boma/docs/superpowers/plans/2026-06-10-adr-structure.md

ADR Structure & Lifecycle Implementation Plan

For agentic workers: REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:subagent-driven-development (recommended) or superpowers:executing-plans to implement this plan task-by-task. Steps use checkbox (- [ ]) syntax for tracking.

Goal: Codify how boma's ADRs are structured — a canonical section set, an Accepted/Superseded/Deprecated lifecycle, a template, a lightweight enforcement check, and a one-time Status backfill of the back-catalogue.

Architecture: Five independent units. (1) A pure-function adr-structure check added to the existing scripts/repo-scan.py (stdlib only, pytest-tested like its siblings), verifying every numbered ADR has the four mandatory sections and a parseable Status line — presence only, not order. (2) An adr-template.md scaffold. (3) ADR-023 itself, written to pass its own check. (4) Wiring into CLAUDE.md and the /review-repo command doc. (5) A mechanical backfill adding ## Status to ADRs 001–018, dated from each file's first git-commit.

Tech Stack: Python 3 stdlib (scripts/repo-scan.py), pytest (.venv/bin/pytest), Markdown, git.

Spec: docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-10-adr-structure-design.md

Branch: feat/adr-structure (already created; the design spec is the first commit).

Convention reminders (from CLAUDE.md): docs-/script-only commits skip the ansible-lint pre-commit hook and need no rbw unlock. Imperative subject ≤72 chars. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com> trailer on every commit.

---

Decisions locked by the spec (do not re-litigate)

• Mandatory sections, in this order: ## Status, ## Context, ## Decision, ## Consequences.
• Optional sections: ## Related, ## Scope, ## Guardrails / ## Enforcement, ## What was ruled out, ## Verified facts (ADR-014).
• Status lifecycle (3 states): Accepted (YYYY-MM-DD) → optionally Superseded by ADR-NNN (YYYY-MM-DD) or Deprecated (YYYY-MM-DD). No "Proposed" stage.
• No silent rewrites: material reversal = new ADR + Superseded by marker; bidirectional link.
• Enforcement checks presence + parseable Status line, NOT section order. Order is demonstrated by the template, not machine-enforced.
• Backfill is Status-header-only — no decision content touched.

---

Task 1: adr-structure check in repo-scan.py

Files:

• Modify: scripts/repo-scan.py (add module-level regexes near the other _RE definitions ~line 38–44; add adr_structure_findings() next to deferred_findings() ~line 96; wire it into scan() at the findings.extend(...) site ~line 215)

• Test: tests/test_repo_scan.py (new)

• Step 1: Write the failing test

Create tests/test_repo_scan.py:

import importlib.util
import pathlib

_PATH = pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / "scripts" / "repo-scan.py"
_spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("repo_scan", _PATH)
rs = importlib.util.module_from_spec(_spec)
_spec.loader.exec_module(rs)

GOOD = [
    "# ADR-099 — Example\n", "\n",
    "## Status\n", "\n", "Accepted (2026-06-10)\n", "\n",
    "## Context\n", "\n", "Why.\n", "\n",
    "## Decision\n", "\n", "What.\n", "\n",
    "## Consequences\n", "\n", "So what.\n",
]


def _checks(findings):
    return [f for f in findings if f["check"] == "adr-structure"]


def test_good_adr_has_no_findings():
    out = rs.adr_structure_findings({"docs/decisions/099-example.md": GOOD})
    assert _checks(out) == []


def test_missing_mandatory_section_is_flagged():
    lines = [ln for ln in GOOD if not ln.startswith("## Consequences")]
    out = _checks(rs.adr_structure_findings({"docs/decisions/099-example.md": lines}))
    assert len(out) == 1
    assert "Consequences" in out[0]["detail"]


def test_unparseable_status_is_flagged():
    lines = [("Designed, not built.\n" if ln == "Accepted (2026-06-10)\n" else ln)
             for ln in GOOD]
    out = _checks(rs.adr_structure_findings({"docs/decisions/099-example.md": lines}))
    assert len(out) == 1
    assert "Status not parseable" in out[0]["detail"]


def test_superseded_status_is_accepted():
    lines = [("Superseded by ADR-100 (2026-06-11)\n" if ln == "Accepted (2026-06-10)\n"
              else ln) for ln in GOOD]
    out = _checks(rs.adr_structure_findings({"docs/decisions/099-example.md": lines}))
    assert out == []


def test_non_numbered_file_is_skipped():
    bare = ["# ADR template\n", "\n", "## Status\n", "\n", "<!-- hint -->\n"]
    out = _checks(rs.adr_structure_findings({"docs/decisions/adr-template.md": bare}))
    assert out == []

• Step 2: Run the test to verify it fails

Run: .venv/bin/pytest tests/test_repo_scan.py -q Expected: FAIL — AttributeError: module 'repo_scan' has no attribute 'adr_structure_findings'.

• Step 3: Add the regexes

In scripts/repo-scan.py, after the RESOLVE_WORD_RE = ... line (~line 44), add:

# ADR-structure check (ADR-023): numbered ADRs must carry the four mandatory
# sections and a parseable Status line. Presence only — section ORDER is a
# template-demonstrated convention, not machine-enforced.
ADR_FILE_RE = re.compile(r"^\d{3}-.*\.md$")
ADR_REQUIRED_SECTIONS = ("Status", "Context", "Decision", "Consequences")
ADR_STATUS_LINE_RE = re.compile(
    r"^(Accepted \(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}\)"
    r"|Superseded by ADR-\d{3}"
    r"|Deprecated \(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}\))")

• Step 4: Add the check function

In scripts/repo-scan.py, immediately after the deferred_findings(...) function (it ends ~line 96, just before def walk_files():), add:

def adr_structure_findings(adr_files):
    """adr_files: {rel_path: [lines]} for docs/decisions/*.md.
    Flags numbered ADRs (NNN-*.md) missing a mandatory section or whose Status
    section has no parseable lifecycle line. Non-numbered files (e.g.
    adr-template.md) are skipped. Section order is NOT checked (ADR-023)."""
    out = []
    for rpath, lines in sorted(adr_files.items()):
        if not ADR_FILE_RE.match(os.path.basename(rpath)):
            continue
        headings = {}
        for i, line in enumerate(lines):
            m = re.match(r"^##\s+(\w+)", line)
            if m:
                headings.setdefault(m.group(1), i)
        missing = [s for s in ADR_REQUIRED_SECTIONS if s not in headings]
        if missing:
            out.append({"check": "adr-structure", "severity": "medium",
                        "path": rpath, "line": 1,
                        "detail": f"missing mandatory section(s): {', '.join(missing)}"})
        if "Status" in headings:
            body = []
            for line in lines[headings["Status"] + 1:]:
                if line.startswith("## "):
                    break
                body.append(line)
            status_text = next((ln.strip() for ln in body if ln.strip()), "")
            if not ADR_STATUS_LINE_RE.match(status_text):
                out.append({"check": "adr-structure", "severity": "medium",
                            "path": rpath, "line": headings["Status"] + 1,
                            "detail": "Status not parseable (want 'Accepted (YYYY-MM-DD)', "
                                      "'Superseded by ADR-NNN', or 'Deprecated (YYYY-MM-DD)'); "
                                      f"got: {status_text[:60]!r}"})
    return out

• Step 5: Run the test to verify it passes

Run: .venv/bin/pytest tests/test_repo_scan.py -q Expected: PASS — 5 passed.

• Step 6: Wire the check into scan()

In scripts/repo-scan.py, find (~line 215):

    findings.extend(deferred_findings(adr_files, defer_refs))
    return findings

Replace with:

    findings.extend(deferred_findings(adr_files, defer_refs))
    findings.extend(adr_structure_findings(adr_files))
    return findings

• Step 7: Confirm the check fires on the real (not-yet-backfilled) repo

Run: python3 scripts/repo-scan.py 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "import json,sys; print(sorted({f['path'] for f in json.load(sys.stdin)['findings'] if f['check']=='adr-structure'}))" Expected: a list including docs/decisions/001-architecture.md … through 018-logging.md (001–015 missing Status; 016–018 unparseable Status). 019–022 and 023 must NOT appear. This proves the check works and previews Task 5's worklist.

• Step 8: Commit

git add scripts/repo-scan.py tests/test_repo_scan.py
git commit -m "feat(review): add adr-structure check to repo-scan

Flags numbered ADRs missing a mandatory section (Status/Context/Decision/
Consequences) or with an unparseable Status line. Presence only, not order.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>"

---

Task 2: ADR template

Files:

• Create: docs/decisions/adr-template.md

• Step 1: Write the template

Create docs/decisions/adr-template.md with exactly:

# ADR-NNN — <Title>: <optional clarifying subtitle>

<!-- Filename: NNN-kebab-title.md (zero-padded, monotonic, never reused).
     Register a row in CLAUDE.md "Further reading" when this ADR is created.
     Sections below in order. Mandatory: Status, Context, Decision, Consequences.
     Delete this comment and any optional section you don't use. -->

## Status

Accepted (YYYY-MM-DD)
<!-- Lifecycle: "Accepted (YYYY-MM-DD)" → later "Superseded by ADR-NNN (YYYY-MM-DD)"
     or "Deprecated (YYYY-MM-DD)" + one-line why. Optional trailing note OK, e.g.
     "Accepted (2026-06-10). Doctrine ADR — pins policy, builds nothing yet." -->

## Context

<!-- The forces, the problem, what exists today, why now. -->

## Decision

<!-- What we are doing. Use numbered sub-decisions (### 1. ...) for multi-part ADRs. -->

## Consequences

<!-- Results, trade-offs explicitly accepted, follow-on work. -->

<!-- OPTIONAL SECTIONS — uncomment any that genuinely apply; never pad.
## Scope
<!-- Explicit in / out-of-scope boundaries. -->

## Guardrails
<!-- How the decision is mechanically enforced (lint, CI, hooks). -->

## What was ruled out
<!-- Rejected alternatives, each with its reason. -->

## Verified facts (ADR-014)
<!-- verified: <subject> · <tool> <version> · <source> · <YYYY-MM-DD> -->

## Related
<!-- Links to other ADRs by number; bidirectional for Supersedes/Superseded-by. -->
-->

• Step 2: Confirm the template is skipped by the check

Run: python3 scripts/repo-scan.py 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "import json,sys; print([f for f in json.load(sys.stdin)['findings'] if f['check']=='adr-structure' and 'adr-template' in f['path']])" Expected: [] (non-numbered filename → skipped).

• Step 3: Commit

git add docs/decisions/adr-template.md
git commit -m "docs(adr): add adr-template.md scaffold (ADR-023)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>"

---

Task 3: ADR-023 itself

Files:

• Create: docs/decisions/023-adr-structure.md

• Step 1: Write ADR-023

Create docs/decisions/023-adr-structure.md. It must pass its own check (Status/Context/Decision/Consequences present; parseable Status line). Use this content:

# 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. 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, and ADRs 001–018 predate it: 001–015
carry no `## Status` section at all, and 016–018 have a trailing build-status note
rather than a lifecycle line. The result is 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).

## Consequences

- New ADRs have one obvious shape and a scaffold; structural drift stops.
- Every ADR declares its lifecycle state uniformly, and reversals are traceable.
- One-time backfill churn: a Status header added to ADRs 001–018 (header only; no
  decision content 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.
- **Normalizing the body of 001–018** beyond adding `## Status` — out of scope; the
  decisions themselves are untouched.

## 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.

• Step 2: Confirm ADR-023 passes its own check

Run: python3 scripts/repo-scan.py 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "import json,sys; print([f for f in json.load(sys.stdin)['findings'] if f['check']=='adr-structure' and '023-' in f['path']])" Expected: [].

• Step 3: Commit

git add docs/decisions/023-adr-structure.md
git commit -m "docs(adr): ADR-023 — ADR structure & lifecycle

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>"

---

Task 4: Wire into CLAUDE.md and the review-repo command doc

Files:

• Modify: CLAUDE.md ("Further reading" table)

• Modify: .claude/commands/review-repo.md (the deterministic-findings description, ~line 26–28)

• Step 1: Add the CLAUDE.md "Further reading" row

In CLAUDE.md, in the "Further reading" table, after the Backup & disaster recovery row, add:

| ADR structure & lifecycle | `docs/decisions/023-adr-structure.md`     |

• Step 2: Mention the new check in review-repo.md

In .claude/commands/review-repo.md, find (~line 27–28):

(roles, ADRs, runbooks, playbooks, scripts — your shard list) and **exact findings**
(markers, broken refs, unencrypted vaults). Fold these into the report verbatim.

Replace the parenthetical with:

(roles, ADRs, runbooks, playbooks, scripts — your shard list) and **exact findings**
(markers, broken refs, unencrypted vaults, ADR-structure violations). Fold these into
the report verbatim.

• Step 3: Verify the CLAUDE.md link resolves

Run: test -f docs/decisions/023-adr-structure.md && echo OK Expected: OK.

• Step 4: Commit

git add CLAUDE.md .claude/commands/review-repo.md
git commit -m "docs(adr): register ADR-023 and note adr-structure check

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>"

---

Task 5: Backfill ## Status into ADRs 001–018

Files:

• Modify: docs/decisions/001-architecture.md … 015-control-host.md (insert a Status section)
• Modify: docs/decisions/016-mesh-vpn.md, 017-service-ui-verification.md, 018-logging.md (prepend a parseable Accepted line to the existing Status section)

Per-file date source: the file's first git-commit (add) date — git log --diff-filter=A --format=%as -- <path> | tail -1 (yields YYYY-MM-DD).

• Step 1: For each of 001–015, insert a Status section after the title

For each file docs/decisions/NNN-*.md in 001–015, get its date and insert a Status section between the title line and the first ## heading. Worked example for 001-architecture.md (its line 2 is blank, line 3 is ## Context):

f=docs/decisions/001-architecture.md
d=$(git log --diff-filter=A --format=%as -- "$f" | tail -1)
# Insert after the title's trailing blank line, before "## Context":

Use the Edit tool to change, in 001-architecture.md:

# ADR-001 — Architecture overview

## Context

to:

# ADR-001 — Architecture overview

## Status

Accepted (<d>)

## Context

where <d> is the date from the command above. Repeat for 002–015, matching each file's actual title text and its first ## heading (the heading is not always ## Context).

• Step 2: For 016, 017, 018, make the existing Status section parseable

These already have a ## Status section whose first line is build-state prose. Get the date (git log --diff-filter=A --format=%as -- <path> | tail -1) and prepend a parseable Accepted line so the existing note becomes a trailing clause. Worked example for 018-logging.md — change its Status section from:

## Status

Designed. **Authorable now:** ...

to:

## Status

Accepted (<d>). Designed. **Authorable now:** ...

Repeat for 016 and 017 with their own dates and existing first lines.

• Step 3: Verify the whole corpus now passes the check

Run: python3 scripts/repo-scan.py 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "import json,sys; v=[f for f in json.load(sys.stdin)['findings'] if f['check']=='adr-structure']; print('adr-structure findings:', len(v)); [print(' ', f['path'], '—', f['detail']) for f in v]" Expected: adr-structure findings: 0.

• Step 4: Run the full repo-scan test suite

Run: .venv/bin/pytest tests/test_repo_scan.py -q Expected: PASS — 5 passed.

• Step 5: Commit

git add docs/decisions/0*.md docs/decisions/1*.md
git commit -m "docs(adr): backfill Status section into ADRs 001-018

Status header only (Accepted, dated from each file's first git-commit);
no decision content changed. Brings the back-catalogue to ADR-023 conformance.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>"

---

Final verification (after all tasks)

• Lint: make lint — Expected: passes (docs + a stdlib script touched; ansible content unchanged).
• Full deterministic scan clean for our check: python3 scripts/repo-scan.py 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "import json,sys; print('adr-structure:', sum(1 for f in json.load(sys.stdin)['findings'] if f['check']=='adr-structure'))" → adr-structure: 0.
• Tests green: .venv/bin/pytest tests/ -q → all pass.
• Branch ready: invoke superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch to merge feat/adr-structure to main (trunk-based, no PR) and delete the branch.

---

Self-review notes

• Spec coverage: §1 title/filename → Task 3 + template; §2 sections → Tasks 2/3 + check; §3 lifecycle → Task 3; §4 cross-refs → Task 3 ## Related; §5 template → Task 2; §6 backfill → Task 5; §7 enforcement → Task 1 + Task 4. All covered.
• Order nuance: spec says sections come "in this order"; the check enforces presence + Status only. This is intentional and stated in both the spec's enforcement wording ("the four mandatory sections and a parseable Status line") and ADR-023's Decision §5 / "What was ruled out". Not a gap.
• Type/name consistency: adr_structure_findings and the "adr-structure" check key are used identically in the function, the scan() wiring, the tests, and both verification one-liners.