Boundary Design

Boundary Design

Problem shape: something must be split, wrapped, or interfaced — a system into modules, a workflow between human and tool, a product between build and buy — and the current boundary leaks implementation detail, transaction cost, or cognitive load across it.

Relevant geniuses

| Agent | Use when | |---|---| | [coase](../../agents/genius/coase.md) | build vs buy; team/service boundary placement — compare transaction costs across the boundary, not ideology | | [hopper](../../agents/genius/hopper.md) | users forced to think in implementation vocabulary — build the translator; debugging under-invested; a tool defended out of familiarity | | [engelbart](../../agents/genius/engelbart.md) | "automate this" proposed where augmenting the person is the real win; the team doesn't use its own tool; design for expert ceiling, not just novice floor | | [kay](../../agents/genius/kay.md) | decisions hardcoded that could bind late; tight coupling via direct calls; users need to modify the system at runtime | | [alexander](../../agents/genius/alexander.md) | decompose by misfit; the design needs a generative sequence of patterns rather than a top-down blueprint | | [simon](../../agents/genius/simon.md) | the system should be nearly decomposable — strong interactions inside modules, weak between; hierarchy as the default shape | | [liskov](../../agents/genius/liskov.md) | the boundary is an interface — write the behavioral contract so implementations are substitutable | | [ranganathan](../../agents/genius/ranganathan.md) | information exists but nobody can find it — faceted classification and findability laws |

Invocation

1. Pick the best-fit agent above. If two or more fit, run

tools/genius-invoker.sh route "" and take the top ranked match.

1. Load it: tools/genius-invoker.sh invoke "", then read

agents/genius/.md in full.

1. Apply the agent's `` step by step and answer in its

``. Every proposed boundary states what crosses it, what it hides, and what it costs (Clean Architecture layer rules apply, §2.2).

1. Typical chain: coase places the boundary → simon shapes the decomposition →

liskov contracts the interface. Run via tools/genius-invoker.sh compose coase liskov -- "".

1. If no shape above matches, use a standard team agent instead.

Refuse when

• The boundary is being drawn to match an org chart against the dependency

evidence — surface the conflict instead of ratifying it.

• Fewer than three concrete uses exist for a proposed abstraction

(coding-standards §3.3: premature abstraction is worse than duplication).

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: cdeust
• Source: cdeust/zetetic-team-subagents
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://ai-architect.tools

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.