---
name: minimalist-architecture
description: Use when a request changes contracts, boundaries, persistence, security, deployment, or multiple independent subsystems and needs a reviewed design before implementation.
---

# Minimalist Architecture

Use this route when the cost of an incorrect boundary or contract is higher
than the cost of a short design decision. Read the initiative or specification
when available, then resolve these shared resources from the installed plugin
root rather than the caller's current directory:

    <plugin-root>/references/artifact-contracts.md
    <plugin-root>/templates/design.md

## Produce the design

Create design.md with:

- desired outcome and smallest safe increment;
- affected boundaries, modules, contracts, data, persistence, security,
  permissions, compatibility, and deployment;
- alternatives considered and the reason for the selected option;
- risks, mitigations, dependencies, and owners;
- explicit non-goals and constraints;
- validation needed before implementation;
- approval decision and next handoff.

Keep the design proportional. Question and remove unnecessary boundaries,
integrations, abstractions, and migration work before adding them. If several
independent outcomes are present, identify the smallest separable increments
and map them as separate stories.

## Gate

Do not implement from an unreviewed architectural design. The design is ready
when affected contracts and risks are visible, the smallest safe increment is
demonstrable, non-goals are explicit, and the decision-maker has approved the
trade-offs. Record unresolved decisions instead of silently choosing defaults.

## Handoff

Pass the approved design to minimalist-story-mapping for feature work, or to
minimalist-sprint-selection when existing refined stories already cover the
design. Preserve design.md in the project history so later feedback can be
compared with the original boundary decisions.