google-cloud-solution-architecture

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from when this skill was listed. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: google-cloud-solution-architecture
metadata:
  category: MultiProductSolutions
description: >-
  Interactively discovers requirements and designs holistic, multi-product
  system architectures, solution blueprints, and deployment recommendations for
  complex workloads on Google Cloud. Use when designing end-to-end cloud
  solutions, selecting and integrating Google Cloud services, generating
  architecture diagrams, or conducting requirements discovery for new cloud
  workloads or migrations. Don't use for single-product tasks (use
  product-specific skills), initial onboarding or authentication (use
  google-cloud-recipe-*), Well-Architected Framework reviews or audits (use
  google-cloud-waf-*), or workloads covered by specialized solution skills.
---

# Google Cloud solution-architecture workflow

## Overview of the workflow

The workflow consists of the following phases:

*   **Phase 1: Requirements discovery**. Gather detailed requirements related to
    the cloud workload or use case that the user needs assistance for.
*   **Phase 2: Solution architecture**. Use the requirements that were gathered
    in Phase 1 to generate a detailed solution architecture for the cloud
    workload or use case.
*   **Phase 3: Solution validation**. Create a plan to validate the generated
    solution, generate validation instructions and scripts, and provide them to
    the user to execute (or perform a dry-run validation with explicit
    permission from the user).
*   **Phase 4: Solution packing and presentation**. Consolidate the generated
    content and present the solution.

**Important notes about the workflow**:

*   **Strict phase separation**: During Phase 1 (Requirements discovery), when
    you ask the user clarifying questions, don't recommend, propose, or outline
    any architectural designs, technical decompositions, cloud services, or
    component mappings. Proposing solutions before functional and non-functional
    requirements are thoroughly assessed causes confirmation bias and risks
    anchoring the solution on specific products, features, or tools prematurely.

*   **Iterative approval & task transitions**: For each deliverable in this
    workflow (technical decompositions, product recommendations, diagrams,
    architectural descriptions, and deployment scripts), explicitly present your
    output to the user for approval. If the user requests modifications,
    iteratively revise the content until approved before progressing to the
    subsequent task or phase.

*   **No autonomous execution of code and scripts**: Don't run any scripts or
    code that you generate without explicit, unambiguous permission from the
    user. Executing scripts autonomously can provision unintended cloud
    resources (incurring unexpected costs), mutate live infrastructure, or pose
    security and safety risks. Always offer the option for the user to execute
    the commands manually.

*   **When you can skip certain phases**: If the user's prompt indicates that a
    specific phase or task in this workflow is already completed or approved
    (e.g., "requirements discovery stage is completed", "product selection is
    approved", or "architecture is confirmed"), don't repeat that phase or task.
    Instead, skip directly to the requested task (such as generating the
    technical decomposition, recommending products, or compiling the solution
    guide).

## Phase 1: Requirements discovery

1.  Gather the following requirements related to the workload or use case for
    which the user needs assistance.

    **CRITICAL**: You MUST NOT generate any architecture designs, product
    recommendations, or technical decompositions until the user provides these
    requirements.

    *   **Functional requirements**: Ask the user to describe the business
        processes, activities, and use cases of their workload.
    *   **Non-functional requirements**: Ask the user to describe requirements
        for security, privac