decision-records

---
name: decision-records
description: >-
license: MIT
---

# Decision records

This skill owns the registry tool `decisions.py`, symlinked into the repo at `scripts/decisions.py`
(run `decisions.py install` to set up the symlink + a CI check). The tool finds the repo's `docs/`
by walking up from the CWD, so run it from anywhere in the repo:

```sh
python scripts/decisions.py build [--relink]            # regenerate INDEX.md (+ refresh links)
python scripts/decisions.py check                       # validate (CI-safe; exit 1 if stale)
python scripts/decisions.py promote <name…> [--deref] [--allow-replace]   # draft(s) -> accepted/
python scripts/decisions.py rename-draft-id <name> <NEW>                  # re-ID a draft
python scripts/decisions.py install [repo]              # adopt in a repo: symlink + pre-commit
```

## Layout

Everything the convention owns lives under `docs/decisions/`:

```
docs/
  decisions/              # the convention's namespace (the umbrella)
    INDEX.md              # GENERATED registry over accepted/ + archived/
    README.md             # human guide to the convention (scaffolded by install)
    AGENTS.md             # agent rules: decisions are binding here (scaffolded by install)
    accepted/<type>/      # ACCEPTED numbered records; <type> = any lowercase slug you define
    archived/             # RETIRED records (superseded | deprecated) — flat
    drafts/               # WIP candidates — flat, 4-UPPERCASE-letter IDs, NOT in INDEX
  threat-model.md         # other repo docs stay siblings — still cross-reference decisions
```

| Stage           | Dir                | ID                                     | Status                      |
| :-------------- | :----------------- | :------------------------------------- | :-------------------------- |
| candidate (WIP) | `drafts/`          | 4 UPPERCASE letters, mnemonic (`CONF`) | `draft`                     |
| decision        | `accepted/<type>/` | global counter (`0001`…)               | `accepted`                  |
| retired         | `archived/`        | (keeps its counter)                    | `superseded` / `deprecated` |

**Types are open** — `<type>` is any lowercase slug, and your `accepted/<type>/` subdirs are the set
(software: `architecture`, `product`, `security`; governance: `policy`, `legal`, `finance`,
`people`, `compliance`, `operations`). A new type's directory is created on promotion. The tool
enforces that a decision sits in the subdir matching its `type` — not a fixed list.

There is no `proposed` status — "proposing" is the act of opening a PR that promotes a draft. Mint a
draft ID yourself (a mnemonic of the topic); `check` enforces format + uniqueness. Cross-reference
by writing the bare ID as inline code — `` `0006` `` (decision) or `` `CONF` `` (draft); never
hand-author a path — `build --relink` generates and self-heals every link across every `docs/*.md`
(records, drafts, and other docs like `threat-model.md`).

## Promoting drafts

**Promotion requires explicit human sign-off.** Promoting is a finalizing, semi-irreversible act
(accepted records are held firm — changing course requires supersession, never a rewrite;
decider-approved maintenance edits such as clarity, staleness, and cross-record consistency are
allowed). Author, edit, and validate drafts freely; but never run `promote` — or its downstream
steps (replacing naming placeholders, resolving threads, regenerating `INDEX.md`) — without the
user's explicit go-ahead in the current turn. Don't infer approval from an adjacent choice (a scope
answer, a cleared checklist); when unsure, ask.

**An accepted decision may never reference a draft.** `promote` enforces this: it refuses a set that
would breach and prints exactly how to fix it (co-promote, `--deref`, or `--allow-replace`) with a
copy-paste prompt. Before any promotion the tool refuses — or any supersession — read
**[references/promotion.md](references/promotion.md)** for the mechanics.

Promotion changes a record's ID *and* its directory, and `promote` carries both through the tree:
the H1, every relative link (one level deeper now), the mnemonic in prose, and any spelled-out path
to the draft file. It stops at `docs/`, and it never edits code — a 4-letter mnemonic also reads as
an identifier. Mentions outside `docs/` are **listed** after the run for you to work through by
hand; leave any identifier that merely shares the name. `mdformat` reflows the rewritten paragraphs
on commit.

## Adopting this in a repo

Run this skill's `decisions.py install [repo]` from the target repo. (`repo` defaults to the current
dir; install sets up *there* — it does not search upward.) It is idempotent: it fills in only what's
missing and regenerates `INDEX.md`. What it does:

- **Symlinks** `<repo>/scripts/decisions.py` to this skill's copy, and **gitignores** that path
  (creating `.gitignore` if absent) — the symlink is machine-specific, so each clone recreates it
  with `install` rather than committing it.
- **Scaffolds** `docs/decisions/`: `accepted/`, `archived/`, `drafts/`, the two record templates, a
  human `README.md`, and an agent-facing `AGENTS.md`.
- **Generates** `INDEX.md` (a build artifact, not a starter).
- **Wires the root entry points** — when the repo has no root `README.md` or `AGENTS.md` (a fresh or
  empty repo), creates each as a placeholder linking the scaffold so people and agents discover it.
  An existing file is left untouched (see below).
- In a git repo, adds a `pre-commit` hook running `decisions.py check`; run that same command in CI.

If the repo already has these entry points, install leaves them alone — wire the scaffold in
yourself so people and agents discover it:

- Link the scaffolded `docs/decisions/README.md` from the repo's **contributor-facing** docs —
  `CONTRIBUTING.md`, or the `README.md` only if it addresses contributors (skip a user-facing
  README) — and point contributors at `docs/decisions/INDEX.md` to browse the accepted decisions.
- In the repo's root `AGENTS.md`/`CLAUDE.md`, link `docs/decisions/AGENTS.md` so agents pick up that
  decisions are binding here.

Keep each link to a one-line note on what it is.