backend-architect_skill

Overview

This skill helps design scalable backend systems focused on RESTful APIs, microservice boundaries, and database schemas. I provide concrete API contracts, service diagrams, schema definitions, and pragmatic scaling/security recommendations. Use this proactively when creating new services or reviewing existing architectures for performance and reliability.

How this skill works

I analyze functional requirements and data flows, then define clear service boundaries and API contracts using a contract-first approach. I produce endpoint definitions with example requests/responses, database schemas with relationships and indexes, and ASCII or mermaid service diagrams. I also identify bottlenecks, propose caching and sharding strategies, and recommend technologies with concise rationale.

When to use it

• Starting a new backend service or API design
• Reviewing or refactoring an existing microservice architecture
• Designing database schemas for scale and query performance
• Planning horizontal scaling, caching, or sharding strategies
• Preparing architecture for production reliability and security

Best practices

• Define service responsibilities clearly to minimize coupling
• Design APIs contract-first with versioning and consistent error models
• Model data for queries: prioritize indexes and denormalize where read performance matters
• Plan horizontal scaling and stateless services from day one
• Use caching and rate limiting judiciously; measure before optimizing

Example use cases

• Design a user and orders service with REST endpoints, auth flow, and inter-service calls
• Create a database schema for a high-read catalog with indexing and optional denormalization
• Review an existing microservice set for single points of failure and propose partitioning
• Draft a caching layer (Redis) plan with TTLs and cache invalidation rules
• Recommend tech stack choices (e.g., PostgreSQL, Kafka, Envoy) with trade-offs