Answer natural-language questions about the architecture by cross-referencing ADRs, architecture docs, proposals, and the codebase. Designed for onboarding and architecture exploration.
Answer natural-language questions about the architecture by searching across ADRs, architecture documents, proposals, and the codebase. Designed for onboarding and architecture exploration.
/arch-query "<question>"
| Argument | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
"<question>" | Yes | A natural-language architecture question in quotes. |
Parse the question. Identify the query type:
Search relevant sources. Based on the query type:
docs/decisions/): Read titles, status, and body content. Focus on the "Decision" and "Context" sections.docs/architecture/): Read content for pattern descriptions, module relationships, and design explanations.docs/proposals/): Read for historical context on why features were built and what alternatives were considered.Synthesize the answer. Combine information from multiple sources into a coherent response:
Cite sources. Every claim should reference a specific document:
The plugin system uses a three-layer architecture (skills, hooks, foundation)
as described in docs/architecture/plugin-system.md. Module types are declared
in CLAUDE.md per ADR-003, and dependency direction rules are enforced
heuristically per ADR-014.
Suggest follow-ups. When relevant, suggest related queries or skills:
For a visual map of module governance, try: /arch-map
For a full coverage audit, try: /arch-audit
This skill is deliberately open-ended. It leverages Claude's ability to search, read, and synthesize rather than running deterministic scripts. The value is in connecting questions to the right documents, not in producing structured reports (that is what /arch-map and /arch-audit are for).