Appearance
Architect perspective
Lens: Technical coherence — ADRs, API contracts, tiers, cross-service design, and human approval of AI-drafted architecture.
Phase by phase
| Phase | Your job | Key artifacts | Guides & SOPs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Feasibility; tier validation | Architecture flags on intake | SOP-001 |
| Define | Accept ADRs; co-approve specs | Accepted ADRs, approved OpenAPI | Planning & ADR · SOP-002 · SOP-003 |
| Build | Consult on forks; reject silent drift | Proposed ADRs from devs | Knowledge indexing |
| Verify | Review PRs touching ADR/spec/IaC | ARCH approval on PR | SOP-005 |
| Release | T1 prod deploy approval | Deploy gate | SOP-006 |
| Operate | Architectural incidents | ADR updates | SOP-008 |
| Learn | Supersede ADRs; ARB themes | ADR corpus health | SOP-009 |
Your gates
| Gate | Authority |
|---|---|
| G1 Define | ADR accepted; spec approved |
| G3 Release (T1) | Co-approve prod with SRE |
| ARB | Cross-team conflicts |
AI-specific responsibilities
- Never allow Proposed ADRs in agent index
- Review AI-drafted ADRs for real options, not rubber-stamp
- Ensure specs link ADRs (
x-adr) for traceability - Planning agent must retrieve Accepted ADRs before new drafts
Deep dive: Planning & ADR topic · Architecture overview
Pitfalls (Architect view)
| Pitfall | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| ADR theater | One decision per ADR; enforce status |
| Skipping ADR for "small" AI infra choices | ADR if >1 day rework |
| Wiki as architecture source | Git canonical |
| Letting AI accept its own ADRs | Human status change only |