Consult this skill when implementing layered patterns or enforcing layer boundaries. Use when building traditional applications with clear boundaries, working with moderate-sized teams, needing familiar and well-understood patterns, compliance requirements demand clear separation. Do not use when selecting from multiple paradigms - use architecture-paradigms first. DO NOT use when: high scalability needs independent component scaling. DO NOT use when: teams need independent deployment cycles - use microservices.

CQRS and Event Sourcing for auditability, read/write separation, and temporal queries. Triggers: CQRS, event-sourcing, audit-trail, temporal queries, distributed-systems Use when: read/write scaling differs or audit trail required DO NOT use when: selecting paradigms (use architecture-paradigms first), simple CRUD without audit needs.

Consult this skill when designing data pipelines or transformation workflows. Use when data flows through fixed sequence of transformations, stages can be independently developed and tested, parallel processing of stages is beneficial. Do not use when selecting from multiple paradigms - use architecture-paradigms first. DO NOT use when: data flow is not sequential or predictable. DO NOT use when: complex branching/merging logic dominates.

Decouple domain logic from infrastructure using Hexagonal (Ports & Adapters) pattern. Triggers: hexagonal, ports-adapters, infrastructure-independence, domain-isolation, testability Use when: business logic separation, infrastructure changes needed, testability critical DO NOT use when: selecting paradigms (use architecture-paradigms first), simple CRUD.

Serverless FaaS for event-driven workloads with minimal infrastructure management. serverless, FaaS, Lambda, event-driven, pay-per-use Use when: workloads are event-driven with bursty traffic DO NOT use when: long-running processes or stateful operations required.

Minimal core system with plugin-based feature extensibility for platform development. Triggers: microkernel, plugin-architecture, extensibility, platform-design Use when: platforms/IDEs/marketplaces, core stability critical, plugin isolation needed DO NOT use when: selecting paradigms (use architecture-paradigms first), no extensibility needed.

Data-grid architecture for high-traffic stateful workloads with linear scalability. space-based, data grid, in-memory, linear scaling, high traffic Use when: traffic overwhelms database nodes or linear scalability needed DO NOT use when: data does not fit in memory or simpler caching suffices.

Record browser sessions using Playwright for web UI tutorials, converts video to GIF.

Asynchronous event-based communication to decouple producers/consumers for scalability and resilience. Triggers: event-driven, message queue, pub/sub, asynchronous, decoupling Use when: real-time workloads or multiple subsystems react to same events DO NOT use when: selecting paradigms (use architecture-paradigms first), simple request-response.

Coarse-grained service architecture for deployment independence without microservices complexity. service-based, SOA, coarse-grained services, domain services Use when: teams need deployment independence without microservices complexity DO NOT use when: fine-grained scaling needed - use microservices.

Multi-LLM deliberation for strategic decisions via expert pressure-testing and consensus building. Use for critical, irreversible, or high-stakes architecture choices and conflicts. Skip for trivial or reversible decisions.

Uses subagents for parallel execution with code review gates between batches. Use when addressing issues systematically, multiple related issues need fixing, tasks can be parallelized across subagents, quality gates needed between task batches. Do not use when single simple fix - just implement directly. DO NOT use when: issue needs clarification - comment first to clarify scope.

Combine media assets (GIFs, videos) into composite tutorials with vertical/horizontal layouts.

Use this skill at the BEGINNING of any detailed review for consistent structure. Use when starting any detailed review workflow, needing consistent structure for capturing context and findings, ensuring comparable review outputs. Do not use when quick catchup without formal review - use catchup. DO NOT use when: diff-focused analysis - use diff-analysis.

Use this skill for scope-focused PR reviews. Use when reviewing PRs, validating against requirements, triaging findings to backlog, preventing overengineering. Do not use when preparing PRs - use pr-prep instead. DO NOT use when: deep code review - use pensive:unified-review.

Generate terminal recordings using VHS tape files, produces GIF outputs.

Capture and retrieve PR review knowledge in project memory palaces.

Consult this skill when designing or evolving microservices architectures. Use when teams need high autonomy and independent releases, different capabilities have distinct scaling needs, strong DevOps/SRE maturity exists, polyglot tech stacks needed. Do not use when selecting from multiple paradigms - use architecture-paradigms first. DO NOT use when: small team with low organizational complexity. DO NOT use when: lack of DevOps maturity or limited platform engineering resources. DO NOT use when: strong transactional consistency required across operations.

Use this skill BEFORE starting complex tasks. Check context levels proactively. Use when context usage approaches 50% of window, tasks need decomposition, complex multi-step operations planned, context pressure is high. Do not use when simple single-step tasks with low context usage. DO NOT use when: already using mcp-code-execution for tool chains.

hype, and unnecessary framing. Includes termination and directness guidelines.