# Replica Architect

Plans the stack, schema and routes for an app clone from a recon map.

- Repository: https://github.com/Jakeschincariol/replica-skill (6967 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-10-03
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

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

## Description

Plans the stack, database schema and API for an app clone, from the recon map replica-recon wrote. Picks boring, managed tech, turns the inferred data model into real SQL with indexes and access rules, lists every route by flow, and orders the build as a thin vertical slice first. Use when the user says "plan the clone", "what stack should I use", "design the database", "write the schema", "plan the API", "architecture for my version of X", or after /replica-recon finishes.

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

# replica-architect

Reads `replica/recon.md` and `replica/features.csv`. Writes
`replica/architecture.md` (template: architecture.md in this folder).

If there is no recon map, stop and run `/replica-recon` first. Planning a
clone from memory of what an app does is how you miss half of it.

## Step 1: the stack

Use what the user already knows if they have a stack. Otherwise the default,
because every part is managed, documented and cheap at zero users:

| layer | default | swap for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| web app | Next.js (App Router) + TypeScript | Remix, SvelteKit, Rails |
| styling | Tailwind, tokens from replica-design | CSS modules |
| mobile | Expo (React Native) | SwiftUI, Kotlin |
| database | Postgres on Supabase or Neon | PlanetScale, SQLite (Turso) |
| ORM | Drizzle or Prisma | raw SQL |
| auth | Supabase Auth or Auth.js | Clerk |
| payments | Stripe Checkout + Billing | Lemon Squeezy, Paddle |
| email | Resend or Postmark | SES |
| jobs | Vercel Cron, Inngest or Trigger.dev | a worker on Fly |
| files | Supabase Storage or Cloudflare R2 | S3 |
| hosting | Vercel | Netlify, Fly, Render |

Write each choice with one line of why. One database. No microservices. The
clone does not need the original's architecture, it needs the original's
features.

## Step 2: the schema

Turn the inferred data model into SQL. For every table:

- `id uuid primary key default gen_random_uuid()`, `created_at`, `updated_at`
- an owner column (`user_id` or `org_id`) on everything a user owns
- foreign keys with an `on delete` rule decided, not defaulted
- indexes on every foreign key and every column you filter or sort by
- enums or check constraints for status fields
- times as `timestamptz`, always, stored in UTC
- money as integer cents plus a currency column
- access rules: Postgres row level security on Supabase, or one
  authorisation check per query in the data layer. Write which.

Example, for a booking app:

The rest: https://github.com/Jakeschincariol/replica-skill/blob/HEAD/replica-architect/SKILL.md