Architectural Decision Records (ADR)¶

This is the canonical, tracked decision log for the fork. Every non-trivial architectural / policy / scope decision lands here as its own markdown file before the corresponding commit merges.

Format¶

We use Michael Nygard's ADR format (MADR-style), one markdown file per decision — not a mega-table. See joelparkerhenderson/architecture-decision-record for background.

Each ADR file is named NNNN-kebab-case-title.md with a zero-padded 4-digit ID and follows the structure in 0000-template.md:

# ADR-NNNN: <short, declarative title>

- **Status**: Proposed | Accepted | Deprecated | Superseded by [ADR-NNNN](NNNN-title.md)
- **Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
- **Deciders**: <names / handles>
- **Tags**: <comma-separated area tags>

## Context              — the problem, the forces at play
## Decision             — one paragraph in active voice
## Alternatives considered  — at minimum the runner-up, in a pros/cons table
## Consequences         — Positive / Negative / Neutral-follow-ups
## References           — upstream docs, prior ADRs, related PRs, popup-answer source

Conventions¶

• Filename: NNNN-kebab-case-title.md. IDs are assigned in commit order and never reused.
• Immutable once Accepted: the body is frozen. To change a decision, write a new ADR with Status: Supersedes ADR-NNNN and flip the old one to Superseded by ADR-MMMM.
• One decision per ADR — if you find yourself writing "and also…", split it.
• Tagging: use the flat tag palette below so grep -l 'Tags:.*cuda' docs/adr/*.md works. New tags are fine when justified.
• Link from per-package AGENTS.md: the relevant per-package AGENTS.md points to the ADRs that govern that subtree, so the rationale is one click away from the code.
• Backfill policy: ADRs ≤ 0099 are backfills — decisions made before the ADR practice was formalised on 2026-04-17, captured retroactively from commit history and planning dossiers. Their Status reflects the current code, not the original decision date. New decisions start at 0100.

Tag palette¶

ai, agents, build, ci, claude, cli, cuda, dnn, docs, framework, git, github, license, lint, matlab, mcp, planning, python, readme, release, security, simd, supply-chain, sycl, testing, workspace.

Why it exists¶

A Claude session makes a decision (directory move, CI gate change, dependency swap), commits it, the session ends, and the rationale is recoverable only from the commit message — which typically summarises the what but omits the alternatives considered. ADRs preserve "we chose X over Y because Z" in a single auditable place. See ADR-0028.

What counts as non-trivial?¶

Another engineer could reasonably have chosen differently. Examples:

• Directory moves (e.g., ADR-0026: workspace/ → python/vmaf/workspace/)
• Base-image / dependency policy (e.g., ADR-0027: non-conservative CUDA pins)
• CI-gate semantics (e.g., ADR-0024: Netflix golden tests as required status)
• Test-selection / regeneration rules
• Coding-standards changes (e.g., ADR-0012)
• New user-visible flags or surfaces (e.g., ADR-0023)

Not ADR-worthy: bug fixes, implementation details, one-off refactors that don't change any interface or policy.

Local state and corpus data¶

Private session state and bounded cache live under .workingdir/; local datasets and reusable derived data live under .corpus/. Both are gitignored and may be shown only as operator paths. The tracked docs/adr/ tree is the public authority; documentation never links into either local root.

Index¶