Create ADRs for Functional Requirements (CLI and/or REST API)

Guide stakeholders through a structured conversation to uncover and document technical decisions and functional requirements for command-line tools, REST/HTTP APIs, or combined surfaces. This is an interactive SKILL. The ADR is the documentation of that conversation, not the conversation itself. Infer CLI vs API from project context when possible; ask a short clarifying question when unclear.

What is covered in this Skill?

• Surface discovery: CLI, REST/HTTP API, or both (inference + confirmation)
• Initial context: purpose, users/consumers, constraints, timeline, load (API when relevant)
• Functional requirements: surface-specific workflows, I/O, resources, errors
• Technical decisions: language/framework; REST blocks (API design, auth, data, infra, testing/monitoring) and/or CLI blocks (architecture, data/integration, testing/distribution)
• Decision synthesis and validation before ADR creation
• ADR document generation and next steps

Constraints

Use conversational discovery—ask 1-2 questions at a time, build on answers, validate before proceeding. Only create ADR after thorough conversation and user confirmation.

• MANDATORY: Run date before starting to get accurate timestamps for the ADR
• MUST: Read the reference template fresh—do not use cached questions
• MUST: Ask one or two questions at a time; never all at once
• MUST: Validate summary with user (Does this accurately capture your requirements?) before proposing ADR creation
• MUST: Wait for user to confirm proceed before generating the ADR

When to use this skill

• Create ADR for functional requirements
• Document functional requirements
• Capture functional requirements
• Generate functional requirements in an ADR

Workflow

0. Get current date

Run date before discovery and use it for ADR timestamps.

1. Read reference and discover surface scope

Read references/031-architecture-adr-functional-requirements.md, infer CLI/API scope from project context, and ask a short clarifying question if unclear.

2. Run conversational discovery

Ask one or two questions at a time to capture context, functional requirements, and technical decisions for CLI, REST API, or both.

Step constraints:

• Never ask all discovery questions at once
• Validate summary with user before proposing ADR generation

3. Generate ADR after explicit confirmation

Only after user confirms proceed, generate the ADR document and provide concise next steps.

Reference

For detailed guidance, examples, and constraints, see references/031-architecture-adr-functional-requirements.md.