Platform for Engineering Excellence

Think Like a
Staff Engineer.

Practice high-stakes architectural decisions in a risk-free environment. Build the judgment that defines senior engineering roles.

cortex.app/analysis/distributed-consensus

Scenario Analysis

Raft Protocol vs Multi-Paxos

SOLVING

Complexity Score

8.4/ 10

Time Pressure

12m remaining
Logical ConsistencyOptimizing...

Built for Real Engineering Challenges.

Every feature is designed to mirror the complexity and pressure of production systems. No toy problems, no shortcuts.

Real-World Scenarios

Practice with scenarios based on actual production incidents. From cascading failures to consensus algorithms, experience the decisions that define senior engineers.

AI-Powered Feedback

Get instant, detailed analysis of your architectural decisions. Learn from mistakes in real-time, not in production.

Goal Oriented

Define your career path and target specific engineering levels (L4 to L7+).

Quantifiable Progress

Every decision you make contributes to your Architectural Index (AIX™).

Weekly score

842 +12%

150+

Scenarios

Real-world challenges

L4-L7

Complexity

Engineering levels

AI-Powered

Feedback

Instant analysis

Tracked

Progress

Quantifiable growth

How It Works.

A structured approach to building architectural expertise, one decision at a time.

01
01

Choose Your Challenge

Select from scenarios across different domains and complexity levels. Each scenario is based on real production systems and challenges.

02
02

Design Your Solution

Work through the architectural decisions. Consider trade-offs, constraints, and failure modes. Document your reasoning.

03
03

Get Expert Feedback

Receive detailed AI-powered analysis of your approach. Understand what worked, what didn't, and why. Track your progress over time.

Beyond Code. Master Architecture.

Code executes ideas. Architecture defines outcomes. Cortex develops the thinking behind resilient, scalable systems.

System Design Thinking

Learn to break down complex problems, identify constraints, and design scalable solutions. Practice the thought process that separates senior engineers from junior developers.

Trade-off Analysis

Master the art of making informed decisions. Understand when to choose consistency over availability, when to denormalize, and how to balance competing priorities.

Failure Anticipation

Develop the mindset to predict system failures before they happen. Learn to think through edge cases, cascading failures, and recovery strategies.

Architectural Reasoning

Build the mental models used by staff+ engineers. Learn to justify your decisions, communicate trade-offs, and defend your architectural choices.

Practice scenarios across all engineering domains

BackendFrontendSystemsDataDevOpsSecurity

"The closest thing to having a staff engineer sitting next to you, questioning every decision."

Start Your Journey.

Begin with free access to foundational scenarios. Upgrade as you grow to unlock advanced challenges and personalized AI feedback.

Free Forever

Start learning immediately, no credit card required

$0

forever

Access to core scenarios
Progress tracking dashboard
Community discussions
Weekly challenges
Skill assessments
Learning resources

Pro features with AI-powered feedback and unlimited scenarios coming soon