docs(adr): design spec for ADR structure & lifecycle (ADR-023)
Codifies the structure ADRs 019-022 converged on, pins an Accepted/Superseded/Deprecated lifecycle with a no-silent-rewrite rule, adds an adr-template.md scaffold, and plans a Status-header backfill of ADRs 001-018. Basis for ADR-023. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
parent
4116286ed0
commit
dfbe37916f
1 changed files with 132 additions and 0 deletions
132
docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-10-adr-structure-design.md
Normal file
132
docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-10-adr-structure-design.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
|
|||
# Design — ADR structure & lifecycle
|
||||
|
||||
- **Date:** 2026-06-10
|
||||
- **Status:** Approved design — implementation plan to follow
|
||||
- **Resolves:** the absence of a written standard for how ADRs in
|
||||
`docs/decisions/` are structured. The newest ADRs (019–022) have converged on a
|
||||
clean pattern (`Status` → `Context` → `Decision` → `Consequences` → `Related`),
|
||||
but it lives only as imitation; ADRs 001–018 predate it and most lack a `Status`
|
||||
section.
|
||||
- **Becomes:** ADR-023 (this design is the basis for that ADR).
|
||||
- **Reuses:** boma's existing `*-template.md` convention (`service-security-template.md`,
|
||||
`service-verify-template.md`, `service-access-template.md`, `service-backup-template.md`);
|
||||
ADR-014 (knowledge-sourcing → the optional `Verified facts` section); ADR-019/020/021/022
|
||||
(the emergent structure being codified); the `/review-repo` command (enforcement home).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Problem
|
||||
|
||||
boma documents architectural decisions as numbered ADRs in `docs/decisions/`, and
|
||||
CLAUDE.md treats them as load-bearing ("Before assuming a role, provider, or pipeline
|
||||
exists, check STATUS.md"; the entire "Further reading" table points into them). Yet
|
||||
there is no ADR that says how an ADR is written. The result:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Structural drift.** ADRs 001–018 are freeform; 019–022 converged on a consistent
|
||||
shape but only by imitation. A new ADR's structure depends on which existing one the
|
||||
author happened to copy.
|
||||
- **No status discipline.** Most early ADRs have no `## Status` section, so there is no
|
||||
uniform way to tell an active decision from a superseded or deprecated one — and no
|
||||
written rule for how a decision gets reversed without silently rewriting history.
|
||||
- **No scaffold.** Every other recurring document type in boma has a template
|
||||
(`service-security-template.md`, etc.). ADRs do not.
|
||||
|
||||
This design codifies the structure 019–022 already demonstrate, pins a status
|
||||
lifecycle, ships a template, and reconciles the back-catalogue.
|
||||
|
||||
## Scope
|
||||
|
||||
- **In:** the canonical section set (mandatory + optional); title and filename
|
||||
convention; the `Accepted / Superseded / Deprecated` status lifecycle and the
|
||||
no-silent-rewrite rule; cross-reference convention; an ADR template file; a
|
||||
lightweight `/review-repo` structure check; a one-time backfill of `## Status` into
|
||||
the ADRs that lack one.
|
||||
- **Out (for now):** rewriting the *decisions* in any existing ADR; normalizing the
|
||||
body section names of 001–018 beyond adding `Status`; a `make lint` / CI gate for
|
||||
ADR structure (explicitly rejected in favour of the `/review-repo` check —
|
||||
consistent with boma's other doctrine ADRs, which add no CI gate); a "Proposed"
|
||||
draft stage (rejected — boma is single-contributor and trunk-based with no review
|
||||
gate, so ADRs are born Accepted).
|
||||
|
||||
## Decision
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Title & filename
|
||||
- Title line: `# ADR-NNN — <Title>: <optional clarifying subtitle>` (em-dash `—`,
|
||||
matching every existing ADR).
|
||||
- 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. Canonical sections
|
||||
|
||||
**Mandatory — every ADR, in this order:**
|
||||
|
||||
| Section | Holds |
|
||||
|---|---|
|
||||
| `## Status` | `Accepted (YYYY-MM-DD)`, plus an optional one-line note (what it resolves/supersedes, or a doctrine-not-yet-built caveat as ADR-022 uses) |
|
||||
| `## Context` | the forces, the problem, what exists today, why now |
|
||||
| `## Decision` | what we are doing — numbered sub-decisions for multi-part ADRs, as 020/021/022 do |
|
||||
| `## Consequences` | results, trade-offs *explicitly accepted*, follow-on work |
|
||||
|
||||
**Optional — use only where genuinely applicable, never as padding:**
|
||||
|
||||
- `## Related` — links to other ADRs by number.
|
||||
- `## Scope` — explicit in/out-of-scope boundaries.
|
||||
- `## Guardrails` / `## Enforcement` — how the decision is mechanically enforced
|
||||
(lint, CI, hooks).
|
||||
- `## What was ruled out` — rejected alternatives, each with its reason.
|
||||
- `## Verified facts (ADR-014)` — version-stamped facts per the knowledge-sourcing rule.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Status lifecycle
|
||||
|
||||
Three states; no "Proposed" stage.
|
||||
|
||||
- Born **`Accepted (YYYY-MM-DD)`** — the sole author commits to it on writing.
|
||||
- Replaced by a later decision → the old ADR's Status becomes
|
||||
**`Superseded by ADR-NNN (YYYY-MM-DD)`**; the superseding ADR records
|
||||
`Supersedes ADR-MMM` in its own `## Status` and `## Related`. The link is
|
||||
**bidirectional** — both files must point at each other.
|
||||
- Retired with no replacement → **`Deprecated (YYYY-MM-DD)`** plus a one-line reason.
|
||||
|
||||
**Load-bearing rule — 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. The history of decisions stays legible.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Cross-references
|
||||
Reference other ADRs by number inline (`ADR-019`), and collect the relationships in a
|
||||
`## Related` section.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Template file
|
||||
Ship `docs/decisions/adr-template.md` — consistent with boma's existing
|
||||
`*-template.md` convention. It contains the mandatory section headers pre-filled with
|
||||
short HTML-comment hints, and the optional sections listed as commented stubs to
|
||||
uncomment when relevant. It is a skeleton, not a numbered decision, so it does not take
|
||||
an ADR number.
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Retroactive backfill (001–018)
|
||||
A **separate follow-up step** after the ADR and template land: add a `## Status`
|
||||
section to every ADR that lacks one. Status value is `Accepted (YYYY-MM-DD)` where the
|
||||
date is reconstructed from each file's **first git-commit date**. **Only the Status
|
||||
header is added — no decision content is touched.** ADRs already carrying a `## Status`
|
||||
(019–022) are left alone.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Enforcement
|
||||
Lightweight, no CI gate. The `/review-repo` command gains an ADR-structure check:
|
||||
every file in `docs/decisions/` matching `NNN-*.md` has the four mandatory sections and
|
||||
a parseable `## Status` line. The template carries the convention forward for new ADRs.
|
||||
|
||||
## Consequences
|
||||
|
||||
- New ADRs have one obvious shape and a scaffold to start from; structural drift stops.
|
||||
- Every ADR declares its lifecycle state uniformly, and reversals are traceable rather
|
||||
than silent — the back-catalogue becomes a legible decision history.
|
||||
- One-time churn: a backfill commit touching ~18 files (Status header only).
|
||||
- `/review-repo` grows a new check; no new CI machinery, matching boma's habit of not
|
||||
gating doctrine in CI.
|
||||
- This ADR is itself the first conformant example — it must follow its own structure.
|
||||
|
||||
## Open questions
|
||||
|
||||
None outstanding — title/filename, the 3-state lifecycle, template name
|
||||
(`adr-template.md`), enforcement (`/review-repo`, no CI gate), and the
|
||||
Status-only backfill were all confirmed during brainstorming.
|
||||
Loading…
Add table
Reference in a new issue