Agent skill

System Design

by aiskillstore in aiskillstore/marketplace

CTO's deputy for software architecture using Clean/Hexagonal Architecture principles.

No licenceAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install System Design

skills CLI
$ npx skills add aiskillstore/marketplace --skill system-design -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install aiskillstore/marketplace system-design --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/aiskillstore/marketplace.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/aaronabuusama/system-design .claude/skills/system-design && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
system-design
GitHub stars
430
Token cost
~1.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
408 words
Files
19 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
1,108
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
None found

At a glance

CTO's deputy for software architecture using Clean/Hexagonal Architecture principles.

  • Works in 5 steps: Reflect back what you heard (verify… → Ask clarifying questions (never assume) → Present options with tradeoffs (never… → …
  • User says architect
  • SKILL.md covers Core Philosophy, Guided Phases, Quick Commands and The Socratic Method, plus 7 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

System Design is an agent skill from aiskillstore/marketplace. CTO's deputy for software architecture using Clean/Hexagonal Architecture principles. Socratic approach - asks probing questions to help YOU make informed design decisions. Guides through Discovery → Modeling → Boundaries → Scaffolding phases. Outputs TypeScript scaffolds with ports, adapters, and domain layers. USE WHEN user says 'architect', 'system design', 'hexagonal', 'clean architecture', 'ports and adapters', 'design this system', 'structure this project', or needs help thinking through complex software…

Its SKILL.md is about 1.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 21 other files, including reference files (for example `references/clean-architecture.md`, `references/common-mistakes.md` and `references/dependency-inversion.md`).

It sits in Development, covering Project scaffolding, Software architecture and Design patterns. It works with TypeScript. The repository describes itself as: Security-audited skills for Claude, Codex & Claude Code. One-click install, quality verified.

When your agent uses it

  • User says architect
  • Clean architecture
  • Ports and adapters
  • Design this system

Example prompts

  • “architect”
  • “system design”
  • “hexagonal”
  • “/system-design”

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Reflect back what you heard (verify understanding)
  2. Ask clarifying questions (never assume)
  3. Present options with tradeoffs (never prescribe)
  4. Challenge their choices constructively (find blind spots)
  5. Document decisions as they're made (build the ADR)

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit ad8daf7. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

System Design loads about 1.1k tokens when it runs, and up to ~10k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 135 tokens; SKILL.md has 408 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~135
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.1k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~10k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

Without a licence we can't republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 408 words (~1,150 tokens).

“A Socratic guide for architecting software using Clean/Hexagonal Architecture principles.”

— opening of SKILL.md by aiskillstore
name
system-design

Read the full SKILL.md on GitHub

Files

SKILL.md and 18 other files (references) in skills/aaronabuusama/system-design of aiskillstore/marketplace.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/clean-architecture.md
  • references/common-mistakes.md
  • references/dependency-inversion.md
  • references/domain-modeling.md
  • references/hexagonal-architecture.md
  • skill-report.json
  • templates/adr-template.md
  • templates/controller-template.md
  • templates/entity-template.md
  • templates/port-adapter-interface.md
  • templates/repository-template.md
  • templates/ts-hexagonal-scaffold.md
  • templates/use-case-template.md
  • templates/value-object-template.md
  • workflows/01-discovery.md
  • workflows/02-modeling.md
  • workflows/03-boundaries.md
  • … and 1 more

Open the folder on GitHubat commit ad8daf7

Compare with similar skills

System Design next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

System Design compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
System Design this skillaiskillstore/marketplace430—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Siteboon Backend Module Standardssiteboon/claudecodeui14k—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
sfdx-hardis Architecture Guidehardisgroupcom/sfdx-hardis401—~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Architecture DesignerAratKruglik/claude-laravel1551 repos~895Automated safety check: PassNone
Senior Fullstackdavila7/claude-code-templates32k7 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Project Context SetupMathews-Tom/armory328—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Categories

Questions about System Design

What does System Design do?

CTO's deputy for software architecture using Clean/Hexagonal Architecture principles. System Design is an agent skill from aiskillstore/marketplace. CTO's deputy for software architecture using Clean/Hexagonal Architecture principles.

When should I use System Design?

System Design fits situations like: user says architect; clean architecture; ports and adapters; design this system.

How do I install System Design in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add aiskillstore/marketplace --skill system-design -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/aaronabuusama/system-design in aiskillstore/marketplace) into .claude/skills/system-design in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install System Design in Codex?

Run `npx skills add aiskillstore/marketplace --skill system-design -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/aaronabuusama/system-design in aiskillstore/marketplace) into .agents/skills/system-design in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use System Design in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add aiskillstore/marketplace --skill system-design -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/system-design, .gemini/skills/system-design, .github/skills/system-design and .opencode/skills/system-design in your project.

What does System Design need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: System Design is instructions for the agent only.

Does System Design access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is System Design safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does System Design use?

No licence was found for System Design or its repository. Without one, default copyright applies: ask the author before reusing or redistributing it.

How many tokens does System Design use?

About 1.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.6k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 9.3k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to System Design?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with System Design: Siteboon Backend Module Standards (siteboon/claudecodeui, 14k stars), sfdx-hardis Architecture Guide (hardisgroupcom/sfdx-hardis, 401 stars), Architecture Designer (AratKruglik/claude-laravel, 155 stars) and Senior Fullstack (davila7/claude-code-templates, 32k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains System Design?

aiskillstore (a GitHub organization) maintains it in aiskillstore/marketplace, which has 430 GitHub stars. The repository holds 1,108 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: aiskillstore/marketplace on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.