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Architecture
Living Architecture Map — auto-generate Mermaid diagrams of your codebase. Use when user wants to visualize architecture, understand code structure, generate diagrams, or document system design.
ai
By Houseofmvps
Skill Content
# Living Architecture Map
Auto-generates and maintains architecture diagrams from your actual code. Always up-to-date.
## Process
### Phase 1: Scan
```bash
node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/architecture-mapper.mjs <project-directory>
```
Parse the JSON output for architecture data and diagrams.
### Phase 2: Present Diagrams
Display each Mermaid diagram with context:
**System Architecture:**
High-level view of all components and how they connect.
```mermaid
[system diagram from tool output]
```
**API Route Map:**
All endpoints organized by resource.
```mermaid
[routes diagram from tool output]
```
**Database Schema:**
Entity-relationship diagram of all tables and relations.
```mermaid
[database ER diagram from tool output]
```
**Data Flow:**
Sequence diagram showing how a typical request flows through the system.
```mermaid
[data flow diagram from tool output]
```
### Phase 3: Architecture Analysis
Based on the scanned data, provide analysis:
**Strengths:**
- Clear layer separation
- No circular dependencies
- Well-organized middleware chain
**Concerns:**
- Circular dependencies found (list them)
- Orphan modules (files imported by nothing)
- Large files that may need splitting
- Missing middleware (no auth, no rate limiting, etc.)
**Service Dependencies:**
List all external services and how they're used. Flag any that are single points of failure.
### Phase 4: Save Diagrams
Save architecture documentation:
1. Create `docs/architecture/` directory
2. Save `docs/architecture/ARCHITECTURE.md` with all diagrams
3. Save individual diagram files if needed
The document should be self-contained and renderable in GitHub (GitHub supports Mermaid in markdown).
### Phase 5: Recommendations
Based on architecture analysis:
1. **Circular dependencies** — suggest how to break cycles
2. **Orphan modules** — suggest removal or integration
3. **Missing patterns** — suggest middleware, error handling, or caching if absent
4. **Scalability concerns** — identify bottlenecks (single database, no caching, synchronous processing)
## Keeping Diagrams Updated
Recommend running `/architecture` after any significant structural change:
- Adding new API routes
- Adding new database tables
- Integrating new external services
- Major refactors
The diagrams are generated from code, so they're always accurate when re-run.
## Key Principle
**The map IS the territory.** Architecture diagrams that drift from reality are worse than no diagrams. Because these are auto-generated from code, they're always truthful.How to use
- Copy the skill content above
- Create a .claude/skills directory in your project
- Save as .claude/skills/ultraship-architecture.md
- Use /ultraship-architecture in Claude Code to invoke this skill