Architecture Trade-off Analyzer

When to Use

You're in a situation where an architecture decision needs to be made and there are competing concerns. Typical triggers:

• The user is choosing between architecture styles (monolith vs microservices, event-driven vs request-reply)
• The user mentions competing quality attributes ("we need it fast AND scalable AND simple")
• The user is presenting a single option as "the best" — they haven't analyzed trade-offs yet
• The user is stuck in analysis paralysis or decision avoidance
• An architecture decision needs to be documented with rationale

Before starting, verify:

• Is there actually a decision to make? (If the user is just asking for information, explain concepts instead)
• Are there at least 2 viable options to compare? (If only one option exists, help identify alternatives first)

Context

Required Context (must have before proceeding)