When Should I Write an Architecture Decision Record

This post introduces and advocates for the use of Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) as a lightweight documentation practice to capture significant technical decisions. It outlines the benefits of ADRs for onboarding, ownership handover, and team alignment, and provides a decision-making framework for when to write an ADR, covering backfilling undocumented decisions, proposing large changes (often following RFCs), and documenting small but impactful changes. The post emphasizes that ADRs are a crucial tool for managing technical debt and ensuring consistency in system design and engineering best practices.