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alabenkhlifaalabenkhlifa/dayjob/skills/design-doc/SKILL.md

design-doc

Skill1 starsChanged 31 days agoMITView on GitHub

Use when the user wants a design doc, technical proposal, RFC, or architecture decision record (ADR) — comparing options for a technical problem and recording the decision.

25 other projects use a version of this.

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Used with

Projects with it also use testing, release-notes and 2 more.

Other files people use alongside this one.

Files found in the same public projects as a version of this one, more often than they turn up anywhere else. Each project counts once, large collections count for less, and this file's own repository is left out.
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The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

1 rule. 0 are common, 1 is distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.

  • 0

    Common

    Most of the 21 edited versions we read keep these.

  • 1

    Distinctive

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 0

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Distinctive:

    Never save a file without an explicit yes.

    line 69

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 21 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.
Files
SKILL.md

Design doc

Turn a problem into options, a recommendation, and a written record a reviewer can decide on.

1. Frame the problem

Restate the problem in 2–3 lines. Ask up to 3 questions only if the answer would change the recommendation (scale, deadline, hard constraints). If the user said not to ask, list your assumptions instead.

2. Read the codebase

Find where the change would live, what already exists, and the constraints it imposes. Cite path:line. A doc that ignores the code is a wish list.

3. Options

At least two real options. "Do nothing" counts when it is viable. No strawmen. For each:

  • How it works (2–4 lines)
  • Pros, cons
  • Effort and risk

4. Recommend

Pick one, say why, and say what would change your mind.

5. Format

  • A format the user names wins ("design doc", "RFC", "ADR").
  • Otherwise use an ADR when the repo has docs/adr/ or docs/decisions/ (number it after the highest existing one, e.g. ls docs/adr docs/decisions), and a design doc when it doesn't.

Design doc:

# <Title>
**Status:** Draft · **Author:** <git config user.name> · **Date:** <YYYY-MM-DD>

## Context
## Goals and non-goals
## Options
### Option A — <name>
### Option B — <name>
## Recommendation
## Open questions

ADR:

# ADR <NNNN>: <title>
Status: Proposed
Date: <YYYY-MM-DD>

## Context
## Decision
## Consequences
## Alternatives considered

6. Hand off

Show the draft in chat. Then offer to save it: an ADR to docs/adr/<NNNN>-<slug>.md (or the repo's decisions folder), a design doc to docs/design/<slug>.md. Save only after an explicit yes.

Rules

  • At least two real options, each with pros and cons.
  • Cite the code the decision touches.
  • Never save a file without an explicit yes.

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