/kiro-spec-design

name: kiro-spec-design
description: Create comprehensive technical design for a specification
metadata:
  shared-rules: "design-principles.md, design-discovery-full.md, design-discovery-light.md, design-synthesis.md, design-review-gate.md"

Technical Design Generator

<background_information>

• **Success Criteria**:
• All requirements mapped to technical components with clear interfaces
• The design makes responsibility boundaries explicit enough to guide task generation and review
• Appropriate architecture discovery and research completed
• Design aligns with steering context and existing patterns
• Visual diagrams included for complex architectures

</background_information>

<instructions>

Execution Steps

Step 1: Load Context

**Read all necessary context**:

• `{{KIRO_DIR}}/specs/$1/spec.json`, `requirements.md`, `design.md` (if exists)
• `{{KIRO_DIR}}/specs/$1/research.md` (if exists, contains gap analysis from `/kiro-validate-gap`)
• Core steering context: `product.md`, `tech.md`, `structure.md`
• Additional steering files only when directly relevant to requirement coverage, architecture boundaries, integrations, runtime prerequisites, security/performance constraints, or team conventions that affect implementation readiness
• `{{KIRO_DIR}}/settings/templates/specs/design.md` for document structure
• Read `rules/design-principles.md` from this skill's directory for design principles
• `{{KIRO_DIR}}/settings/templates/specs/research.md` for discovery log structure

**Validate requirements approval**:

• If `-y` flag provided ($2 == "-y"): Auto-approve requirements in spec.json
• Otherwise: Verify approval status (stop if unapproved, see Safety & Fallback)

Step 2: Discovery & Analysis

**Critical: This phase ensures design is based on complete, accurate information.**

1. **Classify Feature Type**:

• **New Feature** (greenfield) → Full discovery required
• **Extension** (existing system) → Integration-focused discovery
• **Simple Addition** (CRUD/UI) → Minimal or no discovery
• **Complex Integration** → Comprehensive analysis required

2. **Execute Appropriate Discovery Process**:

**For Complex/New Features**:

• Read and execute `rules/design-discovery-full.md` from this skill's directory
• Conduct thorough research using WebSearch/WebFetch:
• Latest architectural patterns and best practices
• External dependency verification (APIs, libraries, versions, compatibility)
• Official documentation, migration guides, known issues
• Performance benchmarks and security considerations

**For Extensions**:

• Read and execute `rules/design-discovery-light.md` from this skill's directory
• Focus on integration points, existing patterns, compatibility
• Use Grep to analyze existing codebase patterns

**For Simple Additions**:

• Skip formal discovery, quick pattern check only

Parallel Research (sub-agent dispatch)

The following research areas are independent and can be dispatched as **sub-agents**. The agent should decide the optimal decomposition based on feature complexity — split, merge, add, or skip sub-agents as needed. Each sub-agent returns a **findings summary** (not raw data) to keep the main context clean for synthesis.

**Typical research areas** (adjust as appropriate):

• **Codebase analysis**: Existing architecture patterns, integration points, code conventions
• **External research**: Dependencies, APIs, latest best practices
• **Context loading** (usually main context): Steering files, design principles, discovery rules, templates

For simple additions, skip sub-agent dispatch entirely and do a quick pattern check in main context.

After all findings return, synthesize in main context before proceeding.

3. **Retain Discovery Findings for Step 3**:

• External API contracts and constraints
• Technology decisions with rationale
• Existing patterns to follow or extend
• Integration points and dependencies
• Identified risks and mitigation strategies
• Boundary candidates, out-of-boundary decisions, and likely revalidation triggers

4. **Persist Findings to Research Log**:

• Create or update `{{KIRO_DIR}}/specs/$1/research.md` using the shared template
• Summarize discovery scope and key findings (Summary section)
• Record investigations in Research Log topics with sources and implications
• Document architecture pattern evaluation, design decisions, and risks using the template sections
• Use the language specified in spec.json when writing or updating `research.md`

Step 3: Synthesis

**Apply design synthesis to discovery findings before writing.**

• Read and apply `rules/design-synthesis.md` from this skill's directory
• This step requires the full picture from discovery — do not parallelize or delegate to sub-agents
• Record synthesis outcomes (generalizations found, build-vs-adopt decisions, simplifications) in `research.md`

Step 4: Generate Design Draft

1. **Load Design Template and Rules**:

• Read `{{KIRO_DIR}}/settings/templates/specs/design.md` for structure
• Read `rules/design-principles.md` from this skill's directory for principles

2. **Generate Design Draft**:

• **Follow specs/design.md template structure and generation instructions strictly**
• **Boundary-first requirement**: Before expanding supporting sections, make the boundary explicit. The draft must clearly define what this spec owns, what it does not own, which dependencies are allowed, and what changes would require downstream revalidation.
• **Integrate all discovery findings and synthesis outcomes**: Use researched information (APIs, patterns, technologies) and synthesis decisions (generalizations, build-vs-adopt, simplifications) throughout component definitions, architecture decisions, and integration points
• **File Structure Plan** (required): Populate the File Structure Plan section with concrete file paths and responsibilities. Analyze th