Tech Radar Entry Creation
Creates opinionated tech radar entries that provide actionable guidance on technology adoption decisions.
When to Use
Activate this skill when users ask to:
- •Add a technology to the radar
- •Assess or evaluate a tool, framework, or platform
- •Document technology recommendations
- •Compare technologies for adoption decisions
- •Update an existing radar entry's ring position
Required Information
Gather these before generating:
- •Title - Technology name (e.g., "Bun", "htmx", "Kubernetes")
- •Description - Brief description (1-2 sentences)
- •Quadrant - Technology category (see below)
- •Ring - Recommendation level (see below)
Optional Information
- •Tags - Technology categorization tags
- •Date - Assessment date (defaults to today)
- •Context - Specific context for the recommendation
Ring Definitions
Rings represent adoption recommendations with specific implications:
| Ring | Meaning | User Action | Content Tone |
|---|---|---|---|
| adopt | Production-ready, proven | Use confidently for new projects | Confident, encouraging |
| trial | Promising, worth piloting | Evaluate for specific use cases | Cautiously optimistic |
| assess | Emerging, worth watching | Research and experiment only | Exploratory, measured |
| hold | Avoid or migrate from | Plan migration, no new adoption | Direct but fair |
Ring-Specific Analysis Focus
ADOPT:
- •Implementation best practices
- •Production deployment guidance
- •Long-term maintenance considerations
- •Team training resources
- •Success patterns from the ecosystem
TRIAL:
- •When and where to pilot
- •Success criteria for evaluation
- •Comparison with established alternatives
- •Risk mitigation strategies
- •Fallback plan recommendations
ASSESS:
- •Key questions to answer before adoption
- •Evaluation criteria and metrics
- •Community and ecosystem health indicators
- •Research and prototyping guidance
- •Timeline for reassessment
HOLD:
- •Reasons for the hold recommendation
- •Migration path to alternatives
- •Risk assessment for existing usage
- •Security and maintenance concerns
- •Recommended replacements
Quadrant Examples
| Quadrant | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| techniques | Development practices and methodologies | TDD, pair programming, GitOps, IaC, trunk-based development |
| tools | Development and operations tools | Bun, Vite, Webpack, CI/CD platforms, linters |
| platforms | Infrastructure and deployment platforms | AWS, Kubernetes, serverless, edge computing |
| languages-and-frameworks | Programming languages and frameworks | Rust, TypeScript, React, Next.js, htmx |
Generation Process
Step 1: Gather Requirements
Ask the user for the required information. If they provide a technology name without other details, research and propose appropriate values.
Step 2: Generate Opinionated Analysis
Create content that is:
- •Opinionated - Take a clear position on the technology
- •Balanced - Acknowledge both strengths and weaknesses
- •Evidence-based - Support opinions with ecosystem signals
- •Actionable - Provide concrete next steps
Content Sections to Generate:
- •Overview (ring-specific framing)
- •Key Features (factual capabilities)
- •Strengths (what it does well)
- •Weaknesses (honest limitations)
- •Use Cases (where it shines)
- •Ring Recommendation (with justification)
- •Ecosystem Assessment (community health)
- •Adoption Considerations (practical guidance)
- •Conclusion (maturity + future outlook)
Step 3: Create Hugo Bundle
Create content at content/tools/technology-slug/index.md:
Frontmatter (BYOR-compatible):
yaml
--- title: "Technology Name" date: YYYY-MM-DD draft: true description: "Brief description for SEO and radar display" quadrant: "quadrant-slug" ring: "ring-slug" tags: - tag1 - tag2 ---
Step 4: Review
Present the draft to the user for review. Never auto-publish - always keep draft: true until explicit approval.
Writing Guidelines
Tone: Opinionated but balanced and informed
Do:
- •Provide technical depth and context
- •Consider practical adoption implications
- •Assess maturity and ecosystem support
- •Be forward-looking but realistic
- •Use evidence from real-world usage
- •Acknowledge when context matters
Don't:
- •Be purely opinionated without evidence
- •Use hype-driven language
- •Ignore potential drawbacks or limitations
- •Be overly negative about technologies
- •Make absolute statements without qualification
- •Dismiss legitimate use cases
Vocabulary:
- •adopt, trial, assess, hold
- •maturity, ecosystem, production-ready
- •trade-offs, considerations, implications
- •community, governance, long-term viability
Example Frontmatter
yaml
--- title: "htmx" date: 2025-12-26 draft: true description: "Lightweight library for AJAX, CSS transitions, and WebSockets directly in HTML" quadrant: "languages-and-frameworks" ring: "trial" tags: - javascript - html - hypermedia - ajax ---
Validation
After generation, verify:
- •Required frontmatter fields present
- •Quadrant is valid value
- •Ring is valid value
- •Description is concise but informative
- •Content has all required sections
- •No H1 heading in content (title comes from frontmatter)
Voice Learning
Record user feedback to improve future analysis:
code
Feedback location: .cody/project/library/style-docs/tech-radar-style.json Record positive feedback for good patterns. Record negative feedback for issues to avoid.
File Locations
- •Tech radar entries:
content/tools/{technology-slug}/index.md - •Style guidelines:
.cody/project/library/style-docs/tech-radar-style.json - •Agent implementation:
src/agents/tech-radar/tech-radar-agent.ts
Example Interaction
User: Add Bun to the tech radar
Response Flow:
- •Acknowledge the request
- •Ask which ring (or propose one with justification)
- •Confirm quadrant (likely "tools")
- •Ask for any specific context or tags
- •Generate the entry
- •Present for review with explanation of the analysis