architecture-decision-records

Architecture decision records (ADRs) are structured documents that capture the context, alternatives, and consequences of a software design choice. You should document ADRs during design moments, planning sessions, and when evaluating trade-offs across frameworks or patterns.

To write an architecture decision record, provide the decision title, context, and alternatives evaluated. The ADR format includes Context, Decision, Alternatives, and Consequences sections to preserve rationale and track long-term implications of your database or framework choice.

Architecture decision records should be stored alongside your codebase in a dedicated docs/adr directory. This lightweight approach keeps decisions accessible to the team and automatically appends new records to an ADR index when they are accepted.

Track superseded architecture decisions by reading and updating existing ADR documents to reflect their deprecated status. This maintains an accurate historical record by appending superseded decisions to the ADR index, preventing knowledge loss and misalignment.

You need a lightweight ADR format aligned with best practices to document architecture trade-offs and risks. This requires setting up a docs/adr directory and maintaining an ADR index to append entries when design decisions are accepted or superseded.

Teams lose context on software design decisions because the rationale and alternatives considered are rarely documented. Capturing architectural decisions as structured ADR documents prevents knowledge loss by clearly recording why a pattern was chosen and its long-term implications.