architecture-adr

When to Use

When making significant architectural decisions that need to be documented. Used by ARCHITECT-AGENT.

Patterns

ADR Structure

# ADR-001: {Decision Title}

## Status
Proposed | Accepted | Deprecated | Superseded by ADR-XXX

## Context
{What situation requires a decision?}

## Decision Drivers
- {Driver 1}
- {Driver 2}

## Considered Options
1. **Option A** - {brief description}
2. **Option B** - {brief description}
3. **Option C** - {brief description}

## Decision
We will use **Option B** because {reasoning}.

## Consequences
### Positive
- {benefit 1}

### Negative
- {tradeoff 1}

Option Evaluation

| Criteria | Option A | Option B | Option C |
|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| Effort | High | Medium | Low |
| Risk | Low | Medium | High |
| Scalability | Good | Good | Poor |
| Team expertise | Low | High | Medium |

When to Write ADR

- Technology choice (framework, database, cloud)
- Architecture pattern (monolith vs microservices)
- Integration approach (sync vs async)
- Security model changes
- Breaking changes to APIs

Anti-Patterns

• Decisions without documented alternatives
• Missing "why not" for rejected options
• No consequences section
• ADR written after implementation
• Superseded ADRs not linked

Verification Checklist

• Context explains the problem
• At least 2 options considered
• Decision clearly stated with reasoning
• Both positive and negative consequences
• Status is current
• Related ADRs linked