# Decision Record

> Capture an architectural decision so the next session (or engineer) knows WHY. Use after any non-obvious technical choice.

- Skill: `archive228/decision-record` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add archive228/decision-record`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/archive228/decision-record/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: archive228 (https://skillmd.com/u/archive228)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/archive228/decision-record

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# Decision Record (ADR)
Write a short file `docs/decisions/NNN-<slug>.md`:
- **Context** — what forced a decision. The constraints.
- **Options** — the 2-3 real candidates, one line each.
- **Decision** — what you picked, dated.
- **Why** — the tradeoff. What you gave up. "We picked Postgres over Mongo because we need real joins; we accept heavier ops."
- **Consequences** — what this now makes easy and hard.
Hard-to-reverse choices (schema, auth, data store) MUST get one. Future-you will ask "why on earth did we do this" — answer it now.