Architecture Decision Records
First-class ADR support with four industry formats (Nygard, Structurizr, MADR, Y-Statement), six lifecycle statuses, options analysis, cross-linking to diagrams and other decisions, markdown export, and full-text search.
Architecture Decision Records capture the reasoning behind significant architectural choices. Unlike meeting notes or email threads, ADRs are structured documents with a defined lifecycle that makes them searchable, linkable, and auditable. In NeoArc, ADRs are first-class citizens: they have their own file format, a dedicated editor, a searchable index, and they participate in the Intent Graph as nodes that can justify design decisions and be referenced by other artefacts.
Four Industry-Standard Formats
NeoArc supports four ADR formats, each with its own structure and section visibility. You choose the format when creating an ADR, and the editor adapts to show only the relevant sections.
Section Visibility by Format
Each format controls which editor sections are visible. This keeps the editor focused on what matters for that format rather than showing empty fields.
ADR Lifecycle
Every ADR has a status that tracks its progression through the decision-making process. Status changes are part of the audit trail, visible in git history.
Options Analysis (MADR)
The MADR format includes structured options comparison. Each considered option has a name, description, and lists of pros and cons. One option is marked as selected, corresponding to the decision outcome. This creates a clear record of what alternatives were evaluated and why the chosen approach was preferred.
This is particularly valuable during audits or when revisiting decisions later. Instead of asking "why did we choose this approach?", the answer is already documented alongside the alternatives that were rejected.
Cross-Linking
ADRs do not exist in isolation. Each ADR can link to:
Intent Graph Integration
In the Intent Graph, each ADR is registered as an adr node. Two edge types connect ADRs to the rest of the architecture:
Search and Discovery
The ADR home screen provides two ways to find decisions. The index view lists all ADRs with their ID, title, status, type, tags, and last modified date. The search view uses full-text content search (powered by ripgrep) across all ADR files, with results deduplicated to one entry per file. Keyboard navigation (arrow keys, Enter to open) makes browsing fast without a mouse.
Markdown Export
Every ADR can be exported to Markdown using Handlebars templates specific to each format. This supports teams that need to include ADRs in external documentation systems, pull request descriptions, or wiki pages. The export preserves all sections, options, and metadata in a clean, readable format.
Audit Metadata
Each ADR records who created it, who last modified it, creation and modification timestamps, and a version number. Combined with git history (which tracks every change at the file level), this provides a complete audit trail of how the decision evolved from draft to its current status.