adr-builder 0.1.3

Generate Architectural Decision Records from simple criteria data.

ADR Builder

Create clear, consistent Architectural Decision Records (ADRs) from simple forms or YAML/JSON data — no coding required.

• Generates Markdown ADRs using the MADR standard
• Enforces structure and quality with built-in validation
• Works locally via an easy CLI, or in CI via GitHub Actions
• Stores ADRs in docs/adr/ with automatic numbering, slugs, and an index

Who is this for?

• Engineers, product managers, and stakeholders who need to record decisions
• Teams standardizing how ADRs are written and stored
• Anyone who wants a guided, non-technical way to produce ADRs

---

Quick Start (No Coding)

Option A — Guided interactive flow (recommended):

1. Install (one-time)
   • macOS: brew install pipx && pipx ensurepath
   • All platforms (Python 3.9+): pipx install adr-builder
2. In your project folder, run:
   • adr init — sets up docs/adr/ and defaults
   • adr new — guided prompts to create an ADR without editing files
3. Find your ADRs in docs/adr/

Option B — From a simple YAML file:

1. Create criteria.yaml like this:

title: Database Selection
status: Proposed
authors: ["Jane Doe"]
tags: ["data", "persistence"]
context:
  background: "We need a primary OLTP database."
  constraints:
    - "Managed service"
    - "RTO <= 15m"
  drivers:
    - "Global availability"
    - "Operational simplicity"
options:
  - name: "PostgreSQL (AWS RDS)"
    pros: ["Mature ecosystem", "Managed backups"]
    cons: ["Vertical scaling limits"]
    risks: ["Cost at high scale"]
    score: 8
  - name: "CockroachDB Serverless"
    pros: ["Horizontal scale", "Strong consistency"]
    cons: ["Learning curve"]
    risks: ["Pricing predictability"]
    score: 7
decision:
  chosen: "PostgreSQL (AWS RDS)"
  rationale: "Best balance of maturity and ops simplicity."
consequences:
  positive: ["Familiar tooling", "Reduced ops overhead"]
  negative: ["Limited horizontal scale"]
references:
  links:
    - "https://adr.github.io/madr/"

2. Generate your ADR:
   • adr generate --input criteria.yaml
3. Your ADRs are created (e.g., docs/adr/001-database-selection.md and .docx).

Option C — In Pull Requests (GitHub Action):

• Add our CI workflow, commit criteria.yaml, and the action will generate/update ADRs automatically on PRs. See “CI Integration” below.

---

Sample criteria.yml

Save this as criteria.yml (or criteria.yaml) and run adr generate --input criteria.yml:

title: Database Selection
status: Proposed
authors: ["Jane Doe"]
tags: ["data", "persistence"]
context:
  background: "We need a primary OLTP database."
  constraints:
    - "Managed service"
    - "RTO <= 15m"
  drivers:
    - "Global availability"
    - "Operational simplicity"
options:
  - name: "PostgreSQL (AWS RDS)"
    pros: ["Mature ecosystem", "Managed backups"]
    cons: ["Vertical scaling limits"]
    risks: ["Cost at high scale"]
    score: 8
  - name: "CockroachDB Serverless"
    pros: ["Horizontal scale", "Strong consistency"]
    cons: ["Learning curve"]
    risks: ["Pricing predictability"]
    score: 7
decision:
  chosen: "PostgreSQL (AWS RDS)"
  rationale: "Best balance of maturity and ops simplicity."
consequences:
  positive: ["Familiar tooling", "Reduced ops overhead"]
  negative: ["Limited horizontal scale"]
references:
  links:
    - "https://adr.github.io/madr/"

---

Installation

• Requirements: Python 3.9+ (or use Docker)
• Easiest: pipx install adr-builder
  • If you don't have pipx: brew install pipx && pipx ensurepath (macOS) or see https://pipx.pypa.io
• Verify: adr --version

Docker (no Python needed):

docker run --rm -v "$PWD":/work -w /work ghcr.io/OWNER/adr-builder:latest adr --help

---

Commands

• adr init
  • Scaffolds docs/adr/, default config, and template
• adr new
  • Interactive, step-by-step ADR creation (no editing files needed)
  • Generates both Markdown and Word outputs by default
  • Use --format md or --format docx for single format
• adr generate --input criteria.yaml
  • Creates or updates an ADR from YAML/JSON (Markdown and Word by default)
• adr generate --input criteria.yaml --format md
  • Generate only a Markdown output
• adr generate --input criteria.yaml --format docx
  • Generate only a Word document output for non-developers
• adr validate --input criteria.yaml
  • Checks structure, required fields, and statuses
  • Validates date format, option scores, URL formats, and decision consistency
  • Use --directory to specify project root for config loading
• adr list
  • Shows existing ADRs, numbers, and slugs
• adr --version
  • Shows the installed version

---

Output Format

• Default template: MADR
• Default output: Markdown and Word (both)
• File naming: NNN-slug.{md,docx} (e.g., 001-database-selection.md)
• Location: docs/adr/
• Statuses: Proposed, Accepted, Superseded, Rejected (configurable)

Example generated ADR snippet:

# Database Selection

- Status: Proposed
- Date: 2025-11-06
- Deciders: Jane Doe
- Tags: data, persistence

## Context and Problem Statement
We need a primary OLTP database.
Constraints:
- Managed service
- RTO <= 15m

Decision Drivers:
- Global availability
- Operational simplicity

---

Templates

• Ships with MADR by default
• Support for custom templates via Jinja2
• Configure defaults in .adr/adr.config.yaml

Use a custom template:

adr generate --input criteria.yaml --template path/to/template.md.j2

---

CI Integration (GitHub Action)

Add .github/workflows/adr.yml:

name: ADR
on:
  pull_request:
    paths:
      - 'criteria/*.yaml'
jobs:
  build-adr:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.9'
      - run: pipx install adr-builder
      - run: adr init
      - run: adr generate --input criteria/main.yaml
      - uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v5
        with:
          commit_message: "chore(adr): generate ADR from criteria"

---

Troubleshooting

• “Command not found: adr”
  • Ensure pipx ensurepath was run, then open a new terminal
• "Python not found"
  • Install Python 3.9+ or use Docker
• Validation errors
  • Run adr validate --input criteria.yaml to see what to fix

---

Contributing

• Issues and PRs welcome
• Install dev dependencies: pip install -e ".[dev]"
• Run tests: pytest
• Lint: ruff check adr_builder/
• Type check: mypy adr_builder/

License

MIT