Project Pattern Discovery

Pattern Description

What: Focuses on identifying higher-level, project-specific architectural and design patterns that emerge from how components interact and common problems are solved within this particular codebase.

When: Use this skill to gain a deep understanding of the project's unique design philosophy, to maintain consistency in new feature development, or to facilitate large-scale refactoring.

Context: Builds upon generic design patterns by finding their concrete manifestations and adaptations within the project, including common solutions for specific business domains or technical challenges.

Project-Specific Conventions

Foundational Architectural Patterns

• Overall Structure: [e.g., Monolithic, Microservices, Layered, Event-Driven]
• Data Management: [e.g., Centralized Database, Distributed Databases, CQRS]
• Communication: [e.g., RESTful APIs, gRPC, Message Queues]

Foundational Design Patterns

• Structural: [e.g., Adapter, Decorator, Facade]
• Behavioral: [e.g., Observer, Strategy, Command]
• Creational: [e.g., Factory, Singleton, Builder]

Recurring Solution Approaches

• Feature Modules: [e.g., how new features are encapsulated and integrated]
• Data Fetching Strategy: [e.g., use of specific hooks, data loaders, or API clients]
• Configuration Management: [e.g., centralized config service, .env files, build-time injection]
• Error Reporting: [e.g., custom error logging service, integration with Sentry/Bugsnag]

Component Interaction Patterns

• Service-to-Service Communication: [e.g., standard request/response cycles, event bus usage]
• UI-Backend Synchronization: [e.g., polling, WebSockets, optimistic updates]
• Authentication Flow: [e.g., JWT, OAuth, session management, refresh tokens]

Data Flow Patterns

• State Propagation: [e.g., how global state changes impact various parts of the application]
• Event Sourcing: [e.g., if domain events are used for state changes or inter-service communication]
• Data Transformation: [e.g., common utility functions for transforming API responses to UI models]

Common Pitfalls

❌ Undocumented Context

Problem: Project patterns are tribal knowledge, not explicitly documented. Why It Fails: Slows down onboarding, leads to inconsistent implementations, and makes large-scale changes risky. Better Approach: Create a living project playbook or architectural decision log; document discovered patterns, perhaps using architectural decision records (ADRs).

❌ Pattern Drift

Problem: New code deviates from established project patterns without clear rationale. Why It Fails: Increases technical debt and reduces the predictability and maintainability of the codebase. Better Approach: Regular code reviews focused on pattern adherence; establish clear guidelines for when to deviate.

❌ Over-Engineering Patterns

Problem: Applying complex patterns where simpler solutions would suffice. Why It Fails: Increases complexity, development time, and maintenance overhead. Better Approach: Choose patterns that match the problem's complexity; prioritize simplicity and clarity.

Pattern Intelligence for Skill and Agent Development

Skill Creation Opportunities

Project patterns often suggest valuable skill opportunities:

• Architectural Patterns: Create skills for specific architectural implementations
• Integration Patterns: Document how different components and services interact
• Domain Patterns: Capture business logic and domain-specific approaches
• Data Flow Patterns: Codify data transformation and processing workflows

Agent Specialization Insights

Discovered patterns can inform agent creation:

• Complexity-Based: Create specialized agents for highly complex patterns
• Domain-Specific: Develop agents for business domain patterns
• Cross-Cutting: Build agents for patterns that span multiple domains
• Workflow Coordination: Create agents that manage pattern-based workflows

Tool Selection Considerations

Architectural patterns influence tool needs:

• Distributed Systems: Consider service mesh, monitoring, and debugging tools
• Event-Driven: Look for event streaming, message queue, and processing tools
• Data-Intensive: Evaluate database, analytics, and data pipeline tools
• Security-Focused: Select tools that support security pattern implementations

Related Resources

Related Skills

• convention-extraction: Identifies lower-level stylistic patterns.
• repository-pattern-recognition: For understanding architectural context at repository level.
• skill-creation: For creating skills based on discovered architectural patterns.
• tool-selection-guidance: For selecting tools that support identified patterns.
• agent-creation: For creating agents that can implement and maintain architectural patterns.

Related Agents

• lead-architect-agent: For defining and evolving project-specific patterns.
• frontend-specialist: For frontend architectural pattern expertise.
• backend-specialist: For backend and service architecture patterns.

External Resources

• Architectural Decision Records (ADR)
• Domain-Driven Design (DDD)