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+# ADR-023 — ADR structure & lifecycle
+
+## Status
+
+Accepted (2026-06-10). Meta/doctrine ADR — pins how ADRs are written; the
+`adr-structure` check (`scripts/repo-scan.py`) and `docs/decisions/adr-template.md`
+ship with it, and ADRs 001–018 were retroactively restructured to conform. Resolves
+the FRICTION signal (2026-05-31) about ADR-writing policy being unsettled.
+
+## Context
+
+boma records architectural decisions as numbered ADRs in `docs/decisions/`, and
+CLAUDE.md treats them as load-bearing. Yet no ADR said how an ADR is written. The
+newest ADRs (019–022) converged on a clean shape — Status → Context → Decision →
+Consequences → Related — but only by imitation. ADRs 001–018 predate it and drifted
+widely: most lacked a `## Status` section entirely (016–018 carried only a trailing
+build-state note), and many lacked an explicit `## Decision` or `## Consequences`
+heading, their decisions spread across ad-hoc topical sections. The result was
+structural drift and no uniform way to tell an active decision from a superseded or
+deprecated one.
+
+## Decision
+
+### 1. Title & filename
+
+Title line: `# ADR-NNN — <Title>: <optional clarifying subtitle>` (em-dash). Filename:
+`NNN-kebab-title.md`, zero-padded 3-digit, monotonic, never reused — a superseded ADR
+keeps its number and file. A new ADR is registered as a row in the CLAUDE.md
+"Further reading" table.
+
+### 2. Mandatory sections, in this order
+
+- `## Status` — `Accepted (YYYY-MM-DD)`, plus an optional one-line note.
+- `## Context` — the forces, the problem, what exists today, why now.
+- `## Decision` — what we are doing; numbered sub-decisions for multi-part ADRs.
+- `## Consequences` — results, trade-offs explicitly accepted, follow-on work.
+
+### 3. Optional sections (use only where they genuinely apply)
+
+`## Related`, `## Scope`, `## Guardrails` / `## Enforcement`, `## What was ruled out`,
+`## Verified facts (ADR-014)`.
+
+### 4. Status lifecycle
+
+Three states; no "Proposed" stage (boma is single-contributor and trunk-based with no
+review gate, so an ADR is born committed-to).
+
+- Born **`Accepted (YYYY-MM-DD)`**.
+- Replaced → old ADR's Status becomes **`Superseded by ADR-NNN (YYYY-MM-DD)`**; the new
+  ADR records `Supersedes ADR-MMM` in its Status and `## Related`. The link is
+  **bidirectional**.
+- Retired with no replacement → **`Deprecated (YYYY-MM-DD)`** + a one-line reason.
+
+**No silent rewrites.** An Accepted ADR is not edited to reverse its decision. Typo and
+clarity fixes are fine; a material reversal requires a new ADR and a `Superseded by`
+marker on the old one.
+
+### 5. Template & enforcement
+
+`docs/decisions/adr-template.md` is the scaffold for new ADRs. The `/review-repo`
+command's pre-scan (`scripts/repo-scan.py`) emits an `adr-structure` finding for any
+numbered ADR missing a mandatory section or with an unparseable Status line. It checks
+**presence and Status, not section order** — order is a convention the template carries,
+deliberately not gated, to keep enforcement lightweight (consistent with boma's other
+doctrine ADRs adding no CI gate).
+
+### 6. Retroactive conformance of the back-catalogue
+
+ADRs 001–018 are restructured to satisfy this standard rather than grandfathered. The
+restructure is **presentational** — existing headings are relabelled, regrouped, or
+demoted under a `## Decision` umbrella; a dated `## Status` is added; a `## Consequences`
+section is assembled from implications the ADR already states. **The substance of no
+decision is changed.** This keeps the check uniform (no number threshold) and the corpus
+a consistent, legible decision history.
+
+## Consequences
+
+- New ADRs have one obvious shape and a scaffold; structural drift stops.
+- Every ADR declares its lifecycle state uniformly, and reversals are traceable.
+- The whole corpus conforms; the check needs no grandfathering and stays simple.
+- One-time restructure churn across ADRs 001–018 (heading reorganization + a Status and
+  a Consequences section per file; no decision substance changed).
+- `/review-repo` grows one deterministic check; no new CI machinery.
+- This ADR is the first conformant example and is held to its own check.
+
+## What was ruled out
+
+- **A "Proposed" draft stage** — no review gate exists for it to serve.
+- **A `make lint` / CI gate for ADR structure** — heavier than the risk warrants;
+  the `/review-repo` check and the template suffice.
+- **Machine-enforcing section order** — brittle for marginal value; left as a
+  template-demonstrated convention.
+- **Grandfathering 001–018 from the check** — rejected in favour of restructuring the
+  whole corpus to conform, so the standard applies uniformly with no exceptions.
+
+## Related
+
+- ADR-014 — knowledge sourcing (the `Verified facts` optional section).
+- ADR-019/020/021/022 — the emergent structure this ADR codifies.
+- `docs/decisions/adr-template.md` — the scaffold.
+- `scripts/repo-scan.py` — the `adr-structure` enforcement check.