Decision Record Template
Template
Section titled “Template”# Decision Record
## Decision ID
`ADR-000`
## Title
Short decision title.
## Status
Proposed | Accepted | Rejected | Superseded
## Date
YYYY-MM-DD
## Owner
Person or role responsible for the decision.
## Context
Describe the situation that requires a decision.
Include relevant constraints, goals, risks, or trade-offs.
## Decision
State the decision clearly.
Use absolute language.
## Reason
Explain why this decision was made.
## Consequences
Describe what this decision means for the project.
Include positive and negative consequences.
## Related AIDD-17 Sections
Link to relevant sections.
Examples:
- 06 Constraints- 08 Solution Strategy- 09 Building Blocks- 10 Data and Interfaces- 13 Cross-Cutting Rules- 15 Delivery Rules- 16 Implementation Plan- 17 Verification
## Supersedes
List previous decisions replaced by this decision.
## Notes
Additional information.Example: ADR-001
Section titled “Example: ADR-001”A worked example for the document assistant.
# Decision Record
## Decision ID
ADR-001
## Title
Use retrieval augmented generation for document answers
## Status
Accepted
## Date
2026-06-04
## Owner
Technical Architect
## Context
The system must answer questions using uploaded documents.
Documents may change frequently.
Answers must include source references.
The system must not answer from general model knowledge.
## Decision
The system uses retrieval augmented generation for document question answering.
The system retrieves relevant document chunks and sends only those chunks and the user question to the language model.
The model must answer using only the provided chunks.
## Reason
Retrieval augmented generation supports changing documents and source references.
Fine-tuning is not appropriate for frequently changing user-uploaded documents.
## Consequences
A document chunking process is required.
A search index is required.
Question answering depends on retrieval quality.
The system must handle cases where no relevant chunks are found.
## Related AIDD-17 Sections
- 08 Solution Strategy- 09 Building Blocks- 10 Data and Interfaces- 11 Runtime Behaviour- 17 VerificationGuidance
Section titled “Guidance”A decision record should be clear enough that AI can follow it. Avoid vague wording.
The system uses retrieval augmented generation for document question answering.Absolute. Names the approach. Leaves no room for interpretation.
We will probably use RAG because it seems suitable.Hedged language (“probably”, “seems suitable”) gives AI room to reconsider the decision instead of following it.