decision-records

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:

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    archived/             # RETIRED records (superseded | deprecated) — flat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

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 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.