Dev
Architecture Decision Record Generator
Used by developers, writers, and creators worldwide.
An architecture decision record generator produces an ADR — the lightweight document teams use to capture an important architectural decision and the reasoning behind it. Enter the decision and it returns the standard ADR template: status, context, the decision itself, its consequences both good and bad, and the alternatives you considered. Engineers use ADRs to record why a choice was made, so future teammates understand the reasoning instead of guessing, and to force a clear-eyed look at trade-offs before committing. The value of an ADR is the context and consequences, not just the decision — months later, "why did we pick this?" is answered by a document rather than tribal memory. Everything generates instantly in your browser. Fill the placeholders with the real forces, trade-offs, and rejected options, then commit the ADR alongside your code. A short, honest record now saves hours of archaeology and second-guessing later.
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How to use
- Choose your options above
- Click Generate
- Copy your result
Detailed instructions
- Enter the architecture decision.
- Click Generate to produce the ADR template.
- Fill in the context, consequences, and alternatives.
- Commit the ADR alongside your code.
Use Cases
- •Documenting an important architecture decision
- •Recording why a technology or pattern was chosen
- •Forcing a clear look at trade-offs before committing
- •Preserving reasoning for future teammates
- •Standardising how a team records decisions
Tips
- →Record the why and the trade-offs, not just the decision.
- →List the alternatives you rejected and why.
- →Keep ADRs short — one decision per record.
- →Store them in the repo so reasoning lives with the code.
FAQ
what is an ADR
An Architecture Decision Record is a short document capturing one significant decision: its context, the choice made, the consequences, and the alternatives considered. Teams keep ADRs in the repo so the reasoning lives alongside the code.
why record the consequences and alternatives
The decision alone is rarely the useful part — the context, trade-offs, and rejected options explain why it made sense. That reasoning is what future teammates need when they ask whether to revisit the choice.
when should i write an ADR
For decisions that are hard to reverse or affect many parts of the system — choosing a database, an architecture pattern, or a major dependency. Routine choices do not need one; consequential ones do.