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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsAn architecture decision record can accurately preserve what a team decided and why, yet stop being a sound guide for what to do next. The warning sign is usually a changed condition beneath the decision: a requirement, constraint, business need, system boundary, available option or expected consequence no longer matches reality. Review the assumptions and evidence before deciding whether to retain the choice, investigate further or supersede it.
How do you know when an ADR is out of date?
An ADR is not out of date merely because it is old. It needs attention when the context or consequences that made the decision sensible have changed, or when the team has learned enough to question its original rationale. GOV.UK recommends regular review for changes in context or consequences; Google Cloud points to evolving business needs, technical requirements and available solutions as reasons to revisit a record.
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That makes an assumption a useful review target: a claim, explicit or implicit, about the environment in which the team made its choice. For example, an ADR may depend on a particular workload, integration boundary, operational constraint or set of requirements. If one of those conditions changes, ask whether the decision still fits rather than treating the old record as automatic authority.
Microsoft Learn explains why the rationale matters: without justification, later stakeholders cannot assess whether a choice still applies as circumstances change. A decision statement alone says what the team chose; context, alternatives, trade-offs, consequences and confidence help a future team judge whether the reasoning still holds.
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What should you check when an assumption changes?
Start with the specific ADR that may be affected. Reconstruct what the record actually establishes, then compare those grounds with current evidence. Do not present missing historical detail as fact: if the original record did not capture an assumption or trade-off, mark it as unknown and validate it.
- Requirements: Are the functional or non-functional needs different from those recorded?
- Business context: Have priorities or the workload’s purpose changed?
- Constraints and boundaries: Are the system’s dependencies, interfaces or operating conditions different?
- Available solutions: Has a previously unavailable option become viable, or has the selected option become unsuitable?
- Consequences and reversibility: Do the costs, risks, operational effects or difficulty of reversing the choice still match the record?
When multiple options are viable, compare them against the decision drivers in the ADR, not a universal scorecard. The relevant criteria depend on the workload and its requirements, constraints and trade-offs. Google Cloud’s ADR outline, for example, includes context, functional and non-functional requirements, options, and the decision with its reasons.
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Should you edit an old ADR or write a new one?
Distinguish a review of the record from a change to the accepted decision. Teams can maintain status and review context, but rewriting the accepted decision’s historical rationale can obscure what was decided at the time. Microsoft describes ADRs as an append-only log; AWS, Martin Fowler and BC PIES likewise support preserving the history and recording a changed decision in a linked superseding ADR.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match| Review finding | What to do |
|---|---|
| The original assumptions remain supported | Retain the decision. Record the review or maintenance update if your team’s process calls for it. |
| Evidence is incomplete | State what needs validation and who will follow up; do not claim the original rationale is still sound until it has been checked. |
| The decision should change | Create a new ADR with the current context, options, rationale and consequences. Mark the earlier record superseded and explain why it no longer holds. |
GOV.UK says to regularly “review and update” an ADR to reflect changed context or consequences. That can be reconciled with append-only guidance by updating review or status information while keeping the accepted decision’s historical content intact. When the decision itself changes, preserve that history in a new record rather than silently rewriting it.
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How to review and supersede an ADR
- Read the original record. Identify its context, requirements, constraints, options, rationale, trade-offs, consequences and confidence. Note anything the record does not establish.
- Connect the trigger to the decision. Name the changed requirement, business need, constraint, available solution or consequence, and explain how it affects this ADR. Avoid launching a broad architecture review without a concrete reason.
- Choose retain, investigate or supersede. Keep the decision if its grounds still hold; validate unresolved evidence if they do not; write a replacement record if the choice changes.
- Preserve the link between records. Mark the earlier ADR superseded, link the records forward and backward where possible, and briefly explain what changed and why the old choice no longer holds.
- Make the record usable. Assign responsibility for changes and keep ADRs somewhere the team can find them, such as a versioned repository or an accessible wiki. Place or link them near relevant workload documentation or code when that helps readers.
Keep assumptions reviewable from the start
When writing an ADR, separate facts from expectations. State the context and rationale, identify important assumptions plainly, and capture what evidence supports them. If a particular change would call the decision into question, name it as a reevaluation trigger. Recording confidence can also help later readers distinguish a well-supported choice from one made with significant uncertainty. These practices make it easier to revisit a decision without pretending that the future was predictable.
Give the record a status, date and an owner or clear responsibility for maintaining its history. GOV.UK recommends including title, date, status, context, decision, consequences, consulted stakeholders and links to supporting material. AWS guidance also emphasizes ownership of changes and a changelog noting when a change occurred and who made it. The exact format can vary; the aim is for later teams to find the record and understand its reasoning.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the guidance does—and does not—establish
Practitioner guidance from Microsoft Learn, AWS, Google Cloud, GOV.UK, BC PIES and Martin Fowler supports keeping context and rationale, revisiting decisions as conditions change, and preserving history when a decision is superseded. These are recommended practices, not evidence that every ADR inevitably becomes obsolete or that a particular review cadence produces measured savings. The useful test is specific: do the conditions and consequences supporting this decision still apply?
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