Compatible with Cursor, Claude Code, Cline, Roo Code, Antigravity

Technical Design Document (RFC / ADR) Generation

Generate thorough, engineering-ready Request for Comments (RFC) and Architecture Decision Records (ADRs).

ArchitectureRFCADRPlanningDocumentation

v1.1.0 · Updated 2026-08

Skill Objective

Generate comprehensive engineering RFCs and ADRs featuring goals/non-goals, trade-off comparison matrices, security reviews, and rollout plans.

Execution Workflow Procedure

Ordered steps the coding agent executes when performing this skill.

Define Goals and Non-Goals

Specify functional and operational success metrics while explicitly establishing non-goals to prevent scope creep.

Architectural Specification & Data Models

Detail component interactions, sequence flows, database schema changes, and API contracts.

Compare Alternative Technical Approaches

Construct a comparative trade-off matrix evaluating at least two alternatives across complexity, cost, and scalability.

Plan Rollout, Security, and Observability

Detail feature flag strategies, canary rollout stages, metrics/SLOs, and rollback triggers.

Agent Safety Guardrails & Anti-Hallucination Rules

DO NOT author an RFC without analyzing at least two alternative approaches.
DO NOT omit explicit rollback triggers and non-goals.

Expected Output Format

Publication-ready engineering design document.

🎯 Goals & Non-Goals: Scope boundaries and metrics.

📐 Proposed Architecture: Component design, data models, and APIs.

⚖️ Alternatives & Trade-offs: Comparison of alternative approaches.

🚀 Rollout & Observability: Canary rollout, SLOs, and rollback triggers.

Domain Verification Checks

Explicit Non-Goals: Prevents runaway scope.

Alternatives Matrix: Evaluates trade-offs rigorously.

Canary Rollout Plan: Defines rollback criteria.

Example Agent Invocations

"Generate a Technical Design Document for migrating our API from polling to distributed WebSockets."

"Author an RFC for implementing multi-region rate limiting with Redis sliding windows."

Install / Configure This Skill

# Place in .cursorrules or create .cursor/rules/technical-design-document-rfc-generation.mdc
# Trigger: Whenever you perform technical design document (rfc / adr) generation

---
name: technical-design-document-rfc-generation
description: Author comprehensive engineering RFCs and Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) with trade-off matrices and rollout plans.
version: 1.1.0
compatibility: [Cursor, Claude Code, Cline, Roo Code, Antigravity]
---

# Technical Design Document (RFC / ADR) Generation

## Objective
Author rigorous, publication-ready technical design documents to align engineering teams on complex architectural initiatives.

## Workflow
1. **Goals & Non-Goals**: Define strict scope boundaries and operational success metrics.
2. **System Design**: Specify component responsibilities, data models, and API contracts.
3. **Trade-offs**: Compare at least two alternatives with a trade-off decision matrix.
4. **Operations**: Detail feature flag rollouts, observability metrics, and rollback criteria.

Complementary Agent Prompt

Need a quick one-time prompt for chat?

Try the Technical Design Document (RFC) Generator — a lightweight version designed for 1-click copying directly into Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor chat.

View Prompt