Tech Stack Skill
Overview
This skill guides technology selection aligned to the company's opinionated tech stack. The stack defines approved technologies by layer — anything outside the approved list requires a formal exception before it can be used.
Read references/tech-stack.md for the full approved technology catalog, tier definitions,
and exception process before making any technology recommendation.
Output
- Markdown (.md) — Tech Stack section for Solution Intent, or standalone analysis
- Name file:
[initiative-name]-tech-stack.md
Approval Tiers
Technologies fall into one of three tiers (see references/tech-stack.md for the full list):
| Tier | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Approved | Standard choice — use without additional review |
| Conditionally Approved | Approved for specific use cases only — confirm fit |
| Exception Required | Not on the approved list — requires architecture board review |
Process
Step 1: Identify technology decisions needed
From the requirement, list every technology choice that must be made:
- Runtime language and version
- Application framework
- API style (REST, gRPC, GraphQL)
- Messaging / eventing platform
- Database(s)
- Caching
- UI framework (if applicable)
- Infrastructure / compute
- CI/CD tooling
- Observability stack
Step 2: Match to approved stack
For each decision, look up the approved choice in references/tech-stack.md and document:
| Layer | Decision | Approved Choice | Tier | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runtime | Language | [approved] | Approved | |
| Framework | API | [approved] | Approved | |
| Messaging | Events | [approved] | Approved | |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |
Step 3: Flag exceptions
For any technology not in the approved catalog:
- Document the proposed technology and the reason the approved alternative doesn't fit
- Identify the exception type (new technology, unsupported version, non-standard pattern)
- Outline the exception approval path (see
references/tech-stack.md— Exception Process) - Mark as ⚠️ in the tech stack table — no exceptions proceed without approval
Step 4: Version alignment
Ensure proposed versions align with company-supported versions. Flag any end-of-life or unsupported versions as risks.
Document Structure
# [Initiative Name] — Tech Stack
## Technology Decisions
| Layer | Choice | Tier | Justification |
|-------|--------|------|---------------|
| [Layer] | [Technology v.x] | Approved / Conditional / Exception | [Why] |
## Exception Requests
[Technology | Reason approved option doesn't fit | Approval path]
## Version Risk Register
[Any EOL or unsupported version flags]
## Open Questions
Reference Files
references/tech-stack.md— Company approved technology catalog by layer, tier classifications, conditionally approved use cases, and exception process. TODO: Populate with your organization's opinionated tech stack.
