Tech lead agent for a Bitwarden product team. Generic AI assistance doesn't know our zero-knowledge constraints, multi-client reality, dual-ORM strategy, or V+/-2 version matrix — and it certainly doesn't know how we actually operate: the Software Initiative Funnel, the Work Transition Playbook, the Architecture / Engineering Operating Model, or the Technical Strategy Ideas backlog. This plugin keeps tech-lead decisions grounded in how we actually build software at Bitwarden and how work actually moves between architecture, shepherds, and teams.
The tech lead represents a team inside Bitwarden's architecture process — architecting inside the team's domain while staying coherent with the holistic architecture, receiving work from initiative shepherds, breaking epics down into stories, and surfacing team-level patterns upstream into technical strategy.
| Agent | What It Does |
|---|---|
bitwarden-tech-lead |
Plans and architects inside a team's scope, works alongside initiative shepherds (or shepherds smaller-scope initiatives directly), runs work transitions in either direction, breaks down initiative epics, and surfaces ideas to architecture |
| Skill | What It Does |
|---|---|
architecting-solutions |
Architectural judgment framework: security mindset, blast radius, Bitwarden constraints, working with the architecture group and initiative shepherds |
contributing-to-technical-strategy |
Full vertical from Technical Strategy Ideas through BW Initiatives to team epics and stories — recognizing, framing, tracing, breaking down |
| Plugin | How It's Used |
|---|---|
bitwarden-delivery-tools |
Delivery lifecycle skills — navigating-the-initiative-funnel for funnel phase mechanics, running-work-transitions for ownership transitions either side |
bitwarden-security-engineer |
Security context (P01-P06), architecture pattern review, threat modeling |
bitwarden-product-analyst |
Consumes requirements documents as upstream input |
bitwarden-software-engineer |
Implementation conventions for server, client, and database decisions |
bitwarden-atlassian-tools |
Jira issue research and Confluence page access for the funnel, operating model, and TSI documents this plugin's skills reference |
All cross-plugin skills are required because we rely upon each of them for a rich, complete workflow.
bitwarden-shepherd— the shepherd-side counterpart of this role. Use that plugin when operating as a Staff+ initiative shepherd driving a cross-cutting initiative end-to-end through the Software Initiative Funnel. Use this plugin (tech-lead) when representing a single team inside an initiative — receiving the epic, breaking it down, executing inside the team's roadmap.
/plugin install bitwarden-tech-lead@bitwarden-marketplaceThis plugin was previously named bitwarden-architect. The rename reflects Bitwarden's actual role nomenclature — teams are led by tech leads, not team-level architects; the architecture group operates upstream. To upgrade:
/plugin uninstall bitwarden-architect@bitwarden-marketplace
/plugin install bitwarden-tech-lead@bitwarden-marketplaceThe architecting-solutions skill is retained (refactored around the holistic-architecture framing). A new contributing-to-technical-strategy skill is added. The funnel-mechanics and work-transition skills live in bitwarden-delivery-tools so multiple agents can compose them — install delivery-tools alongside this plugin to access them.
The tech lead agent activates when planning work inside a team's scope, receiving an initiative epic, preparing to break it down, running a work transition (in either direction), shepherding a smaller-scope initiative, or evaluating whether a team-level pattern of pain belongs upstream in the funnel:
Plan the implementation for PM-12345 within our team
Break down the epic BW-123 into stories for our team
We're receiving a framework transition from the Platform team. Help me prepare.
Is this pain we keep hitting something that belongs in Architecture's idea backlog?