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ADR Guard

MADR 4.0 compatibility

Availability: MADR 4.0 validation is published in ADR Guard v1.3.0 and remains opt-in.

ADR Guard implements an explicit subset aligned with the official MADR 4.0.0 templates. It never guesses a format:

Terminal window
adr-guard check docs/decisions --adr-format madr-4
adr-guard index docs/decisions --adr-format madr-4

The equivalent configuration is adr-format: madr-4. An explicit CLI option takes precedence. Omitting both keeps the ADR Guard canonical format unchanged.

Required structure

Section titled “Required structure”
  • a level-one title;
  • non-empty level-two Context and Problem Statement;
  • non-empty level-two Considered Options;
  • non-empty level-two Decision Outcome;
  • the existing NNNN-lowercase-kebab-case.md filename contract.

MADR 4.0 front matter (status, date, decision-makers, consulted, informed) is optional. If status is present, it must not be empty. Optional Decision Drivers, Consequences, Confirmation, Pros and Cons of the Options, and More Information are accepted. ADR Guard does not require template guidance/placeholders, rewrite files, or migrate canonical ADRs.

Canonical and MADR records should not be mixed in one validation invocation because format selection applies to the validated set. Run separate commands for separate directories. MADR metadata is parsed as inert data; it is not a general YAML execution surface.

For a MADR supersession relationship, status: "superseded by ADR-0123" resolves the unique four-digit ID. Ordinary statuses remain MADR-defined prose; ADR Guard only interprets this explicit relationship form for graph integrity.