Skip to content
All Skills

Breakdown Epic Arch

Prompt for creating the high-level technical architecture for an Epic, based on a Product Requirements Document.

Software Engineering|v1|Updated 7/14/2026|GitHub source
MCP get_skill({ skillId: "epic-architecture-specification-prompt-f62a7145" })

Use this skill with your agent

Create a free account and connect via MCP

Get Started Free
# Epic Architecture Specification Prompt

## Goal

Act as a Senior Software Architect. Your task is to take an Epic PRD and create a high-level technical architecture specification. This document will guide the development of the epic, outlining the major components, features, and technical enablers required.

## Context Considerations

- The Epic PRD from the Product Manager.
- **Domain-driven architecture** pattern for modular, scalable applications.
- **Self-hosted and SaaS deployment** requirements.
- **Docker containerization** for all services.
- **TypeScript/Next.js** stack with App Router.
- **Turborepo monorepo** patterns.
- **tRPC** for type-safe APIs.
- **Stack Auth** for authentication.

**Note:** Do NOT write code in output unless it's pseudocode for technical situations.

## Output Format

The output should be a complete Epic Architecture Specification in Markdown format, saved to `/docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/arch.md`.

### Specification Structure

#### 1. Epic Architecture Overview

- A brief summary of the technical approach for the epic.

#### 2. System Architecture Diagram

Create a comprehensive Mermaid diagram that illustrates the complete system architecture for this epic. The diagram should include:

- **User Layer**: Show how different user types (web browsers, mobile apps, admin interfaces) interact with the system
- **Application Layer**: Depict load balancers, application instances, and authentication services (Stack Auth)
- **Service Layer**: Include tRPC APIs, background services, workflow engines (n8n), and any epic-specific services
- **Data Layer**: Show databases (PostgreSQL), vector databases (Qdrant), caching layers (Redis), and external API integrations
- **Infrastructure Layer**: Represent Docker containerization and deployment architecture

Use clear subgraphs to organize these layers, apply consistent color coding for different component types, and show the data flow between components. Include both synchronous request paths and asynchronous processing flows where relevant to the epic.

#### 3. High-Level Features & Technical Enablers

- A list of the high-level features to be built.
- A list of technical enablers (e.g., new services, libraries, infrastructure) required to support the features.

#### 4. Technology Stack

- A list of the key technologies, frameworks, and libraries to be used.

#### 5. Technical Value

- Estimate the technical value (e.g., High, Medium, Low) with a brief justification.

#### 6. T-Shirt Size Estimate

- Provide a high-level t-shirt size estimate for the epic (e.g., S, M, L, XL).

## Context Template

- **Epic PRD:** [The content of the Epic PRD markdown file]
#github-copilot#architecture

Related Skills

More skills in Software Engineering

Accessibility Standards

Comprehensive web accessibility standards based on WCAG 2.2 AA, with 38+ anti-patterns, legal enforcement context (EAA, ADA Title II), WAI-ARIA patterns, and framework-specific fixes for modern web frameworks and libraries.

#github-copilot#accessibilityMIT

Accord

Authoring unified specification packages across Business/Development/Design teams via staged elaboration (L0 Vision → L1 Requirements → L2 Team Detail → L3 Acceptance Criteria). No code. Use when authoring cross-team specs, building L0-L3 packages, or aligning Biz/Dev/Design on a single source of truth.

#broad-capability#developmentMIT

Acquire Codebase Knowledge

Use this skill when the user explicitly asks to map, document, or onboard into an existing codebase. Trigger for prompts like "map this codebase", "document this architecture", "onboard me to this repo", or "create codebase docs". Do not trigger for routine feature implementation, bug fixes, or narrow code edits unless the user asks for repository-level discovery.

#github-copilot#documentationMIT

Acreadiness Assess

Run the AgentRC readiness assessment on the current repository and produce a static HTML dashboard at reports/index.html. Wraps `npx github:microsoft/agentrc readiness` and hands off rendering to the @ai-readiness-reporter custom agent. Supports policies (--policy) for org-specific scoring. Use when asked to assess, audit, or score the AI readiness of a repo.

#github-copilot#planningMIT

Acreadiness Generate Instructions

Generate tailored AI agent instruction files via AgentRC instructions command. Produces .github/copilot-instructions.md (default, recommended for Copilot in VS Code) plus optional per-area .instructions.md files with applyTo globs for monorepos. Use after running /acreadiness-assess to close gaps in the AI Tooling pillar.

#github-copilot#skillMIT

Acreadiness Policy

Help the user pick, write, or apply an AgentRC policy. Policies customise readiness scoring by disabling irrelevant checks, overriding impact/level, setting pass-rate thresholds, or chaining org baselines with team overrides. Use when the user asks about strict mode, AI-only scoring, custom weights, CI gating, or wants org-wide standardisation.

#github-copilot#planningMIT