Senior Architect

Architecture design and analysis tools for making informed technical decisions.

Table of Contents

• - Quick Start
• Tools Overview

• - Decision Workflows

• - Reference Documentation
• Tech Stack Coverage
• Common Commands

Quick Start

CODEBLOCK0

Tools Overview

1. Architecture Diagram Generator

Generates architecture diagrams from project structure in multiple formats.

Solves: "I need to visualize my system architecture for documentation or team discussion"

Input: Project directory path
Output: Diagram code (Mermaid, PlantUML, or ASCII)

Supported diagram types:

• - component - Shows modules and their relationships
• INLINECODE1 - Shows architectural layers (presentation, business, data)
• INLINECODE2 - Shows deployment topology

Usage:
CODEBLOCK1

Example output (Mermaid):

graph TD
    A[API Gateway] --> B[Auth Service]
    A --> C[User Service]
    B --> D[(PostgreSQL)]
    C --> D

2. Dependency Analyzer

Analyzes project dependencies for coupling, circular dependencies, and outdated packages.

Solves: "I need to understand my dependency tree and identify potential issues"

Input: Project directory path
Output: Analysis report (JSON or human-readable)

Analyzes:

• - Dependency tree (direct and transitive)
• Circular dependencies between modules
• Coupling score (0-100)
• Outdated packages

Supported package managers:

• - npm/yarn (package.json)
• Python (requirements.txt, pyproject.toml)
• Go (go.mod)
• Rust (Cargo.toml)

Usage:
CODEBLOCK3

Example output:

Dependency Analysis Report
==========================
Total dependencies: 47 (32 direct, 15 transitive)
Coupling score: 72/100 (moderate)

Issues found:
- CIRCULAR: auth → user → permissions → auth
- OUTDATED: lodash 4.17.15 → 4.17.21 (security)

Recommendations:
1. Extract shared interface to break circular dependency
2. Update lodash to fix CVE-2020-8203

3. Project Architect

Analyzes project structure and detects architectural patterns, code smells, and improvement opportunities.

Solves: "I want to understand the current architecture and identify areas for improvement"

Input: Project directory path
Output: Architecture assessment report

Detects:

• - Architectural patterns (MVC, layered, hexagonal, microservices indicators)
• Code organization issues (god classes, mixed concerns)
• Layer violations
• Missing architectural components

Usage:
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Example output:

Architecture Assessment
=======================
Detected pattern: Layered Architecture (confidence: 85%)

Structure analysis:
  ✓ controllers/  - Presentation layer detected
  ✓ services/     - Business logic layer detected
  ✓ repositories/ - Data access layer detected
  ⚠ models/       - Mixed domain and DTOs

Issues:
- LARGE FILE: UserService.ts (1,847 lines) - consider splitting
- MIXED CONCERNS: PaymentController contains business logic

Recommendations:
1. Split UserService into focused services
2. Move business logic from controllers to services
3. Separate domain models from DTOs

Decision Workflows

Database Selection Workflow

Use when choosing a database for a new project or migrating existing data.

Step 1: Identify data characteristics

Step 2: Evaluate scale requirements

• - <1M records, single region → PostgreSQL or MySQL
• 1M-100M records, read-heavy → PostgreSQL with read replicas
• >100M records, global distribution → CockroachDB, Spanner, or DynamoDB
• High write throughput (>10K/sec) → Cassandra or ScyllaDB

Step 3: Check consistency requirements

• - Strong consistency required → SQL or CockroachDB
• Eventual consistency acceptable → DynamoDB, Cassandra, MongoDB

Step 4: Document decision
Create an ADR (Architecture Decision Record) with:

• - Context and requirements
• Options considered
• Decision and rationale
• Trade-offs accepted

Quick reference:

PostgreSQL → Default choice for most applications
MongoDB    → Document store, flexible schema
Redis      → Caching, sessions, real-time features
DynamoDB   → Serverless, auto-scaling, AWS-native
TimescaleDB → Time-series data with SQL interface

Architecture Pattern Selection Workflow

Use when designing a new system or refactoring existing architecture.

Step 1: Assess team and project size

Step 2: Evaluate deployment requirements

• - Single deployment unit acceptable → Monolith
• Independent scaling needed → Microservices
• Mixed (some services scale differently) → Hybrid

Step 3: Consider data boundaries

• - Shared database acceptable → Monolith or modular monolith
• Strict data isolation required → Microservices with separate DBs
• Event-driven communication fits → Event-sourcing/CQRS

Step 4: Match pattern to requirements

See references/architecture_patterns.md for detailed pattern descriptions.

Monolith vs Microservices Decision

Choose Monolith when:

• - [ ] Team is small (<10 developers)
• [ ] Domain boundaries are unclear
• [ ] Rapid iteration is priority
• [ ] Operational complexity must be minimized
• [ ] Shared database is acceptable

Choose Microservices when:

• - [ ] Teams can own services end-to-end
• [ ] Independent deployment is critical
• [ ] Different scaling requirements per component
• [ ] Technology diversity is needed
• [ ] Domain boundaries are well understood

Hybrid approach:
Start with a modular monolith. Extract services only when:

1. 1. A module has significantly different scaling needs
2. A team needs independent deployment
3. Technology constraints require separation

Reference Documentation

Load these files for detailed information:

Tech Stack Coverage

Languages: TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Go, Swift, Kotlin, Rust
Frontend: React, Next.js, Vue, Angular, React Native, Flutter
Backend: Node.js, Express, FastAPI, Go, GraphQL, REST
Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, DynamoDB, Cassandra
Infrastructure: Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, AWS, GCP, Azure
CI/CD: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, Jenkins

Common Commands

CODEBLOCK8

Getting Help

1. 1. Run any script with --help for usage information
2. Check reference documentation for detailed patterns and workflows
3. Use --verbose flag for detailed explanations and recommendations