research · AVC

Make technical direction inspectable.

Context, alternatives, constraints and uncertainty remain visible before ADR acceptance.

Document authority

Different artifacts answer different questions.

The source-of-truth hierarchy remains visible inside architectural discussion.

Research note: Explores a question, evidence and uncertainty.
Design specification: Defines an approved intended boundary and acceptance criteria.
ADR: Records an accepted architecture decision, context and consequences.
Executable contract: Defines current machine-enforced behavior.

Decision context

Constraints, current behavior, affected contracts and uncertainty are recorded so later readers can understand why a direction was considered.

Alternatives

The repository should not repeatedly rediscover the same attractive but incompatible architecture every few weeks.

Acceptance

Research notes, specs, ADRs and executable contracts carry different authority and must not be blended.