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Architecture Principles
Purpose
This document defines the guiding architectural principles and constraints for phase 1. It exists to give future technical decisions a shared reference before concrete stack and runtime choices are finalized.
Architectural Principles
Use these principles to guide near-term technical decisions:
- prefer simplicity over premature complexity
- preserve repository portability across machines
- document important technical decisions explicitly
- favor small, reviewable increments
- keep operational complexity low by default
- maintain clear testing and documentation expectations
- support reproducible local development workflow
- avoid lock-in unless it is clearly justified
- favor maintainability over novelty
Constraints
Future implementation choices must respect these constraints:
- do not assume a single development machine
- do not rely on undocumented local setup
- avoid introducing infrastructure without a clear need
- justify technology choices through the documented decision process
- optimize early implementation for learning and iteration, not scale theatre
What to Optimize for in the Current Phase
In the current phase, optimize for:
- clear decision-making
- low ambiguity
- portability
- maintainability
- fast feedback from small changes
- a workflow that humans and Codex can follow consistently
What Not to Optimize for Yet
Do not optimize yet for:
- large-scale deployment assumptions
- advanced infrastructure
- speculative performance work
- premature service decomposition
- novelty for its own sake
Decision Consequences
These principles narrow the acceptable set of future technical choices. A technology may be viable in general and still be a poor fit for this phase if it adds unnecessary complexity, weakens portability, or depends on undocumented local behavior.
Relationship to Future Stack and Runtime Choices
This document does not choose the final stack. It defines the constraints those choices must satisfy. Future stack, runtime, and infrastructure decisions should be justified through the documented decision process and recorded in ADRs when they become important enough to guide implementation.