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Agent skill

Architecture Decision Records

by spencerpauly in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills

Document technical decisions as Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) with context, options considered, and rationale.

CC0-1.0Auto-check passedDevelopment

Install Architecture Decision Records

skills CLI
$ npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill architecture-decision-records -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills architecture-decision-records --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/resources/architecture-decision-records .claude/skills/architecture-decision-records && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
architecture-decision-records
GitHub stars
844
Token cost
~698 tokens
SKILL.md length
188 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
60
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
CC0-1.0

At a glance

Document technical decisions as Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) with context, options considered, and rationale.

  • Works in 6 steps: Identify the decision being made → Research the options (at least 2-3… → Write the ADR using the template → …
  • Tasks that involve Architecture decision records
  • SKILL.md covers When to Write an ADR, Template, Workflow and File Naming, plus 1 more section
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Architecture Decision Records is an agent skill from spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills. Document technical decisions as Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) with context, options considered, and rationale.

Its SKILL.md is about 700 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development, covering Architecture decision records. The repository describes itself as: A curated list of awesome skills for Cursor. The licence is CC0-1.0.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Architecture decision records

Example prompts

  • “/architecture-decision-records”

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Identify the decision being made
  2. Research the options (at least 2-3 alternatives)
  3. Write the ADR using the template
  4. Review with the team (PR or discussion)
  5. Merge as accepted
  6. Reference from code comments when relevant: // See ADR-001

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 99cd265. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Architecture Decision Records loads about 698 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 37 tokens; SKILL.md has 188 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~37
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~698

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills at commit 99cd265, republished under its CC0-1.0 licence (© spencerpauly). 188 words, ~698 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/architecture-decision-records/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
architecture-decision-records
description
Document technical decisions as Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) with context, options considered, and rationale.
user-invocable
true

Architecture Decision Records

Document significant technical decisions so future you (and your team) understands why choices were made.

When to Write an ADR

Write one when you're making a decision that:

  • Is hard to reverse later
  • Affects multiple parts of the system
  • Involves tradeoffs between valid options
  • Will be questioned by someone in 6 months

Examples: choosing a database, adopting a framework, changing auth strategy, restructuring the API, adding a build tool.

Template

Create files in docs/decisions/ (or adr/) with sequential numbering:

markdown
# ADR-001: Use PostgreSQL for primary database

## Status

Accepted | Proposed | Deprecated | Superseded by ADR-XXX

## Date

2026-04-10

## Context

What is the problem or situation that requires a decision?
Include constraints, requirements, and forces at play.

## Options Considered

### Option A: PostgreSQL
- Pros: ACID compliance, JSON support, mature ecosystem, free
- Cons: Requires managing connections, vertical scaling limits

### Option B: MongoDB
- Pros: Flexible schema, horizontal scaling
- Cons: No transactions across collections, eventual consistency issues

### Option C: PlanetScale (MySQL)
- Pros: Serverless, branching, managed
- Cons: Vendor lock-in, no foreign keys in their branching model

## Decision

We chose **PostgreSQL** because:
1. Our data is relational — users, teams, projects with clear relationships
2. We need ACID transactions for billing operations
3. JSON columns give us schema flexibility where needed
4. Prisma/Drizzle have excellent Postgres support

## Consequences

- We need to manage connection pooling (use PgBouncer or Prisma's built-in pool)
- Migrations must be backwards-compatible for zero-downtime deploys
- We accept vertical scaling limits and will shard later if needed

Workflow

  1. Identify the decision being made
  2. Research the options (at least 2-3 alternatives)
  3. Write the ADR using the template
  4. Review with the team (PR or discussion)
  5. Merge as accepted
  6. Reference from code comments when relevant: // See ADR-001

File Naming

docs/decisions/
├── 001-use-postgresql.md
├── 002-adopt-trpc-over-rest.md
├── 003-switch-to-pnpm.md
└── template.md

Tips

  • Keep ADRs short — 1-2 pages max
  • Write them in the present tense ("We choose X" not "We chose X")
  • It's OK to write an ADR after the fact if you forgot to write one during the decision
  • Superseded ADRs should link to their replacement, not be deleted
  • ADRs are not design docs — they capture the decision, not the full design

© spencerpauly, CC0-1.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in resources/architecture-decision-records of spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 99cd265

Compare with similar skills

Architecture Decision Records next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Architecture Decision Records compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Architecture Decision Records this skillspencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills844—~698Automated safety check: PassCC0-1.0
PR Design DocOpenHands/OpenHands91k—~2.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Cto AdvisorIbrahim-3d/orchestrator-supaconductor3814 repos~2.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Domain Modelingbrim-borium/spotify_sdk1667 repos~806Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Architecture DecisionDonchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios26k—~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Improve Codebase Architectureywwynm/EverythingDone14415 repos~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassGPL-3.0

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Categories

Questions about Architecture Decision Records

What does Architecture Decision Records do?

Document technical decisions as Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) with context, options considered, and rationale. Architecture Decision Records is an agent skill from spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills. Document technical decisions as Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) with context, options considered, and rationale.

When should I use Architecture Decision Records?

Architecture Decision Records fits situations like: tasks that involve Architecture decision records.

How do I install Architecture Decision Records in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill architecture-decision-records -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (resources/architecture-decision-records in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills) into .claude/skills/architecture-decision-records in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Architecture Decision Records in Codex?

Run `npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill architecture-decision-records -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (resources/architecture-decision-records in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills) into .agents/skills/architecture-decision-records in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Architecture Decision Records in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill architecture-decision-records -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/architecture-decision-records, .gemini/skills/architecture-decision-records, .github/skills/architecture-decision-records and .opencode/skills/architecture-decision-records in your project.

What does Architecture Decision Records need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Architecture Decision Records is instructions for the agent only.

Does Architecture Decision Records access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Architecture Decision Records safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Architecture Decision Records use?

Architecture Decision Records is published under the CC0-1.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Architecture Decision Records use?

About 698 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Architecture Decision Records?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Architecture Decision Records: PR Design Doc (OpenHands/OpenHands, 91k stars), Cto Advisor (Ibrahim-3d/orchestrator-supaconductor, 381 stars), Domain Modeling (brim-borium/spotify_sdk, 166 stars) and Architecture Decision (Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios, 26k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Architecture Decision Records?

spencerpauly (a GitHub user) maintains it in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills, which has 844 GitHub stars. The repository holds 60 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 2, 2026.

Source: spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.