context-discovery

Context Discovery

Before suggesting any architecture, gather context.

Question Hierarchy (Ask User FIRST)

1. Scale

   • How many users? (10, 1K, 100K, 1M+)
   • Data volume? (MB, GB, TB)
   • Transaction rate? (per second/minute)

2. Team

   • Solo developer or team?
   • Team size and expertise?
   • Distributed or co-located?

3. Timeline

   • MVP/Prototype or long-term product?
   • Time to market pressure?

4. Domain

   • CRUD-heavy or business logic complex?
   • Real-time requirements?
   • Compliance/regulations?

5. Constraints

   • Budget limitations?
   • Legacy systems to integrate?
   • Technology stack preferences?

Project Classification Matrix

                    MVP              SaaS           Enterprise
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Scale        │ <1K           │ 1K-100K      │ 100K+        │
│ Team         │ Solo          │ 2-10         │ 10+          │
│ Timeline     │ Fast (weeks)  │ Medium (months)│ Long (years)│
│ Architecture │ Simple        │ Modular      │ Distributed  │
│ Patterns     │ Minimal       │ Selective    │ Comprehensive│
│ Example      │ Next.js API   │ NestJS       │ Microservices│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘