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1.6 Decision records (ADRs)

1. Focus / PL1-decision-records

1.6 Decision records (ADRs)

architecture and technology decisions captured with reasoning, alternatives considered, and context at time of decision; retrievable before related changes


Levels

Level 0

No decision history; agents re-derive or contradict past choices

Level 1

Some decisions documented informally (Slack, meeting notes)

Level 2

ADRs are a first-class artifact; agent retrieves relevant ADRs before making architecture-adjacent changes

Level 3

ADR retrieval is logged; decisions that get re-litigated despite existing ADRs are flagged; decision-recurrence rate trends toward zero


Recipes that advance this criterion