Outcome-First ADR
A low-ceremony format for async decisions: outcome, decision, primary tradeoff, why, and decision boundaries. Skimmable for action, detailed for traceability.
Last reviewed: .
Format
The top four sections (status, outcome, decision, primary tradeoff) should be very short. Decision boundaries (impacted, not impacted, assumptions, guardrails) clarify scope.
Use Outcome-First when the decision needs to be reviewed, challenged, or understood quickly by an async team. Use Compare formats to see how it relates to other ADR shapes.
Markdown template
# ADR-0001: <short title>
## Status Proposed | Accepted | Rejected | Superseded
## Outcome <what this decision is trying to make true>
## Decision <the concrete technical choice>
## Primary tradeoff <the main cost, risk, or limitation we knowingly accept>
## Why - <reason 1> - <reason 2> - <reason 3>
## Decision boundaries Impacted: - <systems, teams, interfaces, workflows, runtime behavior, ownership, or constraints affected> Not impacted: - <systems, teams, interfaces, workflows explicitly not changed> Assumptions: - <what must remain true for this decision to hold> Guardrails: - <ownership, rollback rules, SLOs, tests, rollout limits, or constraints that keep the decision safe>
Open generator with this format preselected (also persisted in local storage on this site).