architecture-decision
Architecture Decision
Turn an architectural question into a specific, justified, verifiable decision.
This skill owns the decision method, record lifecycle, and deliverable. engineering-philosophy owns the shared design and writing principles. The active agent and task own permissions, delegation, and output intent.
1. Establish the Decision
State the question, affected system, required outcome, and scope exclusions.
A decision merits an ADR when it materially affects cross-component contracts, quality requirements, ownership, trust, operations, dependencies, or future change cost.
Do not require an ADR for routine local design. Return no-adr-needed with the answer and brief rationale unless the caller explicitly requests a formal record.
Identify related decisions. Separate independently reversible choices into separate records, but do not fragment one coherent decision into an ADR for every implementation step.
For an existing ADR, establish whether the task is clarification, reassessment, or replacement. Do not silently convert a historical explanation into a new recommendation.