Recording Architecture Decisions

Purpose

Record durable architecture decisions without losing the current-state baseline closure. An ADR records why a decision was made; a baseline records what the architecture is after that decision.

This skill is a lazy, task-specific workflow. It does not replace verification-before-completion, does not grant completion authority, and does not make authoritative GateDecision or PolicySnapshot outputs.

Required Read Set

Before deciding or writing, read the smallest relevant excerpts from:

• docs/adr/ADR-CREATION-GATE.md
• docs/current/AEGIS_ADR_AUTO_BACKFILL.md
• the target project's current ADR, baseline, or authority docs that own the affected architecture surface

For Aegis repository changes, use this repository's docs/adr/ and docs/current/ authority order. For target projects with their own ADR system, respect that project owner instead of duplicating the same decision into docs/aegis/adr/.

When To Use

Use this skill when the user asks to:

• create, write, update, amend, supersede, or evaluate an ADR
• decide whether an architecture decision record is needed
• record a durable architecture decision or decision log entry
• close baseline sync after an ADR-relevant architecture change
• verify that an ADR action did not leave the architecture baseline stale

Do not use it for simple wording edits, ordinary README cleanup, tests-only coverage improvements, low-risk single-file changes, or bug fixes that only restore the existing baseline.

Decision Flow