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name: tech-stack-skill description: Use this skill for technology selection decisions. Trigger on tech stack, technology selection, what language, what framework, approved technologies, tech exception, or any time a technology choice is being made. The company has an opinionated tech stack — always consult this skill before recommending a technology to ensure alignment with approved choices.

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.

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Output

• Markdown (.md) — Tech Stack section for Solution Intent, or standalone analysis
• Name file: [initiative-name]-tech-stack.md

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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 |

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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:

1. Document the proposed technology and the reason the approved alternative doesn't fit
2. Identify the exception type (new technology, unsupported version, non-standard pattern)
3. Outline the exception approval path (see references/tech-stack.md — Exception Process)
4. 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.

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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

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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.