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Use when you have architecture documentation from system-archaeologist and need critical assessment, refactoring recommendations, or improvement prioritization - routes to appropriate architect...
System Architect provides critical assessment and strategic recommendations for existing codebases.
The architect works WITH the archaeologist: archaeologist documents what exists (neutral), architect assesses quality and recommends improvements (critical).
Use system-architect skills when:
IMPORTANT: All reference sheets are located in the SAME DIRECTORY as this SKILL.md file.
When this skill is loaded from:
skills/using-system-architect/SKILL.md
Reference sheets like assessing-architecture-quality.md are at:
skills/using-system-architect/assessing-architecture-quality.md
NOT at:
skills/assessing-architecture-quality.md ā WRONG PATH
When you see a link like [assessing-architecture-quality.md](assessing-architecture-quality.md), read the file from the same directory as this SKILL.md.
Archaeologist ā Architect ā (Future: Project Manager)
(documents) (assesses) (manages execution)
Archaeologist (axiom-system-archaeologist):
Architect (axiom-system-architect - this plugin):
Delivery Manager (axiom-program-management, /program-management):
Product Owner (axiom-product-management, /product-management):
Use when:
Addresses:
Output: Direct, evidence-based architecture assessment
Use when:
Addresses:
Output: Properly structured technical debt catalog (complete or partial with limitations)
Use when:
Addresses:
Output: Risk-based improvement roadmap with security as Phase 1
Step 1: Use archaeologist first
/system-archaeologist
ā Produces: subsystem catalog, diagrams, report
Step 2: Use architect for assessment
Read archaeologist outputs
ā Use: assessing-architecture-quality
ā Produces: 05-quality-assessment.md
Step 3: Catalog technical debt
Read assessment
ā Use: identifying-technical-debt
ā Produces: 06-technical-debt-catalog.md
If no existing analysis:
1. Archaeologist: document architecture
2. Architect: assess quality
3. Architect: catalog technical debt
If archaeologist analysis exists:
1. Read existing subsystem catalog
2. Use: identifying-technical-debt
Complete workflow:
1. Archaeologist: document architecture
2. Use: assessing-architecture-quality
ā Produces: 05-quality-assessment.md
3. Use: identifying-technical-debt
ā Produces: 06-technical-debt-catalog.md
4. Use: prioritizing-improvements
ā Produces: 07-improvement-roadmap.md
Workflow:
Architect identifies security issues
ā Ordis provides threat modeling (STRIDE)
ā Ordis designs security controls
ā Architect catalogs as technical debt
Example:
Workflow:
Architect produces ADRs and assessments
ā Muna structures professional documentation
ā Muna applies clarity and style guidelines
Example:
Workflow:
Architect identifies Python-specific issues
ā Python pack provides modern patterns
ā Architect catalogs Python modernization work
Example:
Complete codebase improvement pipeline:
Archaeologist Phase
/system-archaeologist
ā 01-discovery-findings.md
ā 02-subsystem-catalog.md
ā 03-diagrams.md
ā 04-final-report.md
Architect Phase (YOU ARE HERE)
Use: assessing-architecture-quality
ā 05-quality-assessment.md
Use: identifying-technical-debt
ā 06-technical-debt-catalog.md
Specialist Integration
Security issues ā /security-architect
Python issues ā /python-engineering
ML issues ā /ml-production
Documentation ā /technical-writer
Delivery Management
/program-management
ā Turns the roadmap into sequenced, tracked delivery
ā Flow metrics, dependencies, RAID, forecasting
/product-management
ā Decides which fixes are worth making, and for whom
Do you have architecture documentation?
āā No ā Use archaeologist first (/system-archaeologist)
āā Yes ā Continue below
What do you need?
āā Quality assessment ā Use: assessing-architecture-quality
āā Technical debt catalog ā Use: identifying-technical-debt
āā Priority roadmap ā Use: prioritizing-improvements
āā Refactoring strategy ā Out of scope (use /security-architect for security remediation strategy; use /solution-architect for forward design)
āā Effort estimates ā Out of scope (defer to project-management tooling; not provided by this pack)
1. /system-archaeologist (if no docs exist)
2. Use: assessing-architecture-quality
3. Use: identifying-technical-debt
4. Review outputs with stakeholders
5. Use specialist packs for domain-specific issues
1. Read existing architecture docs
2. Use: identifying-technical-debt
3. Present catalog to stakeholders
4. Use: prioritizing-improvements for roadmap
1. /system-archaeologist
2. Use: assessing-architecture-quality
3. Identify patterns and anti-patterns
4. For ADRs, hand off to `/technical-writer` (muna-technical-writer:create-adr) or `/solution-architect`
| Need | Use This Skill |
|---|---|
| Quality assessment | assessing-architecture-quality |
| Technical debt catalog | identifying-technical-debt |
| Priority roadmap | prioritizing-improvements |
Production-ready skills:
(Version is tracked in plugin.json, not here.)
Why only 3 skills?
TDD testing (RED-GREEN-REFACTOR methodology) revealed that agents:
Comprehensive baseline testing showed agents naturally:
The 3 skills address actual failure modes discovered through testing. Additional skills would be redundant with capabilities agents already possess.
axiom-system-archaeologist (/system-archaeologist)axiom-program-management (/program-management)axiom-product-management (/product-management)axiom-distributed-systems (/distributed-systems)Use archaeologist to document what exists. Use architect to assess quality and recommend fixes. Use specialist packs for domain-specific improvements.
Archaeologist is neutral observer. Architect is critical assessor.
Together they form the analysis ā strategy pipeline.
After routing, load the appropriate specialist skill for detailed guidance:
