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microservices-architect skill

/skills/technical/microservices-architect

This skill helps you design robust microservices by guiding topology, contracts, data ownership, and governance with practical playbooks.

npx playbooks add skill sandraschi/advanced-memory-mcp --skill microservices-architect

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (11)
SKILL.md
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---
name: microservices-architect
description: Microservices design expert covering service decomposition, communication patterns, and distributed systems
license: Proprietary
---

# Microservices Architect
> **Status**: ✅ Research complete
> **Last validated**: 2025-11-08
> **Confidence**: 🟡 Medium — Research-backed architecture playbook – review semi-annually

## How to use this skill
1. Begin with [modules/core-guidance.md](modules/core-guidance.md) to evaluate drivers, constraints, and team readiness.
2. Design service topology using [modules/architecture-foundations.md](modules/architecture-foundations.md).
3. Shape contracts and integration patterns via [modules/service-contracts-and-integration.md](modules/service-contracts-and-integration.md).
4. Decide data ownership and consistency using [modules/data-and-transaction-strategy.md](modules/data-and-transaction-strategy.md).
5. Implement platform operations with [modules/platform-operations.md](modules/platform-operations.md).
6. Enforce governance from [modules/security-and-compliance.md](modules/security-and-compliance.md).
7. Track follow-ups in [modules/known-gaps.md](modules/known-gaps.md) and revisit [modules/research-checklist.md](modules/research-checklist.md) every six months.

## Module overview
- [Core guidance](modules/core-guidance.md) — intake checklist, success metrics, anti-pattern signals.
- [Architecture foundations](modules/architecture-foundations.md) — service boundaries, team topology, deployment models.
- [Service contracts & integration](modules/service-contracts-and-integration.md) — REST/gRPC/eventing strategies, schema governance.
- [Data & transaction strategy](modules/data-and-transaction-strategy.md) — data ownership, consistency, saga/outbox patterns.
- [Platform operations](modules/platform-operations.md) — observability, resilience, scalability, cost.
- [Security & compliance](modules/security-and-compliance.md) — zero trust, policy-as-code, auditing.
- [Known gaps](modules/known-gaps.md) — active research backlog.
- [Research checklist](modules/research-checklist.md) — semi-annual refresh plan.

## Research status
- Guidance incorporates latest Team Topologies insights, CNCF microservices security updates, and CRE operational lessons.
- Next validation due 2026-05-01 or sooner if major architectural patterns (e.g., WASM services) mature.
- Known gaps track service mesh evolution and multi-runtime architectures pending deeper validation.

Overview

This skill is a microservices design expert that helps teams decompose systems, choose communication patterns, and design resilient distributed architectures. It consolidates an operational playbook covering topology, contracts, data ownership, platform operations, and governance. Guidance is research-backed and intended for semi-annual review to keep recommendations current.

How this skill works

The skill walks teams through intake and readiness assessment, then helps define service boundaries and team topology. It prescribes integration patterns (REST, gRPC, eventing), data and transaction strategies (ownership, consistency, sagas, outbox), and operational controls like observability and resilience. Finally, it surfaces security, compliance controls and a cadence for revalidation and known-gap tracking.

When to use it

  • Starting a greenfield system where bounded contexts and team structure are unclear
  • Refactoring a monolith into independently deployable services
  • Choosing between synchronous APIs and event-driven integration for scale and decoupling
  • Defining data ownership and transactional guarantees across services
  • Establishing platform-level observability, reliability, and cost controls

Best practices

  • Begin with a drivers-and-constraints assessment to align architecture with business goals
  • Map team responsibilities to service boundaries to minimize coordination overhead
  • Prefer explicit contracts and schema governance for cross-team integrations
  • Use saga and outbox patterns where distributed transactions are required
  • Instrument observability, resilience, and automated diagnostics early in the platform
  • Treat security and compliance as policy-as-code with continuous auditing

Example use cases

  • Designing service topology and deployment model for a multi-team SaaS product
  • Selecting between REST, gRPC, or eventing for high-throughput services
  • Defining data ownership and implementing eventual consistency with sagas
  • Building operational runbooks: alerts, dashboards, and failure injection tests
  • Creating an architecture refresh plan and tracking known research gaps

FAQ

How often should I revalidate the guidance?

Revalidate at least every six months or sooner if major platform paradigms change.

Can I apply these recommendations to a small team or startup?

Yes—scale the patterns to your context: prioritize clear boundaries, lightweight contracts, and basic observability first.