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Routing Matrix

Complete decision tree for delegating work to the right army and agent.

Quick Filters

By Effort Size

Size Turnaround Use Armies
XS (≤0.5 day) Minutes copilot-task label Copilot
S (≤1 day) 1-4 hours copilot-task label (if clear) or Claude Code Copilot / Claude
M (≤3 days) 4-24 hours Claude Code specialist Claude Code
L (≤1 week) 1-3 days Claude Code specialist + architecture review Claude Code
XL (>1 week) 3+ days Epic break-down required Claude Code + Planning

By Issue Type

Type Owner Process
Epic Claude Code Architect breaks into Stories
Feature Claude Code Assign specialist, estimate sub-issues
Story Copilot or Claude 1-sprint deliverable with clear acceptance criteria
Enabler Claude Code Infrastructure, exploration, tooling
Bug Copilot or Claude Size determines routing
Spike Claude Code Time-boxed research, max 3 days (spike-researcher for PoC code + build-vs-buy)

By Domain

Backend & Microservices

API Design              → api-designer
REST/GraphQL APIs       → backend-developer
FastAPI                 → fastapi-developer
Django                  → django-developer
Spring Boot             → spring-boot-engineer
.NET Core               → dotnet-core-expert
Node.js                 → node-specialist
Go/Rust                 → golang-pro / rust-engineer
Microservices           → microservices-architect
Event-Driven Messaging  → async-messaging-engineer
Message Brokers (Kafka/RabbitMQ/SQS-SNS/NATS) → async-messaging-engineer

Frontend

React (optimize)        → react-specialist
React (greenfield)      → frontend-developer
Vue 3                   → vue-expert
Next.js                 → nextjs-developer
Mobile Web              → mobile-web-specialist
Responsive Design       → mobile-web-specialist
Angular                 → angular-architect

Mobile

React Native            → expo-react-native-expert
Flutter                 → flutter-expert
iOS/Android Native      → mobile-app-developer

Data & Analytics

ETL/ELT Pipelines       → dlt-engineer
Data Warehousing        → data-engineer
Analytics               → data-analyst / data-scientist
ML Model Development    → machine-learning-engineer
ML Production Serving   → mlops-engineer
Schema Migration (Flyway/Liquibase/Alembic) → schema-migration-engineer
Zero-Downtime Schema Evolution → schema-migration-engineer

Infrastructure & DevOps

Kubernetes              → kubernetes-specialist
Docker                  → docker-expert
CI/CD Pipelines         → deployment-engineer
Terraform/IaC           → terraform-engineer
AWS-specific            → aws-infra-engineer
GCP-specific            → gcp-infra-engineer
Azure-specific          → azure-infra-engineer
Vercel platform         → vercel-engineer
Multi-cloud strategy    → cloud-architect
Monitoring/Observability → sre-engineer
Telemetry Instrumentation (OpenTelemetry, dashboards) → observability-engineer
Cloud Cost / FinOps     → finops-engineer
API Gateway (rate limiting, edge auth, routing) → api-gateway-engineer
Feature Flags / Progressive Delivery → feature-flag-engineer
Cross-Spoke Release Trains → release-manager

Enterprise Architecture

Strategy & Capability   → business-architect / wardley-strategist
Technology Architecture → architect-reviewer / solution-architect
Security Architecture   → security-architect
Compliance (FISMA/FedRAMP) → us-regulatory-architect

Special Tasks

Security Audit          → security-auditor
Code Review (deep)      → /review-pr skill
Performance Bottleneck  → performance-engineer
Database Optimization   → database-optimizer / postgres-pro
Git Workflow            → git-workflow-manager
Contract Testing (Pact, schema drift) → contract-test-engineer
Technical Spike / PoC   → spike-researcher
Developer Relations / Adoption → developer-advocate

Decision Tree

Step 1: Is it a bug fix or simple feature?

YES → Is it XS or S size with clear acceptance criteria?
      YES → Label with 'copilot-task' → Copilot Coding Agent
      NO  → Continue to Step 2

NO → Continue to Step 2

Step 2: What's the primary domain?

→ Backend/API        → See Backend routing (above)
→ Frontend           → See Frontend routing (above)
→ Mobile             → See Mobile routing (above)
→ Data/Analytics     → dlt-engineer or data-engineer
→ DevOps/Infra       → deployment-engineer or devops-engineer
→ Architecture       → architect-reviewer or enterprise-architect
→ Security           → security-auditor or security-engineer

Step 3: Language/Framework Specialist?

YES → Language Routing Guide → See language-routing.md
NO  → Use domain specialist above

Issue Template Fields

Every issue must have these fields set before delegating:

Field Options When to Set
Type Epic, Feature, Story, Enabler, Bug, Spike, Decision At creation
PI PI-1, PI-2, etc. At creation
Size XS, S, M, L, XL At creation
Estimate Story points (1,2,3,5,8,13) During planning
Priority P0, P1, P2 At creation or during grooming
Status Todo→Ready→In Progress→In Review→Done (+ Awaiting Decision for HITL) Auto-managed, don't override

Escalation & Cross-Army Work

When to involve multiple agents

Large refactor                 → Claude Code specialist + performance-engineer
New API + Frontend             → backend-developer + frontend-developer
Data pipeline + ML             → dlt-engineer + data-scientist
Infrastructure + Security     → devops-engineer + security-engineer

When to escalate

Ambiguous requirements         → business-analyst (story refinement)
Architectural decision         → architect-reviewer
Performance bottleneck         → performance-engineer (root cause analysis)
Security concern              → security-auditor

PR Conventions

Every PR must: 1. Link to issue: Closes #N / Fixes #N / Resolves #N 2. Be reviewable: Size < 400 LOC (large PRs auto-labeled needs-deep-review) 3. Have tests: For features/bug fixes 4. Pass CI: Green checks required for merge

Copilot auto-reviews all PRs. Flag large PRs with needs-deep-review for /review-pr skill.

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