Sparc Architecture

Quick Start

# Invoke SPARC Architecture phase

# Or directly in Claude Code
# "Use SPARC architecture to design the system components for auth service"

When to Use

• Designing system components and their boundaries
• Creating API contracts and interface definitions
• Selecting technology stacks based on requirements
• Planning for scalability and high availability
• Defining deployment and infrastructure architecture

Prerequisites

• Completed specification and pseudocode phases
• Understanding of system design principles
• Knowledge of distributed systems patterns
• Familiarity with cloud infrastructure options

Core Concepts

SPARC Architecture Phase

The Architecture phase transforms algorithms into system designs:

1. Define system components and boundaries - Microservices, modules
2. Design interfaces and contracts - REST, gRPC, events
3. Select technology stacks - Languages, frameworks, databases
4. Plan for scalability and resilience - Horizontal scaling, failover
5. Create deployment architectures - Kubernetes, containers

Architecture Patterns

Pattern	Use Case	Trade-offs
Monolith	Small teams, early stage	Simple but hard to scale
Microservices	Large teams, complex domains	Scalable but complex
Event-Driven	Async workflows, decoupling	Eventual consistency
Serverless	Variable workloads	Cost-efficient but cold starts

Implementation Pattern

High-Level Architecture (Mermaid)

graph TB
    subgraph "Client Layer"
        WEB[Web App]
        MOB[Mobile App]
        API_CLIENT[API Clients]
    end

    subgraph "API Gateway"
        GATEWAY[Kong/Nginx]

*See sub-skills for full details.*
### Component Architecture

```yaml
components:
  auth_service:
    name: "Authentication Service"
    type: "Microservice"
    technology:
      language: "TypeScript"
      framework: "NestJS"
      runtime: "Node.js 18"


*See sub-skills for full details.*
### Data Architecture (SQL)

```sql
-- Entity Relationship Diagram
-- Users Table
CREATE TABLE users (
    id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
    email VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
    password_hash VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    status VARCHAR(50) DEFAULT 'active',
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    updated_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,

*See sub-skills for full details.*

## Metrics & Success Criteria

- All components have defined interfaces
- Database schema includes appropriate indexes
- API specification is complete and versioned
- Security architecture covers auth, encryption, compliance
- Scalability plan with measurable triggers

## Integration Points

### MCP Tools

```javascript
// Store architecture decisions
  action: "store",
  key: "sparc/architecture/components",
  namespace: "coordination",
  value: JSON.stringify({
    services: ["auth-service", "user-service"],
    database: "postgresql",
    cache: "redis",
    messaging: "rabbitmq",
    timestamp: Date.now()
  })
}

Hooks

# Pre-architecture hook

# Post-architecture hook

Related Skills

• sparc-specification - Requirements phase
• sparc-pseudocode - Previous phase: algorithms
• sparc-refinement - Next phase: TDD implementation

References

• Kubernetes Documentation
• OpenAPI Specification
• 12-Factor App

Version History

• 1.0.0 (2026-01-02): Initial release - converted from agent to skill format

Sub-Skills

• Configuration
• Example 1: API Architecture (OpenAPI) (+1)
• Example 3: Security Architecture (+1)
• Best Practices

Sub-Skills

• Execution Checklist
• Error Handling