app-platform-designer
An agent skill by digitalocean-labs, from digitalocean-labs/do-app-platform-skills. Tags: app-platform, architecture, design, digitalocean, prototyping, yaml.
What it does
Transform natural language application descriptions into production-ready DigitalOcean App Platform specifications. Use when designing apps, creating app specs, generating deploy.template.yaml, or architecting multi-component applications.
Install
With the skills CLI, which installs into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other agents:
npx skills add digitalocean-labs/do-app-platform-skills --skill app-platform-designerOr copy the skill folder into Claude Code's skills directory by hand (~/.claude/skills for every project, or .claude/skills inside one):
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/digitalocean-labs/do-app-platform-skills
cp -r do-app-platform-skills/skills/designer ~/.claude/skills/app-platform-designerSafety box score
Grade B, low risk: 16 of 100 risk points, rated 2026-09-25. The grade rates what the skill and its scripts can reach on the machine of whoever installs it, across eight categories from shell execution to secrets access. How the score works.
This skill is documentation-only: it helps generate DigitalOcean App Platform specs, deploy-button templates, and `.env.example` files. The main risk is not local execution, but that its outputs are directly deployable to real cloud infrastructure and may include secret and database wiring.
| Category | Level | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Code & shell execution | 0 (none) | No native scripts or code-evaluation steps are shipped; the files are markdown references and YAML examples only. |
| Network access | 1 (low) | It embeds remote DigitalOcean/GitHub deployment URLs and `doctl`-based cloud commands in the docs, but does not itself fetch or send data. |
| Filesystem reach | 1 (low) | Its stated outputs are limited to repository files like `.do/app.yaml`, `.do/deploy.template.yaml`, and `.env.example` in the working tree. |
| Secrets & credentials | 1 (low) | It handles secret-shaped settings such as `DATABASE_URL`, `API_KEY`, `JWT_SECRET`, and `type: SECRET`, but only as templates and placeholders. |
| Privilege & persistence | 0 (none) | No sudo, global installs, shell startup edits, or service registration are present in the skill files. |
| Instruction hijack surface | 0 (none) | I found no prompts to ignore instructions, skip confirmations, hide actions, or follow remote content. |
| Irreversible actions | 1 (low) | The skill’s purpose is to generate deployable App Platform specs and Deploy to DO button configs, but it does not itself deploy, publish, or delete anything. |
| Transparency | 0 (none) | All reviewed files are plain markdown/YAML text; there are no binaries, minified blobs, or runtime-decoded assets. |
Before installing
- Read `reference/deploy-to-do-button.md` if you do not want a public-repo deploy link added to your README.
- Check the generated `.do/*.yaml` before using them; the defaults are production-oriented and may enable deploy-on-push.
- Verify that any `.env.example` stays placeholder-only and does not copy real secrets or tokens.
- If you keep the button, confirm the repository can be public, since the template requires a public GitHub repo.
Rated 2026-09-25 by an automated review of 7 files from the skill's repository.
Source
- Repository
- digitalocean-labs/do-app-platform-skills (all skills from this repository)
- Path
- skills/designer/SKILL.md
- Branch
- main
- Collection
- do-app-platform
- Updated
- 2026-09-21
Related skills
- principle-exhaust-the-design-space — Apply when facing a novel UI interaction or architectural decision with no precedent in the codebase.
- app-platform-migration — Migrate applications from Heroku, AWS, Render, Railway, Fly.io, or Docker Compose to DigitalOcean App Platform. Use when converting existing apps.
- app-platform-router — Routes DigitalOcean App Platform tasks to specialized sub-skills.
- app-platform-troubleshooting — Debug running App Platform applications by accessing containers, analyzing logs, running diagnostics, and applying fixes.
- architect — Sketch types, signatures, and module structure before code, then stay in the loop while implementation fills in.
- principle-boundary-discipline — Apply when wiring validation, error handling, or framework adapters.