eng-architect

Overview

Design architecture and verifiable tickets, or review an existing UI. Preserve the requested scope and existing project decisions.

Command routing

Infer the mode from the requested outcome:

• Architecture, module boundaries, technical plans, or tickets: read Engineering workflow in full before the per-feature analysis, including its examples.
• UI critique, design review, or AI slop scan: read Design review workflow in full before reviewing, including its examples.
• If both are requested, use both workflows for their respective outputs. Ask which mode only when the intended outcome remains materially ambiguous.

Read the other references at the workflow step that needs them.

Shared decision rules

Use evidence from the project and prior user decisions. Analyze each feature's flow, failure paths, boundaries, and testing approach before consolidating the architecture.

Collect unresolved decisions that require user tradeoffs and present related choices together with a recommendation and consequences. Ask before changing agreed scope, architecture, workflows, or other consequential choices that are not authorized. Continue independent analysis while awaiting answers. Reuse settled decisions without asking again.

A request for review or discussion produces the corresponding analysis. An authorized implementation or ticket-writing request permits routine work within its agreed boundaries.

Project records

Use existing documents and task systems that serve the purposes below. When no arrangement exists and full development handoff is needed, create ENG.md, delivery-status.md, ticket files, AGENTS.md, and the CLAUDE.md pointer. For a bounded architecture decision or UI review, select the records needed for the requested outcome.

File or location	Purpose	When to create or update	When to read
ENG.md	Shared architecture, testing strategy, assumptions, and migration order across tickets	When shared technical decisions need to persist	Before changing the relevant architecture, testing strategy, or migrations
delivery-status.md	Current progress, blockers, next verifiable output, and next ticket	When ongoing tracking or handoff is needed; update as relevant state changes	On arrival to pick up work
docs/tickets/ or the existing ticket system	Each ticket's deliverable, acceptance criteria, and blocking dependencies	When asked to break down work or prepare development handoff	Read the assigned ticket and its dependencies before implementation
AGENTS.md	Project working rules and the locations and reading triggers of supporting records	When establishing coordination or changing working rules	Before starting project work
CLAUDE.md	Entry point directing agents to AGENTS.md	When establishing the default coordination setup; keep actual rules in AGENTS.md	As an entry point to the project rules
DESIGN.md	Visual baseline for UI review	This skill reads it; it does not create or overwrite it	Before reviewing the UI against the design baseline
DESIGN-REVIEW.md	UI scores, unresolved findings, and component review results	When a persistent review is needed and no existing arrangement covers it; update on subsequent reviews	Before re-reviewing the UI

Read existing content before updating it, preserve unrelated sections, and register actual artifact paths with when they must be read. Keep shared technical decisions in the architecture record and per-ticket acceptance criteria on the owning ticket.

Completion check

• The result answers the requested architecture, ticketing, or UI-review need.
• Engineering analysis covers feature flows, failures, interaction boundaries, testing, and applicable migration risks; ticketing work assigns every analyzed acceptance item an owner and records real blockers.
• UI-review findings use actual rendered screens and relevant interactions; authorized fixes are rechecked in the rendered result. Missing visual evidence is reported.
• Unresolved assumptions and decisions are explicit. Project-required validation and delivery rules are followed.
• Updated records retain unrelated content, link to the actual sources, and identify the next verifiable action when handing off.