name: code-designing description: | Domain type design and architectural planning for Go code. Use when planning new features, designing self-validating types, preventing primitive obsession, or when refactoring reveals need for new types. Focuses on vertical slice architecture and type safety. allowed-tools:
- Skill(go-linter-driven-development:testing)
<objective> Domain type design and architectural planning for Go code. Use when planning new features or identifying need for new types during refactoring.
Reference: See reference.md for complete design principles and examples.
</objective>
<quick_start>
- Analyze Architecture: Check for vertical vs horizontal slicing
- Understand Domain: Identify problem domain, concepts, invariants
- Identify Core Types: Find primitives that need type wrappers
- Design Self-Validating Types: Create types with validating constructors
- Plan Package Structure: Vertical slices by feature
- Output Design Plan: Present structured plan before implementation
Ready to implement? Use @testing skill for test structure. </quick_start>
<when_to_use>
- Planning a new feature (before writing code)
- Refactoring reveals need for new types (complexity extraction)
- Linter failures suggest types should be introduced
- When you need to think through domain modeling </when_to_use>
<architecture_pattern_analysis priority="FIRST_STEP"> Default: Always use vertical slice architecture (feature-first, not layer-first).
Scan codebase structure:
- Vertical slicing:
internal/feature/{handler,service,repository,models}.go - Horizontal layering:
internal/{handlers,services,domain}/feature.go
<decision_flow>
- Pure vertical → Continue pattern, implement as
internal/[new-feature]/ - Pure horizontal → Propose: Start migration with
docs/architecture/vertical-slice-migration.md, implement new feature as first vertical slice - Mixed (migrating) → Check for migration docs, continue pattern as vertical slice </decision_flow>
Always ask user approval with options:
- Option A: Vertical slice (recommended for cohesion/maintainability)
- Option B: Match existing pattern (if time-constrained)
- Acknowledge: Time pressure, team decisions, consistency needs are valid
If migration needed, create/update docs/architecture/vertical-slice-migration.md:
# Vertical Slice Migration Plan
## Current State: [horizontal/mixed]
## Target: Vertical slices in internal/[feature]/
## Strategy: New features vertical, migrate existing incrementally
## Progress: [x] [new-feature] (this PR), [ ] existing features
See reference.md section #3 for detailed patterns. </architecture_pattern_analysis>
<understand_domain>
- What is the problem domain?
- What are the main concepts/entities?
- What are the invariants and rules?
- How does this fit into existing architecture? </understand_domain>
<identify_core_types> Ask for each concept:
- Is this currently a primitive (string, int, float)?
- Does it have validation rules?
- Does it have behavior beyond simple data?
- Is it used across multiple places?
If yes to any → Consider creating a type </identify_core_types>
<design_self_validating_types> For each type:
// Type definition
type TypeName underlyingType
// Validating constructor
func NewTypeName(input underlyingType) (TypeName, error) {
// Validate input
if /* validation fails */ {
return zero, errors.New("why it failed")
}
return TypeName(input), nil
}
// Methods on type (if behavior needed)
func (t TypeName) SomeMethod() result {
// Type-specific logic
}
</design_self_validating_types>
<plan_package_structure>
- Vertical slices: Group by feature, not layer
- Each feature gets its own package
- Within package: separate by role (service, repository, handler)
Good structure:
user/
├── user.go # Domain types
├── service.go # Business logic
├── repository.go # Persistence
└── handler.go # HTTP/API
Bad structure:
domain/user.go
services/user_service.go
repository/user_repository.go
</plan_package_structure>
<design_orchestrating_types> For types that coordinate others:
- Make fields private
- Validate dependencies in constructor
- No nil checks in methods (constructor guarantees validity)
type Service struct {
repo Repository // private
notifier Notifier // private
}
func NewService(repo Repository, notifier Notifier) (*Service, error) {
if repo == nil {
return nil, errors.New("repo required")
}
if notifier == nil {
return nil, errors.New("notifier required")
}
return &Service{
repo: repo,
notifier: notifier,
}, nil
}
// Methods can trust fields are valid
func (s *Service) DoSomething() error {
// No nil checks needed
return s.repo.Save(...)
}
</design_orchestrating_types>
<review_against_principles> Check design against (see reference.md):
- No primitive obsession
- Types are self-validating
- Vertical slice architecture
- Types designed around intent, not just shape
- Clear separation of concerns </review_against_principles>
<output_format> After design phase:
DESIGN PLAN
Feature: [Feature Name]
Core Domain Types:
- UserID (string) - Self-validating, prevents empty IDs
- Email (string) - Self-validating, RFC 5322 validation
- Age (int) - Self-validating, range 0-150
Orchestrating Types:
- UserService - Coordinates user operations
Dependencies: Repository, Notifier
Methods: CreateUser, GetUser, UpdateUser
Package Structure:
user/
├── user.go # UserID, Email, Age, User
├── service.go # UserService
├── repository.go # Repository interface + implementations
├── notifier.go # Notifier interface + implementations
└── handler.go # HTTP handlers
Design Decisions:
- UserID is custom type to prevent passing empty/invalid IDs
- Email validation centralized in NewEmail constructor
- Vertical slice keeps all user logic in one package
- Repository as interface allows multiple backends (Postgres, in-memory for tests)
Integration Points:
- Consumed by: HTTP API (/users endpoints)
- Depends on: Database, Email service
- Events: UserCreated event published after creation
Next Steps:
1. Create types with validating constructors
2. Write unit tests for each type
3. Implement UserService
4. Write integration tests
Ready to implement? Use @testing skill for test structure.
</output_format>
<key_principles> See reference.md for detailed principles:
- Primitive obsession prevention (Yoke design strategy)
- Self-validating types
- Vertical slice architecture
- Types around intent and behavior, not just shape
- Single responsibility per type </key_principles>
<pre_code_review> Before writing code, ask:
- Can logic be moved into smaller custom types?
- Is this type designed around intent and behavior?
- Have I avoided primitive obsession?
- Is validation in the right place (constructor)?
- Does this follow vertical slice architecture?
Only after satisfactory answers, proceed to implementation.
See reference.md for complete design principles and examples. </pre_code_review>
<success_criteria> Design phase is complete when ALL of the following are true:
- Architecture pattern analyzed (vertical/horizontal/mixed)
- Core domain types identified with validation rules
- Self-validating type design documented
- Package structure follows vertical slice pattern
- Design decisions documented with rationale
- Pre-code review questions answered satisfactorily
- Design plan output presented to user </success_criteria>