Nygard ADR template
Copy a Nygard-style ADR Markdown template with status, context, decision, and consequences, plus guidance and a worked example.
Last reviewed: .
Format
Choose the Nygard template when you want the smallest broadly recognizable ADR: a status, the forces behind the choice, the decision, and its consequences. Number files consistently (ADR-0001-*.mdor your organization's scheme), and make the decision section quotable in a pull-request comment.
This page follows the structure Michael Nygard described in Documenting Architecture Decisions. If your team needs explicit drivers, option-level pros and cons, or confirmation, use the MADR template instead.
See the template filled out in the PostgreSQL decision example.
# ADR-0001: <short title in Title Case>
## Status Proposed
## Context Describe the situation: constraints, options considered briefly, and why a decision is needed.
## Decision State the decision in plain language. Link to ADRs that this supersedes or extends.
## Consequences - Positive: … - Negative: … - Neutral / follow-ups: …
Open generator with this format preselected (also persisted in local storage on this site).