cc-os/plugins/os-adr/skills/find/SKILL.md

---
description: Retrieve the architecture decision records relevant to files, components, or a topic being worked on — callable at any point mid-task, not just at session start. Use unprompted WHEN you are about to make an architecture-level choice or change/replace an approach that already exists in the codebase (a persistence choice, a protocol, a library, a convention, an error-handling strategy) — a prior decision may already cover it. Invoked by `/os-adr:find`.
---

Find the ADRs relevant to what is being worked on. Retrieval is deterministic-first: run the
CLI, then apply judgment ONLY to the candidates it returns — never read/rank the full ADR
corpus yourself.

## 1. Run the deterministic CLI

```bash
ruby ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/bin/adr-find --root <project-root> \
  --paths <comma-separated file/dir paths being edited> \
  --components <comma-separated component names>   # optional
```

The CLI layers: frontmatter path/component matching → Accepted-only status filter →
one-hop Graphify graph expansion of the query paths (automatic when `graphify-out/graph.json`
exists; silently skipped otherwise). Add `--all-statuses` only when history matters (e.g.
"why was X superseded?").

## 2. Judge the candidate set

Read the returned candidate files (they are few) and decide which actually bear on the task.
`matched_on` tells you why each surfaced (`path`, `graph`, `component`). Prefer direct path
matches; treat `graph` matches as "nearby decisions worth a look".

## 3. Act on what you find

- If an Accepted ADR covers the approach the in-progress change is altering or replacing, you
  are **reversing a recorded decision** — and a reversal is itself a decision that must be
  recorded, not just implemented. Surface the specific ADR (ID + title + the constraint), and
  make the recording offer **explicit and direct** in your reply — state plainly "this reverses
  ADR-NNNN; I'll record a superseding ADR via `/os-adr:create`" (or create it outright). Do not
  bury the ADR as a parenthetical inside an option list; every path you offer that changes the
  decided behavior must carry the explicit superseding-ADR step.
- If a candidate merely informs the work, cite it and continue.
- If the CLI returns nothing, say so — do not fall back to sweeping `docs/adr/` unless the user
  asks; an empty result usually means no decision governs those paths (or `affected-paths`
  frontmatter is missing on older ADRs — worth mentioning once).