# Architect

Sketch types, signatures, and module structure before code, then stay in the loop while...

- Repository: https://github.com/cursor/plugins (15000 stars)
- Category: Design
- License: see repository
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill architect -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill architect -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill architect -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill architect -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add cursor/plugins`

## Description

Sketch types, signatures, and module structure before code, then stay in the loop while implementation fills in. Use for /architect, 'architect this', 'design this', or non-trivial work where jumping to code would lock in the wrong shape.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Architect

In Claude Code, read [the Claude Code adapter](../../docs/harness/claude-code.md) once per session before you follow this skill. It maps the Cursor names in pstack skills to Claude Code.

Sketch types, function signatures, class shapes, and module boundaries with `not implemented` bodies and pseudocode. Synthesize across multiple model perspectives, then fill in code against the chosen sketch.

## Start

Open a todolist with one entry per phase before starting.

1. Ground
2. Sketch
3. Agree
4. Implement
5. Scrap

## Phase A: Ground the problem

Build a real mental model of every system the new code touches. Run the **how** skill over the relevant subsystems. Naming a file isn't grounding. Produce the architectural explanation `how` prescribes. If the design redefines ownership or layering, also run the **why** skill on the existing shape so the rationale becomes a constraint, not a guess.

Skip Phase A only when the work is genuinely greenfield with no surrounding system to integrate.

## Phase B: Sketch

Run the **arena** skill with the design-sketch task and the Phase A grounding artifacts. Pass `references/runner-prompt.md` as each runner's prompt.

Take the runners from the `architect runners` line in the `pstack-models.mdc` rule, in place of the `arena runners` line. If the rule or that line is missing, use `claude-opus-5-5-xhigh` and `grok-4.7-xhigh-fast`. Alias and rejected entries follow the runner rules in the **arena** skill's Phase A.

Design it twice. Require at least two structurally distinct candidates before synthesis, even when the first looks sufficient. This is the **exhaust-the-design-space** principle skill made concrete. Whole-shape alternatives, not point fixes inside one shape.

The rest: https://github.com/cursor/plugins/blob/HEAD/harness/pstack/claude-code/skills/architect/SKILL.md