ctx:design

ctx:design is a command for coding agents from shakestzd/contextune. It costs 16 tokens per session (1,157 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A structured command for designing system architecture, APIs, and component interfaces. It guides the work from understanding the problem through research, specification, decomposition, and planning.

In plain words
What is it for?
Designing new systems or features, planning APIs, structuring components, researching existing solutions, and breaking complex work into implementable steps.
Why use it?
It helps turn a broad technical idea into a plan with clear constraints, success criteria, dependencies, and build-versus-buy decisions.

Command

Part of the contextune plugin — 8 skills, 14 commands, 5 agents, 6 hooks, 1 MCP server shipped together

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add commands/shakestzd/contextune/ctx-design
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/shakestzd/contextune

Or install contextune, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 8 skills, 14 commands, 5 agents, 6 hooks, 1 MCP server.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for ctx:design

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/shakestzd/contextune/ctx-design.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/commands/shakestzd/contextune/ctx-design)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/shakestzd/contextune/ctx-design"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/shakestzd/contextune/ctx-design.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 16 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 1,157 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00016 $0.01157
Opus 5 $0.00008 $0.00579
Sonnet 5 $0.00003 $0.00231
Haiku 4.5 $0.00002 $0.00116

Measured 3d ago against content hash b2ee762bed0f, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

ctx:design scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 3d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

commands/ctx-design.md · 183 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 183 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Design Architecture - Structured Design Workflow

Systematic architecture design following: Understand → Research → Specify → Decompose → Plan

This command provides a structured approach to system design, API design, and architectural planning.

When to Use

Use /ctx:design when you need to:

  • Design a new system or feature
  • Plan API architecture
  • Structure component interfaces
  • Make build vs buy decisions
  • Break down complex architectural problems
  • Create implementation plans with dependencies

Workflow

1. Understand the Problem

Extract essentials:

  • Core problem (what's the real need?)
  • Constraints (time, budget, skills, existing systems)
  • Success criteria (what does "done" look like?)
  • Assumptions (make implicit explicit)

If unclear, ask:

  • "What problem does this solve?"
  • "What systems must it integrate with?"
  • "Expected scale/volume?"
  • "Must-haves vs. nice-to-haves?"

2. Research Existing Solutions

Run WebSearch queries (use WebSearch tool):

# Search for best libraries/tools
WebSearch: "best {technology} for {problem} 2025"

# Search for implementation examples
WebSearch: "{problem} implementation examples latest"

# Search for known issues
WebSearch: "{problem} common pitfalls challenges"

# Compare top solutions
WebSearch: "{library A} vs {library B} comparison 2025"

Example for authentication:

WebSearch: "best authentication library Node.js 2025"
WebSearch: "JWT vs Session authentication comparison 2025"
WebSearch: "authentication implementation examples Express"
WebSearch: "authentication security pitfalls 2025"

For each solution found, evaluate:

  • Maturity: Check GitHub stars, last commit date, npm weekly downloads
  • Fit: Does it solve 80%+ of requirements?
  • Integration: Compatible with existing tech stack?
  • Cost: License type, hosting requirements, pricing
  • Risk: Vendor lock-in, learning curve, community support

Output format:

Solution Maturity Fit Integration Cost Risk Recommendation
Library A High (10K⭐) 95% Free (MIT) Low ✅ Use
Library B Medium (2K⭐) 85% $99/mo Medium ❌ Skip
Build Custom N/A 100% Dev time High ❌ Skip

Read the full file on GitHub · 183 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 3d ago First seen · 183 lines · 16 tokens per session scan A b2ee762bed0f

Subscribe to this mod's changes

ctx:design is a command published in the GitHub repository shakestzd/contextune (5 stars, last pushed 8mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 16 tokens to every session and 1,157 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.