Reference: See reference.md for complete design principles and examples.
</objective>
<quick_start>
- •Analyze Architecture: Check for vertical vs horizontal slicing
- •Understand Domain: Identify problem domain, concepts, invariants
- •Identify Core Types: Find primitives that need type wrappers
- •Design Self-Validating Types: Create types with validating constructors
- •Plan Package Structure: Vertical slices by feature
- •Output Design Plan: Present structured plan before implementation
Ready to implement? Use @testing skill for test structure. </quick_start>
<when_to_use>
- •Planning a new feature (before writing code)
- •Refactoring reveals need for new types (complexity extraction)
- •Linter failures suggest types should be introduced
- •When you need to think through domain modeling </when_to_use>
<architecture_pattern_analysis priority="FIRST_STEP"> Default: Always use vertical slice architecture (feature-first, not layer-first).
Scan codebase structure:
- •Vertical slicing:
internal/feature/{handler,service,repository,models}.go - •Horizontal layering:
internal/{handlers,services,domain}/feature.go
<decision_flow>
- •Pure vertical → Continue pattern, implement as
internal/[new-feature]/ - •Pure horizontal → Propose: Start migration with
docs/architecture/vertical-slice-migration.md, implement new feature as first vertical slice - •Mixed (migrating) → Check for migration docs, continue pattern as vertical slice </decision_flow>
Always ask user approval with options:
- •Option A: Vertical slice (recommended for cohesion/maintainability)
- •Option B: Match existing pattern (if time-constrained)
- •Acknowledge: Time pressure, team decisions, consistency needs are valid
If migration needed, create/update docs/architecture/vertical-slice-migration.md:
# Vertical Slice Migration Plan ## Current State: [horizontal/mixed] ## Target: Vertical slices in internal/[feature]/ ## Strategy: New features vertical, migrate existing incrementally ## Progress: [x] [new-feature] (this PR), [ ] existing features
See reference.md section #3 for detailed patterns. </architecture_pattern_analysis>
<understand_domain>
- •What is the problem domain?
- •What are the main concepts/entities?
- •What are the invariants and rules?
- •How does this fit into existing architecture? </understand_domain>
<identify_core_types> Ask for each concept:
- •Is this currently a primitive (string, int, float)?
- •Does it have validation rules?
- •Does it have behavior beyond simple data?
- •Is it used across multiple places?
If yes to any → Consider creating a type </identify_core_types>
<design_self_validating_types> For each type:
// Type definition
type TypeName underlyingType
// Validating constructor
func NewTypeName(input underlyingType) (TypeName, error) {
// Validate input
if /* validation fails */ {
return zero, errors.New("why it failed")
}
return TypeName(input), nil
}
// Methods on type (if behavior needed)
func (t TypeName) SomeMethod() result {
// Type-specific logic
}
</design_self_validating_types>
<plan_package_structure>
- •Vertical slices: Group by feature, not layer
- •Each feature gets its own package
- •Within package: separate by role (service, repository, handler)
Good structure:
user/ ├── user.go # Domain types ├── service.go # Business logic ├── repository.go # Persistence └── handler.go # HTTP/API
Bad structure:
domain/user.go services/user_service.go repository/user_repository.go
</plan_package_structure>
<design_orchestrating_types> For types that coordinate others:
- •Make fields private
- •Validate dependencies in constructor
- •No nil checks in methods (constructor guarantees validity)
type Service struct {
repo Repository // private
notifier Notifier // private
}
func NewService(repo Repository, notifier Notifier) (*Service, error) {
if repo == nil {
return nil, errors.New("repo required")
}
if notifier == nil {
return nil, errors.New("notifier required")
}
return &Service{
repo: repo,
notifier: notifier,
}, nil
}
// Methods can trust fields are valid
func (s *Service) DoSomething() error {
// No nil checks needed
return s.repo.Save(...)
}
</design_orchestrating_types>
<review_against_principles> Check design against (see reference.md):
- • No primitive obsession
- • Types are self-validating
- • Vertical slice architecture
- • Types designed around intent, not just shape
- • Clear separation of concerns </review_against_principles>
<output_format> After design phase:
DESIGN PLAN Feature: [Feature Name] Core Domain Types: - UserID (string) - Self-validating, prevents empty IDs - Email (string) - Self-validating, RFC 5322 validation - Age (int) - Self-validating, range 0-150 Orchestrating Types: - UserService - Coordinates user operations Dependencies: Repository, Notifier Methods: CreateUser, GetUser, UpdateUser Package Structure: user/ ├── user.go # UserID, Email, Age, User ├── service.go # UserService ├── repository.go # Repository interface + implementations ├── notifier.go # Notifier interface + implementations └── handler.go # HTTP handlers Design Decisions: - UserID is custom type to prevent passing empty/invalid IDs - Email validation centralized in NewEmail constructor - Vertical slice keeps all user logic in one package - Repository as interface allows multiple backends (Postgres, in-memory for tests) Integration Points: - Consumed by: HTTP API (/users endpoints) - Depends on: Database, Email service - Events: UserCreated event published after creation Next Steps: 1. Create types with validating constructors 2. Write unit tests for each type 3. Implement UserService 4. Write integration tests Ready to implement? Use @testing skill for test structure.
</output_format>
<key_principles> See reference.md for detailed principles:
- •Primitive obsession prevention (Yoke design strategy)
- •Self-validating types
- •Vertical slice architecture
- •Types around intent and behavior, not just shape
- •Single responsibility per type </key_principles>
<pre_code_review> Before writing code, ask:
- •Can logic be moved into smaller custom types?
- •Is this type designed around intent and behavior?
- •Have I avoided primitive obsession?
- •Is validation in the right place (constructor)?
- •Does this follow vertical slice architecture?
Only after satisfactory answers, proceed to implementation.
See reference.md for complete design principles and examples. </pre_code_review>
<success_criteria> Design phase is complete when ALL of the following are true:
- • Architecture pattern analyzed (vertical/horizontal/mixed)
- • Core domain types identified with validation rules
- • Self-validating type design documented
- • Package structure follows vertical slice pattern
- • Design decisions documented with rationale
- • Pre-code review questions answered satisfactorily
- • Design plan output presented to user </success_criteria>