Architecture Criticv1.1.1

Before writing any code for a new payment integration (e.g., Stripe or PayPal), run the critic to identify security gaps, compliance issues, and integration risks. The critic reviews the brief and codebase to catch missing pieces like idempotency keys or PCI DSS violations early, preventing costly rework.

When redesigning authentication (e.g., adding OAuth or MFA), use the critic to spot scope violations, sacred file risks, and architectural drift. It ensures the plan doesn't accidentally break existing auth flows and aligns with security best practices before development starts.

For features spanning multiple components (e.g., a new dashboard with backend and frontend changes), run the critic to detect missing pieces, token waste, and deployment risks. It forces a thorough check against domain checklists, reducing integration bugs.

Before writing a migration script for a schema change (e.g., adding a new table or altering columns), the critic examines the brief for data integrity risks, backward compatibility gaps, and potential downtime. Prevents rework from breaking production data.

When integrating a new third-party API (e.g., weather data or CRM), the critic reviews the plan for error handling, rate limiting consideration, and cost efficiency. It flags integration risks like missing circuit breakers or redundant calls that could inflate costs.

Charge developers or teams a flat fee per critic invocation. Each review costs ~$0.05 to run, so pricing can be low volume (e.g., $1/review) or bundled into a subscription.

Offer the critic as part of a developer tool subscription, with tiered pricing based on monthly review count. Teams pay a recurring fee to access the service and integrate it into their CI/CD pipeline.

Provide a free tier with limited reviews (e.g., 10/month) and premium features like custom checklists, priority support, or integration with internal tools. Enterprise customers pay for higher limits and dedicated instance.