged in docs/ARCHITECTURE.md with alternatives.

Use design-code-architecture skill.
Example Prompts

Try these with the skill installed

We're starting a new service — design the architecture with me, decision by decision. using design-code-architecture skill

New service kickoff

Run the architecture journey for this system; default to a modular monolith. using design-code-architecture skill

Modular monolith default

Resume the architecture design from the decision log. using design-code-architecture skill

Resume journey
The Source

Born from a guide

This journey packages the playbook below as a single skill — the guide is the long-form read behind every phase.

Deep dive · Architecture

How to Design the Best Possible Architecture for a New App

Make the high-leverage architecture decisions right the first time — boundaries, domain model, data, and resilience — using AI agent skills from Clean Architecture, Domain-Driven Design, Designing Data-Intensive Applications, and more.

19 min read
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Install Design Code Architecture

Free, open-source, and ready in 30 seconds.

npx skills add wondelai/skills/design-code-architecture --global
Browse on GitHub See All Skills

MIT Licensed · Works with Claude, Claude Code, Claude Cowork, Codex, Cursor, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent & other agentskills.io agents · No account needed

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