python-design-patterns

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Python design patterns including KISS, Separation of Concerns, Single Responsibility, and composition over inheritance. Use this skill when designing a new service or component from scratch and choosing how to layer responsibilities, when refactoring a God class or monolithic function that has grown too large, when deciding whether to add a new abstraction or live with duplication, when evaluating a pull request for structural issues like tight coupling or leaking internal types, when choosing between inheritance and composition for a new class hierarchy, or when a codebase is becoming hard to test because of entangled I/O and business logic.

Design

What this skill does


# Python Design Patterns

Write maintainable Python code using fundamental design principles. These patterns help you build systems that are easy to understand, test, and modify.

## When to Use This Skill

- Designing new components or services
- Refactoring complex or tangled code
- Deciding whether to create an abstraction
- Choosing between inheritance and composition
- Evaluating code complexity and coupling
- Planning modular architectures

## Core Concepts

### 1. KISS (Keep It Simple)

Choose the simplest solution that works. Complexity must be justified by concrete requirements.

### 2. Single Responsibility (SRP)

Each unit should have one reason to change. Separate concerns into focused components.

### 3. Composition Over Inheritance

Build behavior by combining objects, not extending classes.

### 4. Rule of Three

Wait until you have three instances before abstracting. Duplication is often better than premature abstraction.

## Quick Start

```python
# Simple beats clever
# Instead of a factory/registry pattern:
FORMATTERS = {"json": JsonFormatter, "csv": CsvFormatter}

def get_formatter(name: str) -> Formatter:
    return FORMATTERS[name]()
```

## Detailed patterns and worked examples

Detailed pattern documentation lives in `references/details.md`. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.

## Best Practices Summary

1. **Keep it simple** - Choose the simplest solution that works
2. **Single responsibility** - Each unit has one reason to change
3. **Separate concerns** - Distinct layers with clear purposes
4. **Compose, don't inherit** - Combine objects for flexibility
5. **Rule of three** - Wait before abstracting
6. **Keep functions small** - 20-50 lines (varies by complexity), one purpose
7. **Inject dependencies** - Constructor injection for testability
8. **Delete before abstracting** - Remove dead code, then consider patterns
9. **Test each layer** - Isolated tests for each concern
10. **Explicit over clever** - Readable code beats elegant code

## Troubleshooting

**A class is growing and seems to have multiple responsibilities, but splitting it feels wrong.**
Apply the "reason to change" test: list every change that could require editing this class. If the list has items from different domains (e.g., HTTP parsing AND business rules AND formatting), split it. If all changes stem from the same domain concern, the class may be appropriately sized.

**Injecting all dependencies through the constructor is producing constructors with 7+ parameters.**
This is a sign of too many responsibilities in one class, not a problem with dependency injection. Split the class into smaller units first, then each constructor naturally becomes smaller.

**Composition is producing deeply nested wrapper objects that are hard to trace.**
Keep the composition shallow (2-3 levels). If wrapping is the only mechanism, consider whether a Protocol-based approach or simple function composition would be cleaner than a chain of decorator objects.

**The rule of three says not to abstract yet, but the duplication is causing bugs when one copy is updated but not the other.**
Duplication that diverges in dangerous ways should be abstracted sooner. The rule of three is a heuristic, not a law. If the copies are already diverging incorrectly, extract immediately and add a test that exercises the shared behavior.

**A service layer is importing from the API layer, breaking the dependency direction.**
This is a layering violation. The service layer must not import from handlers. Introduce a shared types/models layer that both can import from, keeping the dependency arrow pointing downward (API → Service → Repository).

## Related Skills

- [python-testing-patterns](../python-testing-patterns/SKILL.md) — Test each layer in isolation using the dependency injection structure established here
- [python-project-setup](../python-project-setup/SKILL.md) — Set up project structure and tooling that enforces layer boundaries from the start

Files: 2

Size: 15.3 KB

Complexity: 34/100

Category: Design

Source: https://github.com/wshobson/agents/tree/main/plugins/python-development/skills/python-design-patterns

Related in Design

contribute

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Local-only OSS contribution command center. Auto-refreshes the user's in-flight PR and issue state on invoke so conversations start with full context — no need to brief Claude on what's in flight. Helps the user find issues to contribute to on GitHub, builds per-repo dossiers of what each upstream expects (CLA, DCO, branch convention, AI policy, draft-first, review bots, issue templates), runs deterministic gates before any external action so AI-assisted contributions don't reach maintainers as slop. State is markdown-only: candidate files at ~/.contribute-system/candidates/, repo dossiers at ~/.contribute-system/research/, append-only event log at ~/.contribute-system/log.jsonl. No database, no cloud calls. Use when the user asks about their PRs / issues / contributions, wants to find new work to take on, claim an issue, build/refresh a repo's dossier, or draft a Design Issue or PR. Trigger with "/contribute", "what's my PR status", "find a contribution", "claim issue X", "draft a Design Issue for Y", "refresh dossier for Z".

Designscripts

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Included

User-triggered deep architectural analysis of a codebase or scoped subtree across eight modes — information architecture, data flow, integration points, UI surfaces, interaction patterns, data model, control flow, and failure modes. This skill should be used when the user asks to "diagram this codebase," "map the architecture," "show the data flow," "give me an ERD," "trace control flow," "find the integration points," "verify the layout pattern," "audit the UX architecture," or any similar request whose primary deliverable is mermaid diagrams plus cited reports under docs/architecture/. Dispatches haiku/sonnet sub-agents in parallel for per-mode exploration, then verifies every citation mechanically before any node lands in a diagram. Not for one-off prose explanations of code (use code-explanation) or for high-level system design from scratch (use system-design).

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Model Context Protocol (MCP) server development and tool management. Languages: Python, TypeScript. Capabilities: build MCP servers, integrate external APIs, discover/execute MCP tools, manage multi-server configs, design agent-centric tools. Actions: create, build, integrate, discover, execute, configure MCP servers/tools. Keywords: MCP, Model Context Protocol, MCP server, MCP tool, stdio transport, SSE transport, tool discovery, resource provider, prompt template, external API integration, Gemini CLI MCP, Claude MCP, agent tools, tool execution, server config. Use when: building MCP servers, integrating external APIs as MCP tools, discovering available MCP tools, executing MCP capabilities, configuring multi-server setups, designing tools for AI agents.

Designscripts

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Design, build, debug, and optimise high-polish animated graphics in React Native or Expo using @shopify/react-native-skia, Reanimated, and Gesture Handler. Use when the user wants canvas-driven UI, shaders, paths, rich text, image filters, sprite fields, Skottie, video frames, snapshots, web CanvasKit setup, or performance tuning for custom motion-heavy elements such as loaders, hero art, cards, charts, progress indicators, particle systems, or gesture-driven surfaces. Also use when the user asks for fluid, glow, glass, blob, parallax, 60fps/120fps, or GPU-friendly animated effects in React Native, even if they do not explicitly say "Skia". Do not use for ordinary form/layout work with standard views.

Designscripts

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Product Led AI Development — guides founders from idea to launched product. Six capabilities: Idea (discover a product idea), Validate (pressure-test the idea against fatal flaws, problem reality, competition, and 2-week MVP feasibility), Plan (vision intake + document generation), Design (translate image references into a design.md spec), Launch (go-to-market strategy), and Build (roadmap execution). Use when someone says "PLAID", "plaid idea", "help me find an idea", "product idea", "idea from my business", "idea from my expertise", "plaid validate", "validate my idea", "pressure-test", "is this idea good", "find fatal flaws", "validate the problem", "plan a product", "define my vision", "generate a PRD", "product strategy", "plaid design", "design from image", "translate image to design", "create design.md", "extract design tokens", "plaid launch", "go-to-market", "launch plan", "GTM strategy", "launch playbook", "plaid build", "build the app", "start building", or "execute the roadmap".

Designscripts

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Adds production-safe Motion for React or Framer Motion animations to Next.js apps, including reveal, hover and tap micro-interactions, whileInView, stagger, AnimatePresence, layout and layoutId transitions, reorder, scroll-linked UI, and lightweight route-content transitions. Use when the user asks to add, refactor, or debug Motion or Framer Motion in App Router or Pages Router codebases, especially around server/client boundaries, reduced motion, LazyMotion, bundle size, hydration, or route transitions. Avoid for GSAP-style timelines, WebGL or 3D scenes, heavy scroll storytelling, or CSS-only effects unless Motion is explicitly requested.

Designscripts