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architecture-review · donchitos — Claude Code skill: what it does, how to install

Maps GDD requirements to ADRs, flags missing coverage and cross-decision conflicts, and checks architecture against the pinned engine version.

Install into Claude Code · Skills CLI (Vercel) All methods and platforms ↓
npx skills add Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios --skill architecture-review -a claude-code
Open on GitHub

What architecture-review does

architecture-review builds a traceability matrix between game design requirements and architectural decision records. It finds requirements with no ADR, checks decisions against each other, and audits compatibility with the project's pinned engine version. Findings use the statuses PASS, CONCERNS, NOT ASSESSED, or FAIL.

A full review loads project material, extracts technical requirements from every GDD, builds the matrix, checks cross-ADR conflicts, audits the engine, and reviews architecture document coverage. You can narrow it to coverage, consistency, engine, single-gdd [path], or rtm. The rtm mode adds story and test file paths, then writes the chain to docs/architecture/requirements-traceability.md.

The skill works with file reading and search, editing, writing, and project helper scripts. A full review depends on GDDs, ADRs, and a pinned engine version. That makes the source documents worth checking first: otherwise the matrix cannot reflect actual coverage.

What it helps with

  • map GDD requirements to ADRs
  • find requirements with no architectural decision
  • detect conflicts across ADRs
  • audit decisions against the engine version
  • link requirements to story and test files

Example prompts for the agent

  • Run a full architecture-review across all GDDs and ADRs.
  • Run architecture-review with coverage and list requirements that have no ADR.
  • Use rtm and write the requirements chain to docs/architecture/requirements-traceability.md.

How to install architecture-review

1Skills CLI (Vercel)

npx skills add Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios --skill architecture-review -a claude-code

2Manually: put the files in place

~/.claude/skills/architecture-review/SKILL.md

Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/architecture-review/

Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to install skills in Claude Code: five ways

Questions about architecture-review

How do I install architecture-review in Claude Code?

Run npx skills add Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios --skill architecture-review -a claude-code, then run npx skills add Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios --skill architecture-review -a claude-code again. The skill file is at ~/.claude/skills/architecture-review/SKILL.md.

What does architecture-review do?

It maps GDD requirements to ADRs, finds coverage gaps and cross-ADR conflicts, and checks architecture against the pinned engine version. Each review uses PASS, CONCERNS, NOT ASSESSED, or FAIL.

How is rtm different from the standard matrix?

The rtm mode adds paths to story and test files. It produces a GDD → ADR → Story → Test chain in docs/architecture/requirements-traceability.md.

Source text

SKILL.md · MIT
---
name: architecture-review
description: "Traceability matrix mapping GDD requirements to ADRs. Finds gaps, cross-ADR conflicts, engine compatibility. PASS/CONCERNS/NOT ASSESSED/FAIL."
argument-hint: "[focus: full | coverage | consistency | engine | rtm | single-gdd path/to/gdd.md]"
user-invocable: true
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep, Write, Edit, Agent, AskUserQuestion, Bash(bash "*/.claude/skills/architecture-review/../../hooks/yaml-helper.sh" resolve_config *), Bash(bash .claude/scripts/review-receipts.sh check *), Bash(bash .claude/scripts/review-receipts.sh hash *), Bash(bash .claude/scripts/adr-dep-graph.sh*), Bash(bash .claude/scripts/registry.sh validate*)
model: opus
---

!`bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../hooks/yaml-helper.sh" resolve_config --keys automation,workflow`

# Architecture Review

The architecture review validates that the complete body of architectural decisions
covers all game design requirements, is internally consistent, and correctly targets
the project's pinned engine version. It is the quality gate between Technical Setup
and Pre-Production.

**Argument modes:**
- **No argument / `full`**: Full review — all phases
- **`coverage`**: Traceability only — which GDD requirements have no ADR
- **`consistency`**: Cross-ADR conflict detection only
- **`engine`**: Engine compatibility audit only
- **`single-gdd [path]`**: Review architecture coverage for one specific GDD
- **`rtm`**: Requirements Traceability Matrix — extends the standard matrix
  to include story file paths and test file paths; outputs
  `docs/architecture/requirements-traceability.md` with the full
  GDD requirement → ADR → Story → Test chain. Use in Production phase when
  stories and tests exist.

---

Every `AskUserQuestion` call follows `.claude/docs/automation-modes.md`
(collaborative asks always · guided major-only · autonomous logs and proceeds;
`automation_always_ask` categories always prompt).

**`workflow`** (see `.claude/docs/workflow-modes.md`):
- `full` — full traceability matrix across all GDDs and all ADRs.
- `standard` — reduced scope: architecture doc + critical ADRs only.
- `minimal` — not applicable (no architecture doc required).

## Phase 1: Load Everything

**Read `references/1-load.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

## Phase 2: Extract Technical Requirements from Every GDD

**Read `references/2-extract-requirements.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

## Phase 3: Build the Traceability Matrix

**Read `references/3-traceability.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

## Phase 4: Cross-ADR Conflict Detection

**Read `references/4-conflicts.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

## Phase 5: Engine Compatibility Cross-Check

**Read `references/5-engine.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

## Phase 6: Architecture Document Coverage

**Read `references/6-document-coverage.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

## Phase 7: Output the Review Report

**Read `references/7-report.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

## Phase 8: Write and Update Traceability Index

**Read `references/8-write.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

## Phase 9: Handoff

**Read `references/9-handoff.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

## Error Recovery Protocol

**First, verify the artifact.** If the return contract named a path, check the
path exists before treating the phase as done — **a named artifact that is not
on disk is a failed phase, however fluent the response reads.** An agent can
burn a full phase and return a plausible preamble having written nothing, which
is neither BLOCKED nor an error nor "fails to complete", so the trigger below
never fires. Resume it naming the unmet contract; the context is
usually still there.

If any spawned agent returns BLOCKED, errors, or fails to complete: **surface it
immediately, don't proceed past a dependency it blocks, and always produce a
partial report** (retry scope here = fewer GDDs / single-system). Full procedure:
`.claude/docs/error-recovery-protocol.md`.

---

## Collaborative Protocol

**Applies in `collaborative` mode (the default).** For `guided` and
`autonomous` modes, see `.claude/docs/automation-modes.md` — the rules below
describe what collaborative mode requires, not universal behavior.

1. **Read silently** — do not narrate every file read
2. **Show the matrix** — present the full traceability matrix before any write
   approval; let the user see the state
3. **Don't guess** — if a requirement is ambiguous, ask: "Is [X] a technical
   requirement or a design preference?"
4. **Draft before approval** — always show the content that will be written (the
   report, the updated ADR section, the systems-index row) inline in the conversation
   before requesting approval. Never ask to write something the user has not yet seen.
5. **Use `AskUserQuestion` for write approvals** — plain text "May I?" is not
   sufficient. Use the structured tool with labeled options [A]/[B]/[C] so the
   user can choose between "write now", "show full draft first", and "not yet".
   Multi-file changesets must list every file and what changes, then ask once
   with grouped options — not a separate plain-text question per file.
6. **Non-blocking** — the verdict is advisory; the user decides whether to continue
   despite CONCERNS or even FAIL findings

© Donchitos · MIT · Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios

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