git-adr 0.1.3

Architecture Decision Records management for git repositories using git notes

git-adr

Architecture Decision Records (ADR) management for git repositories using git notes.

Overview

git-adr is a command-line tool that integrates Architecture Decision Record management directly into your git workflow. Unlike file-based ADR tools, git-adr stores ADRs in git notes, making them:

• Non-intrusive: No files cluttering your repository
• Portable: Travel with your git history
• Linkable: Associate decisions with specific commits
• Searchable: Full-text search across all decisions
• Syncable: Push/pull ADRs like regular git content

Installation

Homebrew (macOS)

The recommended installation method for macOS:

brew tap zircote/git-adr
brew install git-adr

This automatically installs shell completions and keeps git-adr updated with brew upgrade.

pip / uv

pip install git-adr

Or with uv:

uv tool install git-adr

With Optional Features

# AI-powered features (drafting, suggestions, Q&A)
pip install "git-adr[ai]"

# Wiki synchronization (GitHub/GitLab)
pip install "git-adr[wiki]"

# Document export (DOCX format)
pip install "git-adr[export]"

# All features
pip install "git-adr[all]"

Shell Completion

Enable tab completion for your shell:

# Automatic installation (detects your shell)
git-adr --install-completion

# Or manually for specific shells
git-adr --show-completion bash >> ~/.bashrc
git-adr --show-completion zsh >> ~/.zshrc
git-adr --show-completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/git-adr.fish

Man Pages

Man pages are included in GitHub releases. Download and install:

# Download from release (replace VERSION)
curl -L https://github.com/zircote/git-adr/releases/download/vVERSION/git-adr-man-pages-VERSION.tar.gz | \
  sudo tar -xzf - -C /usr/local/share/man/

# Then use
man git-adr
man git-adr-new

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/zircote/git-adr.git
cd git-adr
make install-man  # Requires pandoc

Quick Start

# Initialize ADR tracking in your repository
git adr init

# Create a new ADR (opens editor)
git adr new "Use PostgreSQL for primary database"

# List all ADRs
git adr list

# Show a specific ADR
git adr show 20240115-use-postgresql

# Search ADRs
git adr search "database"

# Sync with remote
git adr sync push

Commands

Core Commands

Command	Description
git adr init	Initialize ADR tracking in repository
git adr new <title>	Create a new ADR
git adr list	List all ADRs with filtering options
git adr show <id>	Display an ADR with formatting
git adr edit <id>	Edit an existing ADR
git adr search <query>	Full-text search across ADRs
git adr link <adr-id> <commit>	Associate an ADR with commits
git adr supersede <old-id> <title>	Create ADR that supersedes another
git adr log	Show git log with ADR annotations

Artifact Management

Command	Description
git adr attach <adr-id> <file>	Attach diagram/image to an ADR
git adr artifacts <adr-id>	List artifacts attached to an ADR
git adr artifact-get <sha256>	Extract an artifact to a file
git adr artifact-rm <adr-id> <sha256>	Remove an artifact

Analytics & Reporting

Command	Description
git adr stats	Quick ADR statistics summary
git adr report	Generate detailed analytics report
git adr metrics	Export metrics for dashboards (JSON/Prometheus)

Export & Import

Command	Description
git adr export	Export ADRs to files (markdown, json, html, docx)
git adr import	Import ADRs from file-based storage
git adr convert <id>	Convert an ADR to different format

Synchronization

Command	Description
git adr sync push	Push ADR notes to remote
git adr sync pull	Pull ADR notes from remote

Configuration

Command	Description
git adr config --list	List all configuration
git adr config <key> <value>	Set configuration value
git adr config --get <key>	Get configuration value

Team Features

Command	Description
git adr onboard	Interactive onboarding wizard for new team members

AI Features

Requires pip install "git-adr[ai]"

Configure your AI provider:

# Set provider (openai, anthropic, google, ollama)
git adr config adr.ai.provider openai

# Set API key (environment variable)
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key"
# or
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key"
export GOOGLE_API_KEY="your-key"

AI Commands

Command	Description
git adr ai draft	AI-guided ADR creation with interactive elicitation
git adr ai suggest <id>	Get AI suggestions to improve an ADR
git adr ai summarize	Generate natural language summary of decisions
git adr ai ask "<question>"	Ask questions about ADRs in natural language

Examples

# AI-assisted drafting
git adr ai draft "Choose a message queue"

# Get improvement suggestions
git adr ai suggest 20240115-use-postgresql

# Summarize recent decisions
git adr ai summarize --format slack

# Ask questions
git adr ai ask "Why did we choose PostgreSQL?"

Wiki Synchronization

Requires pip install "git-adr[wiki]"

Sync ADRs with GitHub or GitLab wikis:

# Initialize wiki sync
git adr wiki init --provider github --repo owner/repo

# Sync ADRs to wiki
git adr wiki sync

Configuration Options

Configuration is stored in git config (local or global):

Key	Description	Default
adr.namespace	Notes namespace	adr
adr.template	Default template format	madr
adr.editor	Editor command override	$EDITOR
adr.ai.provider	AI provider (openai, anthropic, google, ollama)	-
adr.ai.model	AI model name	Provider default
adr.ai.temperature	AI temperature (0.0-1.0)	0.7

Examples

# Set local config
git adr config adr.template madr

# Set global config
git adr config --global adr.editor "code --wait"

# List all config
git adr config --list

ADR Format (MADR)

ADRs follow the MADR format:

---
id: 20240115-use-postgresql
title: Use PostgreSQL for primary database
date: 2024-01-15
status: accepted
tags: [database, infrastructure]
---

## Context and Problem Statement

We need to choose a database for our application...

## Decision Drivers

* Performance requirements
* Team expertise
* Operational complexity

## Considered Options

* PostgreSQL
* MySQL
* MongoDB

## Decision Outcome

Chosen option: "PostgreSQL", because...

### Consequences

#### Good
- ACID compliance
- Rich feature set

#### Bad
- Requires more operational expertise

Git Notes Architecture

git-adr uses git notes to store ADRs, which provides:

• No file pollution: ADRs live in git's notes refs, not in your working tree
• Full git integration: Push, pull, merge like regular git content
• Commit association: Link decisions to the commits that implement them
• History preservation: ADR history is preserved in git

Notes are stored under:

• refs/notes/adr - ADR content
• refs/notes/adr-index - Search index
• refs/notes/adr-artifacts - Binary attachments

Development

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/zircote/git-adr.git
cd git-adr

# Install dependencies with uv
uv sync --all-extras

# Run tests
uv run pytest

# Run with coverage
uv run pytest --cov=src/git_adr --cov-report=term-missing

Code Quality

# Format code
uv run ruff format .

# Lint and fix
uv run ruff check . --fix

# Type check
uv run mypy src

# Security scan
uv run bandit -r src/

# Dependency audit
uv run pip-audit

Project Structure

src/git_adr/
├── __init__.py          # Package exports
├── cli.py               # Main CLI entry point
├── core/                # Core functionality
│   ├── adr.py           # ADR data models
│   ├── config.py        # Configuration management
│   ├── git.py           # Git operations wrapper
│   ├── notes.py         # Git notes management
│   ├── index.py         # Search index
│   └── templates.py     # ADR templates
├── commands/            # CLI command implementations
│   ├── basic.py         # Core commands (new, list, show, etc.)
│   ├── ai_cmds.py       # AI-powered commands
│   ├── wiki.py          # Wiki sync commands
│   └── export.py        # Export/import commands
├── ai/                  # AI service integration
│   └── service.py       # LLM provider abstraction
├── wiki/                # Wiki providers
│   └── service.py       # GitHub/GitLab wiki sync
└── formats/             # Format converters
    └── docx.py          # DOCX export

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Make your changes
4. Run tests and linting (uv run pytest && uv run ruff check .)
5. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
6. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
7. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

• MADR - Markdown ADR format
• ADR Tools - Original ADR tooling inspiration