| name | decision-log |
| description | Log high-leverage decisions from the current work session to the Arete Decision Log. Extracts architecture, UX, scope, tooling, and philosophy decisions. Invoke with /decision-log or /adl. |
| lifecycle | experimental |
Decision Log Skill
Log high-leverage decisions from the current work session.
Process
-
Scan conversation for decisions that:
- Remove options or lock architecture
- Choose between alternatives
- Set scope boundaries
- Select tooling/frameworks
- Establish principles
-
Generate ADL entry for each:
## ADL-YYYYMMDD-###
**Project:** [from context]
**Decision Class:** [ARCH|UX|SCOPE|TOOLING|PHIL]
**Decision:** [one sentence]
**Chosen Option:** [selected approach]
**Rejected Options:**
- [alternative 1]
- [alternative 2]
**Why:**
- [reason 1]
- [reason 2]
**Tradeoffs Accepted:**
- [what was given up]
**Revisit If:**
- [invalidation condition]
-
Route by Project visibility (see Routing Rule below), then append to the chosen file. Before writing, two precheck commands:
grep '^## ADL-YYYYMMDD-' <chosen-file> to find today's highest sequence for that file and increment — sequence is per-day per-file, not shared across the two logs.- Format-match check (mandatory):
grep -A1 '^## ADL-' <chosen-file> | head -6 to confirm existing entries use the same field syntax (**Project**: vs **Project:** — both are seen in the wild; match what the file already uses). If the target file has zero ADL-shaped entries, STOP and surface to user: the path may have drifted.
-
Report what was logged, including which log it landed in and why.
Routing Rule
ARETE keeps two parallel decision logs by visibility. Route each ADL by the Project field:
| Log | Path | Use for | Project examples |
|---|
| Public | ~/projects/notes/decisions/YYYY-MM.md (in public repo AreteDriver/notes) | Open-source projects, identity/philosophy decisions, engineering practice, anything publishable on Substack or discussable in interviews | arete-evals, BenchGoblins, anchormd (post-launch), tiaid, ai-skills, Portfolio / Job hunt positioning, identity decisions like "engineer not researcher" |
| Private | ~/projects/DecisionLog/DECISIONS.md (in private repo AreteDriver/DecisionLog) | Strategic build choices, product monetization positioning, pre-launch product decisions, internal tooling, anything competitively sensitive | Animus (build path), memboot (pricing/launch), WatchTower, Dossier, Argus, Gorgon, Aurora-Arcology, Crucible research, internal tools |
When the Project is unclear or ambiguous: surface the routing question to the user before writing. State the candidates and ask. Default to PRIVATE on ambiguity — easier to promote a private entry to public than to retract a public one.
Cross-check: when in doubt, look at how the same Project's recent ADLs were routed. The user's existing pattern is usually the answer.
Do NOT cross-write the same ADL to both files. Sequence numbers are per-file-per-day; writing to both creates a fake conflict where ADL-YYYYMMDD-001 means different things in different files (already happened today before this rule was codified — see ADL-20260523-001 in each file for the divergent example).
Decision Classes
| Class | Use For |
|---|
| ARCH | System design, APIs, data models |
| UX | Controls, interactions, experience |
| SCOPE | Feature cuts, MVP boundaries |
| TOOLING | Languages, frameworks, build |
| PHIL | Strategy, principles, values |
Detection Patterns
Look for:
- "chose X over Y"
- "decided to"
- "went with"
- "cut/dropped/excluded"
- Options presented then one selected
- Architecture discussions
What NOT to Log
- Reversible in minutes
- Implementation details
- Bug fixes
- Routine changes
