Customization Guide — ADR Template System

Adapt the ADR system to your team's decision-making culture and organizational structure.

ADR Format Variations

Minimal ADR (for small teams)

If the full template feels heavy, use the Lightweight Decision Record template. It has four sections:

1. Context — What's the situation?

2. Decision — What did we decide?

3. Consequences — What happens as a result?

4. Status — Proposed / Accepted / Superseded

Extended ADR (for regulated environments)

Add these properties to the Decisions database:

• Compliance Impact (Multi-select) — GDPR, SOC2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS
• Risk Level (Select) — Low, Medium, High, Critical
• Approval Signatures (Relation → Stakeholders, multi) — Required approvers
• Expiration Date (Date) — When this decision must be re-evaluated
• Alternatives Considered (Text) — Detailed comparison of options

RFC-Style (for open-source or distributed teams)

Add a discussion-oriented workflow:

• RFC Status (Select) — Draft → Open for Comment → Final Comment Period → Accepted/Rejected
• Discussion Link (URL) — GitHub Discussion, Google Doc, or Notion comments
• Comment Period Ends (Date)
• Objections Raised (Text)
• Resolution (Text)

Status Workflow Customization

Default Lifecycle

Proposed → Accepted → (optionally) Superseded or Deprecated

With Rejection Path

Draft → Proposed → Under Review → Accepted / Rejected
                                 ↓
                           Superseded / Deprecated

With Experimentation

Proposed → Experiment → Accepted / Rejected

Add an "Experiment" status for decisions that need validation through a proof of concept before full commitment.

Category Taxonomy

The default categories cover common architectural domains. Customize based on your organization:

For a Backend-Heavy Team

Remove: Frontend

Add: Caching Strategy, Authentication, Data Pipeline, Performance

For a Full-Stack Product Team

Keep all defaults

Add: UX Architecture, State Management, Design System, Analytics

For a Platform/Infrastructure Team

Focus on: Infrastructure, Data Storage, Security, Observability, Networking

Add: Cost Optimization, Compliance, Disaster Recovery

Review Cadence Options

Quarterly Reviews (default)

• Review all "Accepted" decisions older than 6 months
• Set Review Date = Date Decided + 6 months
• Batch review in a 1-hour meeting per quarter

Continuous Review

• Set Review Date = Date Decided + 3 months for critical decisions
• Review one ADR per week in team standup (5 minutes)
• Rotate reviewer responsibility across team members

Event-Triggered Review

Instead of calendar-based reviews, review decisions when:

• A related incident occurs
• A new team member questions the decision
• The technology landscape changes significantly
• The team scales past a threshold (e.g., 5 → 15 engineers)

Integrating with Development Workflow

Git Repository Sync

Maintain a docs/adr/ directory in your main repo with lightweight markdown copies of each ADR. Use Notion as the source of truth and export to git periodically.

Pull Request Integration

Add a PR template checklist item:

- [ ] Does this change relate to any existing ADR? If so, link it.
- [ ] Does this change require a new ADR? If so, create one before merging.

Architecture Review Board

If you have a formal review board:

1. Add a "Review Board" status between "Proposed" and "Accepted"

2. Add a "Board Meeting Date" property

3. Create a "Pending Board Review" view filtered to this status

Numbering Schemes

Sequential (default)

ADR-001, ADR-002, ADR-003...

Simple and clear. Works for small to medium teams.

Year-Prefixed

ADR-2025-001, ADR-2025-002, ADR-2026-001...

Better for teams that write many ADRs — year prefix helps with chronological context.

Category-Prefixed

INFRA-001, API-002, SEC-003...

Useful when different teams own different categories and want independent numbering.

Team Adoption Tips

Getting Buy-In

• Start with one high-impact decision that the team already debated
• Write the ADR retroactively and show how it would have helped
• Keep the first 5 ADRs lightweight — show value before adding process

Avoiding ADR Fatigue

• Not every decision needs an ADR — only decisions that are hard to reverse or frequently questioned
• Keep ADRs short (1 page max for the Lightweight template)
• Make writing ADRs part of the decision process, not a separate documentation step

Measuring ADR Effectiveness

Track these metrics over time:

• How often are old decisions questioned? (Should decrease as ADR library grows)
• How many decisions are superseded within 6 months? (High rate suggests insufficient evaluation)
• How many ADRs have outstanding reviews? (Track review compliance)