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Cto Advisor

  • 577 installs
  • 29.9k repo stars
  • Updated July 27, 2026
  • davila7/claude-code-templates

cto-advisor is a Claude agent skill that captures Architecture Decision Records with full context, consequences, and rationale so developers preserve institutional knowledge behind structural choices.

About

CTO Advisor is an agent skill that generates and manages Architecture Decision Records (ADRs). It provides a structured template and workflow for documenting significant technical choices including the problem context, decision drivers, options considered, chosen solution with justification, positive and negative consequences, and links to related artifacts. Solo builders and small teams use it to preserve decision rationale that would otherwise be lost in chat histories or tribal knowledge. This prevents repeated debates, reduces onboarding time, and gives future-you or collaborators clear reasoning when revisiting architecture months later. The skill outputs ready-to-commit markdown files that become living documentation alongside your codebase.

  • Standard ADR template with context, decision drivers, considered options, outcome, and pros/cons sections
  • Includes positive and negative consequences with explicit risk mitigations
  • Links to related ADRs, tickets, research, and documentation
  • Status tracking (Proposed, Accepted, Deprecated, Superseded)
  • Maintains institutional knowledge across evolving codebases

Cto Advisor by the numbers

  • 577 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • +9 installs in the week ending Jun 27, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
  • Ranked #684 of 3,301 Productivity & Planning skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Security screen: MEDIUM risk (skills.sh audit)
  • Data as of Jul 28, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
npx skills add https://github.com/davila7/claude-code-templates --skill cto-advisor

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Listed on Skillselion
Installs577
repo stars29.9k
Security audit2 / 3 scanners passed
Last updatedJuly 27, 2026
Repositorydavila7/claude-code-templates

How do you document architecture decisions with ADRs?

Capture architectural decisions with full context, consequences, and rationale so future changes are informed rather than guesswork.

Who is it for?

Tech leads and staff engineers who need durable ADR markdown capturing why architectural choices were made before refactors or onboarding.

Skip if: Developers who need executable infrastructure code, draw.io diagrams only, or hostile pre-merge diff reviews without decision documentation.

When should I use this skill?

The user asks to record an architecture decision, write an ADR, or capture rationale and consequences for a technical choice.

What you get

Numbered ADR markdown files with status, context, decision drivers, chosen option, and recorded consequences.

  • ADR markdown file
  • decision consequence log

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

CTO Advisor

Strategic frameworks and tools for technology leadership, team scaling, and engineering excellence.

Keywords

CTO, chief technology officer, technical leadership, tech debt, technical debt, engineering team, team scaling, architecture decisions, technology evaluation, engineering metrics, DORA metrics, ADR, architecture decision records, technology strategy, engineering leadership, engineering organization, team structure, hiring plan, technical strategy, vendor evaluation, technology selection

Quick Start

For Technical Debt Assessment

python scripts/tech_debt_analyzer.py

Analyzes system architecture and provides prioritized debt reduction plan.

For Team Scaling Planning

python scripts/team_scaling_calculator.py

Calculates optimal hiring plan and team structure for growth.

For Architecture Decisions

Review references/architecture_decision_records.md for ADR templates and examples.

For Technology Evaluation

Use framework in references/technology_evaluation_framework.md for vendor selection.

For Engineering Metrics

Implement KPIs from references/engineering_metrics.md for team performance tracking.

Core Responsibilities

1. Technology Strategy

Vision & Roadmap
  • Define 3-5 year technology vision
  • Create quarterly roadmaps
  • Align with business strategy
  • Communicate to stakeholders
Innovation Management
  • Allocate 20% time for innovation
  • Run hackathons quarterly
  • Evaluate emerging technologies
  • Build proof of concepts
Technical Debt Strategy
# Assess current debt
python scripts/tech_debt_analyzer.py

# Allocate capacity
- Critical debt: 40% capacity
- High debt: 25% capacity  
- Medium debt: 15% capacity
- Low debt: Ongoing maintenance

2. Team Leadership

Scaling Engineering
# Calculate scaling needs
python scripts/team_scaling_calculator.py

# Key ratios to maintain:
- Manager:Engineer = 1:8
- Senior:Mid:Junior = 3:4:2
- Product:Engineering = 1:10
- QA:Engineering = 1.5:10
Performance Management
  • Set clear OKRs quarterly
  • Conduct 1:1s weekly
  • Review performance quarterly
  • Provide growth opportunities
Culture Building
  • Define engineering values
  • Establish coding standards
  • Create learning programs
  • Foster collaboration

3. Architecture Governance

Decision Making

Use ADR template from references/architecture_decision_records.md: 1. Document context and problem 2. List all options considered 3. Record decision and rationale 4. Track consequences

Technology Standards
  • Language choices
  • Framework selection
  • Database standards
  • Security requirements
  • API design guidelines
System Design Review
  • Weekly architecture reviews
  • Design documentation standards
  • Prototype requirements
  • Performance criteria

4. Vendor Management

Evaluation Process

Follow framework in references/technology_evaluation_framework.md: 1. Gather requirements (Week 1) 2. Market research (Week 1-2) 3. Deep evaluation (Week 2-4) 4. Decision and documentation (Week 4)

Vendor Relationships
  • Quarterly business reviews
  • SLA monitoring
  • Cost optimization
  • Strategic partnerships

5. Engineering Excellence

Metrics Implementation

From references/engineering_metrics.md:

DORA Metrics (Deploy to production targets):

  • Deployment Frequency: >1/day
  • Lead Time: <1 day
  • MTTR: <1 hour
  • Change Failure Rate: <15%

Quality Metrics:

  • Test Coverage: >80%
  • Code Review: 100%
  • Technical Debt: <10%

Team Health:

  • Sprint Velocity: ±10% variance
  • Unplanned Work: <20%
  • On-call Incidents: <5/week

Weekly Cadence

Monday

  • Leadership team sync
  • Review metrics dashboard
  • Address escalations

Tuesday

  • Architecture review
  • Technical interviews
  • 1:1s with directs

Wednesday

  • Cross-functional meetings
  • Vendor meetings
  • Strategy work

Thursday

  • Team all-hands (monthly)
  • Sprint reviews (bi-weekly)
  • Technical deep dives

Friday

  • Strategic planning
  • Innovation time
  • Week recap and planning

Quarterly Planning

Q1 Focus: Foundation

  • Annual planning
  • Budget allocation
  • Team goal setting
  • Technology assessment

Q2 Focus: Execution

  • Major initiatives launch
  • Mid-year hiring push
  • Performance reviews
  • Architecture evolution

Q3 Focus: Innovation

  • Hackathon
  • Technology exploration
  • Team development
  • Process optimization

Q4 Focus: Planning

  • Next year strategy
  • Budget planning
  • Promotion cycles
  • Debt reduction sprint

Crisis Management

Incident Response

1. Immediate (0-15 min):

  • Assess severity
  • Activate incident team
  • Begin communication

2. Short-term (15-60 min):

  • Implement fixes
  • Update stakeholders
  • Monitor systems

3. Resolution (1-24 hours):

  • Verify fix
  • Document timeline
  • Customer communication

4. Post-mortem (48-72 hours):

  • Root cause analysis
  • Action items
  • Process improvements

Types of Crises

Security Breach
  • Isolate affected systems
  • Engage security team
  • Legal/compliance notification
  • Customer communication plan
Major Outage
  • All-hands response
  • Status page updates
  • Executive briefings
  • Customer outreach
Data Loss
  • Stop writes immediately
  • Assess recovery options
  • Begin restoration
  • Impact analysis

Stakeholder Management

Board/Executive Reporting

Monthly:

  • KPI dashboard
  • Risk register
  • Major initiatives status

Quarterly:

  • Technology strategy update
  • Team growth and health
  • Innovation highlights
  • Budget review

Cross-functional Partners

Product Team
  • Weekly roadmap sync
  • Sprint planning participation
  • Technical feasibility reviews
  • Feature estimation
Sales/Marketing
  • Technical sales support
  • Product capability briefings
  • Customer reference calls
  • Competitive analysis
Finance
  • Budget management
  • Cost optimization
  • Vendor negotiations
  • Capex planning

Strategic Initiatives

Digital Transformation

1. Assess current state 2. Define target architecture 3. Create migration plan 4. Execute in phases 5. Measure and adjust

Cloud Migration

1. Application assessment 2. Migration strategy (7Rs) 3. Pilot applications 4. Full migration 5. Optimization

Platform Engineering

1. Define platform vision 2. Build core services 3. Create self-service tools 4. Enable team adoption 5. Measure efficiency

AI/ML Integration

1. Identify use cases 2. Build data infrastructure 3. Develop models 4. Deploy and monitor 5. Scale adoption

Communication Templates

Technology Strategy Presentation

1. Executive Summary (1 slide)
2. Current State Assessment (2 slides)
3. Vision & Strategy (2 slides)
4. Roadmap & Milestones (3 slides)
5. Investment Required (1 slide)
6. Risks & Mitigation (1 slide)
7. Success Metrics (1 slide)

Team All-hands

1. Wins & Recognition (5 min)
2. Metrics Review (5 min)
3. Strategic Updates (10 min)
4. Demo/Deep Dive (15 min)
5. Q&A (10 min)

Board Update Email

Subject: Engineering Update - [Month]

Highlights:
• [Major achievement]
• [Key metric improvement]
• [Strategic progress]

Challenges:
• [Issue and mitigation]

Next Month:
• [Priority 1]
• [Priority 2]

Detailed metrics attached.

Tools & Resources

Essential Tools

  • Architecture: Draw.io, Lucidchart, C4 Model
  • Metrics: DataDog, Grafana, LinearB
  • Planning: Jira, Confluence, Notion
  • Communication: Slack, Zoom, Loom
  • Development: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket

Key Resources

  • Books:
  • "The Manager's Path" - Camille Fournier
  • "Accelerate" - Nicole Forsgren
  • "Team Topologies" - Skelton & Pais
  • Frameworks:
  • DORA metrics
  • SPACE framework
  • Team Topologies
  • Communities:
  • CTO Craft
  • Engineering Leadership Slack
  • LeadDev community

Success Indicators

Technical Excellence

  • System uptime >99.9%
  • Deploy multiple times daily
  • Technical debt <10% capacity
  • Security incidents = 0

Team Success

  • Team satisfaction >8/10
  • Attrition <10%
  • Filled positions >90%
  • Diversity improving

Business Impact

  • Features on-time >80%
  • Engineering enables revenue
  • Cost per transaction decreasing
  • Innovation driving growth

Red Flags to Watch

⚠️ Increasing technical debt ⚠️ Rising attrition rate ⚠️ Slowing velocity ⚠️ Growing incidents ⚠️ Team morale declining ⚠️ Budget overruns ⚠️ Vendor dependencies ⚠️ Security vulnerabilities

Related skills

How it compares

Use cto-advisor for ADR text and decision rationale; use draw-io when the deliverable is a visual architecture diagram instead of a written record.

FAQ

What is an ADR in cto-advisor?

cto-advisor defines an Architecture Decision Record (ADR) as a markdown document capturing a significant technical decision with context, drivers, considered options, the chosen outcome, and consequences for future readers.

What fields does the cto-advisor ADR template include?

The cto-advisor ADR template includes number, title, date, status, deciders, technical story reference, context, decision drivers, options, decision, and consequences sections for each recorded choice.

When should developers write ADRs with cto-advisor?

Developers should use cto-advisor when making structural choices—data stores, API patterns, auth, deployment—that future teams must understand, especially before refactors or when informal rationale would otherwise be lost.

Is Cto Advisor safe to install?

skills.sh reports 2 of 3 security scanners passed. Review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing in production.

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