Su Architecture First

Run the smallest architecture-first preflight that makes the work safe and checkable. Decide what should change, which layer owns it, and what evidence will prove it.

Scale the Depth

Use the same reasoning spine for engineering work of any size, but scale the legwork to the risk:

• Quick pass: For a local, reversible change with clear ownership, briefly confirm the real goal, owning layer or object, change class, and check, then proceed.
• Full pass: For a recurring, cross-layer, ambiguous, high-risk, or costly change—or a user-visible change that materially affects workflow, state, permissions, data, or recovery—run the full sequence and load the matching references. Complete it when each material problem also has a source of truth, an evidence-backed root-cause judgment, a next step, and validation or regression evidence.

This preflight is not a new approval ceremony. Stay in review mode only until the user authorizes implementation for the current scope. When authorization already exists, do not ask again; proceed as soon as the necessary decision and evidence are explicit.

Choose the Lens

Engineering and Systems

Use for fixes, features, refactors, recurring failures, patch accumulation, conflicting state, unclear ownership, and implementation planning.