# Architecture decision record

Source: https://refyneit.com/prompts/architecture-decision-record

Document a consequential technical choice with steelmanned options and reversal signals.

## When to use it

Ranked drivers and reconsideration triggers turn an ADR from a retrospective justification into a reversible, evidence-aware decision tool.

## Prompt

Create an Architecture Decision Record for [DECISION]. Do not implement the decision.

First inspect the repository and supplied context so the record reflects the actual system. Separate confirmed facts from assumptions.

Write the ADR with:
- Title, date, status, owners, and decision scope
- Context: the forces creating the decision, current constraints, and why a decision is needed now
- Decision drivers ranked by importance
- At least two viable options plus “do nothing” when meaningful
- A steelman of each option, including operational, security, privacy, performance, cost, migration, and team-skill effects
- Decision and concise rationale tied directly to the ranked drivers
- Positive and negative consequences, including new failure modes and long-term maintenance
- Implementation and migration outline, compatibility needs, and rollback/reversal path
- Validation plan with measurable signals and review date
- Reconsideration triggers: the evidence or changed constraints that should reopen the decision
- References to relevant files, issues, benchmarks, incidents, or documentation

Do not fabricate benchmark results or consensus. If the decision cannot responsibly be made from current evidence, set status to Proposed and list the minimum experiments or stakeholder decisions required.

## Adaptation and provenance

Condensed and made repository-grounded from GitHub Awesome Copilot's ADR Generator.

Contributor: [@askpt](https://github.com/askpt)
Repository: https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot
Pinned commit: b95e24caae4f25c5985f8527fd092ccfed039c36
License: [MIT](https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/blob/b95e24caae4f25c5985f8527fd092ccfed039c36/LICENSE)
- [adr-generator](https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/blob/b95e24caae4f25c5985f8527fd092ccfed039c36/agents/adr-generator.agent.md)
Review: source-reviewed, 2026-08-23. Compared with the commit-pinned source and adapted into a tool-neutral, copy/paste request. This is a non-visual task, so no output artifact is required.