Adr Review

ADR Review

Multi-agent debate pattern for rigorous ADR validation. Orchestrates 6 specialized agents through structured review rounds until consensus or 10 rounds maximum.

Triggers

Quick Start

# Manual triggers:
/adr-review .agents/architecture/ADR-005-api-versioning.md
"review this ADR"
"validate ADR-005"
"review this decision record under docs/decisions"

Automatic Detection: A Claude Code hook runs at session start and detects ADR changes, prompting you to invoke this skill. The pre-commit hook also detects staged ADR files and displays a reminder.

File Triggers

Detection: from the skill directory, run python3 scripts/detect_adr_changes.py --base-path <repo-root>. From repo root, run .claude/skills/adr-review/scripts/detect_adr_changes.py for the Claude skill tree or src/copilot-cli/skills/adr-review/scripts/detect_adr_changes.py for the Copilot CLI mirror.

When to Use

MANDATORY Triggers (automatic):

• Architect creates or updates an ADR
• ANY agent modifies .agents/architecture/ADR-*.md, docs/adr/ADR-*.md, docs/architecture/ADR-*.md, docs/decisions/ADR-*.md, or architecture/decisions/ADR-*.md

User-Initiated Triggers (manual):

• User requests ADR review ("review this ADR", "validate this decision")
• User asks to review a durable design decision record or rationale for future maintainers
• User requests multi-perspective validation for strategic decisions

Agent Roles

Process

Consensus: All 6 agents Accept OR Disagree-and-Commit. Max 10 rounds.

See references/debate-protocol.md for full phase details.

Deletion Workflow

See references/deletion-workflow.md for full workflow.

Issue Resolution

See references/issue-resolution.md for deferral protocol.

Phase 4: Strategic Review (Principal-Level Validation)

After structural and technical review, apply strategic lenses:

Strategic Validation Checklist

Chesterton's Fence (Change Justification)

• If removing/changing existing patterns: Original purpose documented
• Investigation evidence provided (git archaeology, interviews, documentation)
• Confirmation original problem no longer exists
• Assessment: [PASS | FAIL | N/A]

Path Dependence (Irreversibility Recognition)

• Historical constraints identified and documented
• Reversibility assessment complete (rollback capability, vendor lock-in)
• Migration/exit strategy defined if adding dependencies
• Irreversible decisions explicitly flagged and justified
• Assessment: [PASS | FAIL | N/A]

Core vs Context (Investment Prioritization)

• Capability classified as Core (differentiating) or Context (commodity)
• If building Context: Justification for not buying/outsourcing
• If Core: Competitive differentiation explained
• Assessment: [PASS | FAIL | N/A]

Second-System Effect (Over-Engineering Detection)

• If replacing existing system: Scope boundaries explicit
• Feature list justified (not "everything we didn't do last time")
• Simplicity preservation strategy documented
• Assessment: [PASS | FAIL | N/A]

Strategic Review Verdict

Overall Strategic Assessment: [APPROVED | CONCERNS | REJECTED]

Blocking Issues:

• [Strategic issue 1 with required mitigation]
• [Strategic issue 2 with required mitigation]

Recommendations:

• [Strategic improvement 1]
• [Strategic improvement 2]

Scripts

# Basic detection from repo root
uv run python .claude/skills/adr-review/scripts/detect_adr_changes.py

# Skill-relative detection from the Claude skill directory
cd .claude/skills/adr-review
python3 scripts/detect_adr_changes.py --base-path ../../..
cd ../../..

# Compare to specific commit
uv run python .claude/skills/adr-review/scripts/detect_adr_changes.py --since-commit abc123

# Include untracked ADR files
uv run python .claude/skills/adr-review/scripts/detect_adr_changes.py --include-untracked

# Copilot CLI mirror from repo root
uv run python src/copilot-cli/skills/adr-review/scripts/detect_adr_changes.py --include-untracked

# Skill-relative detection from the Copilot CLI mirror
cd src/copilot-cli/skills/adr-review
python3 scripts/detect_adr_changes.py --base-path ../../../..
cd ../../../..

Verification Checklist

Before marking complete, run the bundled detector to check for pending ADR changes:

uv run python .claude/skills/adr-review/scripts/detect_adr_changes.py --include-untracked
echo "exit=$?"   # must be 0; non-zero means git error or I/O failure

• The detector script exited 0 (no git or I/O errors)
• If skill was auto-triggered by a file change, HasChanges should be true; if skill was manually invoked on an existing committed ADR, HasChanges: false is expected and acceptable

After skill invocation:

• Debate log exists at .agents/critique/ADR-NNN-debate-log.md
• ADR status updated using the frontmatter enum below; use prose for review nuance
• Frontmatter status field present and a valid enum value: one of proposed | accepted | rejected | deprecated | superseded (ADR-073). A missing or out-of-enum status is a P1 blocker; the frontmatter enum is authoritative for tooling, the prose ## Status carries the human nuance.
• If this review transitions status to accepted: the same change carries adr-review debate-log evidence at .agents/critique/ADR-NNN-debate-log.md (ADR-073 Phase-3 acceptance gate). A hand-edit to accepted with no debate-log artifact is a forgeable approval signal and MUST be rejected.

• All P0 issues addressed or documented
• Dissent captured for Disagree-and-Commit positions
• Recommendations provided to orchestrator

Anti-Patterns

Process Anti-Patterns

Review Anti-Patterns (Zimmermann)

Each agent should self-check against these. Phase 2 consolidation flags violations.

See zimmermann-review-guidance.md for full practices and pledges.

References