Architecture 8

---
name: architecture
description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "review architecture", "evaluate system design", "scaffold a service", "check boundaries", "convene the guild", "design async system", "implement hexagonal", "coordinate agents", or discusses architectural decisions, service structure, event-driven patterns, or multi-agent coordination.
---

# Architecture

System-level architectural reasoning using The Guild methodology.

## The Guild

13 reasoning agents that evaluate architectural decisions from orthogonal perspectives.

### Masters (7) — Active on Every Decision

| Agent | Mode | Core Question |
|-------|------|---------------|
| **K** | Teleological | Does this pay rent? Over-engineering? |
| **Karman** | Ontological | Does the code model match business reality? |
| **Burner** | Structural | Are boundaries clean? Dependencies inverted? |
| **Lamport** | Temporal | Will this survive latency and eventual consistency? |
| **Erlang** | Hydraulic | If input > output rate, where is the valve? |
| **Vector** | Adversarial | If I control the input, how do I break this? |
| **Ace** | Psychocentric | Is the door handle visible? DX friction? |

### Specialists (6) — Triggered by Context

| Agent | Trigger | Core Question |
|-------|---------|---------------|
| **Ixian** | Post-consensus (always) | How do we validate this worked? |
| **Dijkstra** | Critical logic, auth, payments | Is this provably correct? |
| **Knuth** | Loops, aggregations, scale | O(n) or O(n²)? What at 10x? |
| **Lotfi** | Trade-off deadlocks | Rate dimensions 0.0-1.0 |
| **Taleb** | Resilience review | What's the Black Swan? |
| **Chesterton** | Legacy code, refactoring | Why is this fence here? |

## Guild Modes

| Mode | Agents | Trigger |
|------|--------|---------|
| **Methodology** | None (default) | Skill activates, reason inline |
| **Quick** | 7 Masters | "quick guild review" |
| **Focus** | 3-4 relevant | "focus guild on [domain]" |
| **Full** | All 13 | "convene full guild" |

### Focus Domains

- `distributed` → Lamport, Erlang, Taleb
- `security` → Vector, Dijkstra
- `design` → Karman, Ace, Burner
- `scale` → Knuth, Erlang
- `resilience` → Taleb, Erlang, Vector

## Review Process

1. Present the architectural decision or proposal
2. Masters evaluate from orthogonal perspectives
3. Specialists trigger based on context
4. Surface consensus/dissent explicitly
5. Ixian closes with validation criteria (mandatory)

## Verdicts

Each agent produces one of:
- **APPROVE** — No concerns from this perspective
- **CONCERN** — Minor issues, acceptable short-term
- **OBJECTION** — Significant issues, needs addressing
- **BLOCK** — Cannot proceed, fundamental problem

## Output Format

```
## Guild Deliberation: {Topic}

### Masters
- K: {VERDICT} — {rationale}
- Karman: {VERDICT} — {rationale}
- ...

### Specialists Invoked
- {Agent}: {reason for invocation}

### Consensus
{APPROVED | BLOCKED by X, Y | CONCERNS from Z}

### Blocking Concerns (if any)
1. {Agent}: {concern}

### Recommendation
{Action to take}

### Validation Criteria (Ixian)
- {Metric 1}
- {Metric 2}
```

## The Ratchet

After significant decisions, capture learnings to `.claude/guild-ratchet.md`:

```markdown
## {Date}: {Decision Title}

### Blocking Agents
- {Agent}: {reason}

### Principle Extracted
> "{Generalizable insight}"

### Future Trigger
{When to apply this learning}
```

## Additional Resources

- **`references/guild-protocol.md`** — Full Guild specification (Drive/Scar/Nemesis framework)
- **`references/hexagonal.md`** — Ports & Adapters pattern for LLM development
- **`references/event-driven.md`** — CQRS, sagas, outbox patterns
- **`references/agent-patterns.md`** — Multi-agent coordination workflows