Agent skill

Architecture Paradigm Layered

by athola in athola/claude-night-market

Applies layered n-tier architecture with enforced boundaries.

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Architecture Paradigm Layered

skills CLI
$ npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill architecture-paradigm-layered -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install athola/claude-night-market architecture-paradigm-layered --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/athola/claude-night-market.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/archetypes/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered .claude/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered && 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
architecture-paradigm-layered
GitHub stars
341
Token cost
~1.4k tokens
SKILL.md length
647 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
152
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Applies layered n-tier architecture with enforced boundaries.

  • Works in 5 steps: Define the Layers: Establish a clear set… → Enforce Dependency Direction: Code in a… → Centralize Cross-Cutting Concerns:… → …
  • Designing moderate systems needing clear presentation
  • SKILL.md covers When to Employ This Paradigm, When NOT To Use This Paradigm, Adoption Steps and Key Deliverables, plus 5 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Architecture Paradigm Layered is an agent skill from athola/claude-night-market. Applies layered n-tier architecture with enforced boundaries. Use when designing moderate systems needing clear presentation, domain, and persistence layers.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.4k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development. The repository describes itself as: 23 Claude Code plugins: TDD enforcement hooks, git/PR workflows, spec-driven development, code review, project lifecycle, fix-from-error, maintenance automation, context… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Designing moderate systems needing clear presentation
  • Persistence layers

Example prompts

  • “Use the architecture-paradigm-layered skill to apply layered n-tier architecture with enforced boundaries”
  • “/architecture-paradigm-layered”

Workflow steps

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

  1. Define the Layers: Establish a clear set of layers. A common stack includes: Presentation -> Application/Service -> Domain -> Data Access.
  2. Enforce Dependency Direction: Code in a given layer may only depend on the layer immediately below it. Forbid any "upward" dependencies or…
  3. Centralize Cross-Cutting Concerns: Implement concerns like logging, authentication, and validation as centralized middleware or policies…
  4. Test Each Layer Appropriately: Apply testing strategies suitable for each layer, such as unit tests for the domain layer, service-layer…
  5. Document and Enforce Interactions: Maintain up-to-date dependency diagrams and use automated architecture tests to prevent developers from…

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 9f3eb00. 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

Architecture Paradigm Layered loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 47 tokens; SKILL.md has 647 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~47
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.4k

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

The full file from athola/claude-night-market at commit 9f3eb00, republished under its MIT licence (© athola). 647 words, ~1,450 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
architecture-paradigm-layered
description
Applies layered n-tier architecture with enforced boundaries. Use when designing moderate systems needing clear presentation, domain, and persistence layers.
alwaysApply
false
category
architectural-pattern
tags
architecture, layered, n-tier, separation-of-concerns, monolith
usage_patterns
paradigm-implementation, legacy-system-modernization, team-structure-alignment, compliance-requirements
complexity
low
model_hint
fast
estimated_tokens
700

The Layered (N-Tier) Architecture Paradigm

When to Employ This Paradigm

  • When teams need clear architectural boundaries and a familiar structure for moderate-sized systems.
  • When compliance or operations teams require clear separation of concerns (e.g., UI vs. domain logic vs. persistence).
  • When the deployment artifact remains a monolith, but code clarity and separation are degrading.

When NOT To Use This Paradigm

  • When high scalability demands require independent scaling of components
  • When multiple teams need independent deployment cycles
  • When complex business logic requires frequent cross-layer communication
  • When microservices architecture is already planned or in place
  • When real-time processing requirements make layered communication too slow

Adoption Steps

  1. Define the Layers: Establish a clear set of layers. A common stack includes: Presentation -> Application/Service -> Domain -> Data Access.
  2. Enforce Dependency Direction: Code in a given layer may only depend on the layer immediately below it. Forbid any "upward" dependencies or imports.
  3. Centralize Cross-Cutting Concerns: Implement concerns like logging, authentication, and validation as centralized middleware or policies, rather than duplicating this logic in each layer.
  4. Test Each Layer Appropriately: Apply testing strategies suitable for each layer, such as unit tests for the domain layer, service-layer tests for orchestration logic, and integration tests for persistence adapters.
  5. Document and Enforce Interactions: Maintain up-to-date dependency diagrams and use automated architecture tests to prevent developers from creating "shortcut" dependencies that violate the layering rules.

Key Deliverables

  • An Architecture Decision Record (ADR) that captures the responsibilities of each layer, the allowed dependencies between them, and the policy for any exceptions.
  • A formal dependency diagram stored with the project documentation.
  • Automated architectural checks (e.g., using ArchUnit, dep-cruise, or custom scripts) to prevent rule violations from being merged.

Technology Guidance

Layer Implementation Patterns:

  • Presentation Layer: React/Vue/Angular (Frontend), MVC Controllers (Backend)
  • Application Layer: Service classes, Application services, Use case orchestrators
  • Domain Layer: Business entities, Domain services, Business rules validation
  • Data Access Layer: Repository pattern, ORM mappers, Data access objects (DAO)

Architecture Enforcement Tools:

  • Java: ArchUnit for dependency rule testing
  • JavaScript/TypeScript: ESLint rules with dependency tracking
  • C#: NDepend for architectural analysis
  • Python: Custom decorators and import analysis tools

Common Layer Stacks:

  • 3-Layer: Presentation → Business Logic → Data Access
  • 4-Layer: Presentation → Application → Domain → Infrastructure
  • 5-Layer: UI → Controller → Service → Domain → Persistence
Show full SKILL.md (280 more words)Show less

Real-World Examples

Enterprise ERP Systems: SAP and Oracle ERP use layered architecture to separate user interfaces from business logic and database operations, enabling different frontend applications to share the same business rules.

Banking Applications: Financial institutions employ layered architecture to maintain strict separation between customer-facing interfaces, transaction processing, and secure data storage for regulatory compliance.

E-commerce Platforms: Traditional e-commerce sites use layered architecture to separate product catalogs, shopping cart logic, order processing, and payment handling into distinct layers.

Risks & Mitigations

  • Excessive Rigidity and Latency:
    • Mitigation: For features that span multiple layers, strict adherence can lead to excessive "pass-through" code and increased latency. In such cases, consider using a Façade pattern to provide a more direct interface where appropriate.
  • "Leaky" Layers:
    • Mitigation: Developers may be tempted to bypass architectural rules for expediency, which degrades the architecture. Treat all architectural violations as build-breaking failures or critical issues in code review.

Concrete Components

Vocabulary for the tools and abstractions an implementation of this paradigm tends to carry. Not dependencies, and not tools: frontmatter.

  • dependency-validator: fails the build when a layer imports above its allowed depth
  • layer-enforcer: static-analysis gate that checks namespaces match layer rules
  • architecture-compliance-checker: diffs the implemented layer graph against the documented one

Exit Criteria

  • An ADR captures the chosen layer stack (3-layer, 4-layer, or 5-layer), responsibilities per layer, allowed dependency direction, and the policy for cross-layer exceptions.
  • A formal dependency diagram is committed to project documentation and matches the ADR's stated layer boundaries.
  • Automated architectural checks (ArchUnit, dep-cruise, or equivalent) are wired into CI and fail the build on any upward dependency.
  • Cross-cutting concerns (logging, auth, validation) are implemented once as middleware or policy and are not duplicated across layer implementations.

© athola, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in plugins/archetypes/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered of athola/claude-night-market.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 9f3eb00

Compare with similar skills

Architecture Paradigm Layered 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.

Architecture Paradigm Layered compared with similar skills
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Architecture Paradigm Layered this skillathola/claude-night-market341—~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
PR Babysitteropeninterpreter/openinterpreter69k3 repos~4.2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Mailspring App ScreenshotsFoundry376/Mailspring18k—~1.5kAutomated safety check: PassGPL-3.0
Merge Dependabot PRsonyx-dot-app/onyx32k1 repos~2.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Android UI Visual Reviewpermissionlesstech/bitchat-android7.8k—~2.6kAutomated safety check: PassGPL-3.0
Constraint-Driven Developmentaddyosmani/agent-skills105k2 repos~5.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Questions about Architecture Paradigm Layered

What does Architecture Paradigm Layered do?

Applies layered n-tier architecture with enforced boundaries. Architecture Paradigm Layered is an agent skill from athola/claude-night-market. Applies layered n-tier architecture with enforced boundaries.

When should I use Architecture Paradigm Layered?

Architecture Paradigm Layered fits situations like: designing moderate systems needing clear presentation; persistence layers.

How do I install Architecture Paradigm Layered in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill architecture-paradigm-layered -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/archetypes/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered in athola/claude-night-market) into .claude/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Architecture Paradigm Layered in Codex?

Run `npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill architecture-paradigm-layered -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/archetypes/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered in athola/claude-night-market) into .agents/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Architecture Paradigm Layered 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 athola/claude-night-market --skill architecture-paradigm-layered -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered, .gemini/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered, .github/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered and .opencode/skills/architecture-paradigm-layered in your project.

What does Architecture Paradigm Layered need to run?

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

Does Architecture Paradigm Layered 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 Architecture Paradigm Layered 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 Architecture Paradigm Layered use?

Architecture Paradigm Layered is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Architecture Paradigm Layered use?

About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Architecture Paradigm Layered?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Architecture Paradigm Layered: PR Babysitter (openinterpreter/openinterpreter, 69k stars), Mailspring App Screenshots (Foundry376/Mailspring, 18k stars), Merge Dependabot PRs (onyx-dot-app/onyx, 32k stars) and Android UI Visual Review (permissionlesstech/bitchat-android, 7.8k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Architecture Paradigm Layered?

athola (a GitHub user) maintains it in athola/claude-night-market, which has 341 GitHub stars. The repository holds 152 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.

Source: athola/claude-night-market on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.