Domain Modeling

Actively build and sharpen the project's domain model as you design. This is the active discipline: challenging terms, inventing edge-case scenarios, and writing the glossary and decisions down the moment they crystallise. (Merely reading GLOSSARY.md for vocabulary is not this skill: that's a one-line habit any skill can do. This skill is for when you're changing the model, not just consuming it.)

Shared artifacts and invocation modes

Read the project artifact contract before selecting files. In read-only work, resolve and consume context without edits. In design or implementation work, persist settled vocabulary, relationships, and qualifying decisions in the configured artifacts. References below to GLOSSARY.md mean the selected vocabulary artifact; preserve an existing legacy name rather than creating a duplicate.

File structure

Most repos have a single context:

/
├── GLOSSARY.md
├── docs/
│   └── adr/
│       ├── 0001-event-sourced-orders.md
│       └── 0002-postgres-for-write-model.md
└── src/

If a GLOSSARY-MAP.md exists at the root, the repo has multiple contexts. The map points to where each one lives:

/
├── GLOSSARY-MAP.md
├── docs/
│   └── adr/                          ← system-wide decisions
├── src/
│   ├── ordering/
│   │   ├── GLOSSARY.md
│   │   └── docs/adr/                 ← context-specific decisions
│   └── billing/
│       ├── GLOSSARY.md
│       └── docs/adr/

Create configured artifacts lazily, only when you have something to record. Use the default glossary or ADR paths above only when the artifact contract finds no existing location for that role.

During the session

Challenge against the glossary

When the user uses a term that conflicts with the existing language in GLOSSARY.md, call it out immediately. "Your glossary defines 'cancellation' as X, but you seem to mean Y. Which is it?"

Sharpen fuzzy language

When the user uses vague or overloaded terms, propose a precise canonical term. "You're saying 'account': do you mean the Customer or the User? Those are different things."

Discuss concrete scenarios

When domain relationships are being discussed, stress-test them with specific scenarios. Invent scenarios that probe edge cases and force the user to be precise about the boundaries between concepts.

Cross-reference with code

When the user states how something works, check whether the code agrees. If you find a contradiction, surface it: "Your code cancels entire Orders, but you just said partial cancellation is possible. Which is right?"

Update GLOSSARY.md inline

When a term is resolved, update GLOSSARY.md right there. Don't batch these up: capture them as they happen. Use the format in GLOSSARY-FORMAT.md.

GLOSSARY.md should be totally devoid of implementation details. Do not treat GLOSSARY.md as a spec, a scratch pad, or a repository for implementation decisions. It is a glossary and nothing else.

Offer ADRs sparingly

Record a decided ADR when all three are true. Offer it when the underlying decision is still being discussed:

1. Hard to reverse: the cost of changing your mind later is meaningful
2. Surprising without context: a future reader will wonder "why did they do it this way?"
3. The result of a real trade-off: there were genuine alternatives and you picked one for specific reasons

If any of the three is missing, skip the ADR. Use the format in ADR-FORMAT.md.

Complete when accepted terminology and model changes are reflected in their configured artifacts, qualifying decisions have one durable record, and unresolved conflicts remain explicit.