/design-system

name: design-system
description: "Section-by-section GDD authoring for one system — walks through each required section, cross-references dependencies."
argument-hint: "<system-name> [--review full|lean|solo]"
user-invocable: true
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep, Write, Edit, AskUserQuestion, TaskCreate, TaskGet, TaskList, TaskUpdate, Bash(bash "*/.claude/skills/design-system/../../hooks/yaml-helper.sh" resolve_config *), Bash(bash .claude/scripts/registry.sh *)
model: sonnet

!`bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../hooks/yaml-helper.sh" resolve_config --keys review_mode,automation,workflow,docs.density,system_overrides`

Resolved above — use as-is; `--review` overrides `review_mode`. No block → defaults in `.claude/docs/config-resolution.md`.

Design System

**This skill spawns no agents** — not for a section and not for the CD-GDD-ALIGN sign-off, even when the person asks for a specialist's or "the creative director's" view: what each specialist checked is in a lens file in `references/`, and you apply it here. (The agent files exist for other skills.)

When this skill is invoked:

1. Parse Arguments & Validate

**Read `references/1-parse-arguments.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

2. Gather Context (Read Phase)

**Read `references/2-gather-context.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

3. Create File Skeleton

**Read `references/3-file-skeleton.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

4. Section-by-Section Design

**Read `references/4-section-design.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

5. Post-Design Validation

**Read `references/5-post-design.md` now and follow it** — this phase's steps are in that file, not here. Read it again if the conversation was compacted or resumed during this phase.

6. Specialist Routing

The section steps look at the work through specialists' lenses (`references/lens-creative-director.md`, `references/lens-systems-designer.md`, `references/lens-qa-lead.md` and `references/lens-specialists.md`, each read when its step says); this table picks which roles' lenses a system's Section C uses. You run the flow and apply each lens yourself.

**Rows here are finer-grained than the nine `Category` values on purpose** — the right specialist for combat is not the right specialist for pathfinding, and both are `Gameplay`. Resolve in two steps: take the system's `Category` from `systems-index.md`, then pick the row within it that matches what the system actually does. Every category has at least one row, so nothing falls through.

| `Category` | Rows below to choose from | |---|---| | `Gameplay` | Combat/damage/health · AI/pathfinding/behavior · Animation/character movement · Character systems · Camera/input/controls | | `Core` | Foundation/Infrastructure · Camera/input/controls | | `Persistence` | Foundation/Infrastructure | | `Economy` | Economy/loot/crafting | | `Progression` | Progression/XP/skills | | `UI` | UI systems · Visual effects (when the system is HUD-adjacent VFX) | | `Audio` | Audio systems | | `Narrative` | Dialogue/quests/lore | | `Meta` | Foundation/Infrastructure (analytics, tutorial plumbing) · UI systems (accessibility options screens) |

If two rows fit, use the union of their Primary roles and say why.

| System type | Primary role | Supporting role(s) | |----------------|---------------|---------------------| | **Foundation/Infrastructure** (event bus, save/load, scene mgmt, service locator) | `systems-designer` | `gameplay-programmer` (feasibility), `engine-programmer` (engine integration) | | Combat, damage, health | `game-designer` | `systems-designer` (formulas), `ai-programmer` (enemy AI), `art-director` (hit feedback visual direction, VFX intent) | | Economy, loot, crafting | `economy-designer` | `systems-designer` (curves), `game-designer` (loops) | | Progression, XP, skills | `game-designer` | `systems-designer` (curves), `economy-designer` (sinks) | | Dialogue, quests, lore | `game-designer` | `narrative-director` (story), `writer` (content), `art-director` (character visual profiles, cinematic tone) | | UI systems (HUD, menus) | `game-designer` | `ux-designer` (flows), `ui-programmer` (feasibility), `art-director` (visual style direction), `technical-artist` (render/shader constraints) | | Audio systems | `game-designer` | `audio-director` (direction), `sound-designer` (specs) | | AI, pathfinding, behavior | `game-designer` | `ai-programmer` (implementation), `systems-designer` (scoring) | | Level/world systems | `game-designer` | `level-designer` (spatial), `world-builder` (lore) | | Camera, input, controls | `game-designer` | `ux-designer` (feel), `gameplay-programmer` (feasibility) | | Animation, character movement | `game-designer` | `art-director` (animation style, pose language), `technical-artist` (rig/blend constraints), `gameplay-programmer` (feel) | | Visual effects, particles, shaders | `game-designer` | `art-director` (VFX visual direction), `technical-artist` (performance budget, shader complexity), `systems-designer` (trigger/state integration) | | Character systems (stats, archetypes) | `game-designer` | `art-director` (character visual archetype), `narrative-director` (character arc alignment), `systems-designer` (stat formulas) |

**When applying a lens**:

• Look at the system name, concept summary, dependency GDD excerpts and the section

in hand through that role, and write its view as its own block named by role

• Present the views, and any conflict between them, to the user via `AskUserQuestion`
• The user decides; you write to file

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7.