Files
hq/00-META/checks/README.md
T
jschoubben 47909c6b71 The records pointed at branches that no longer exist, and two fixes had no sequel
Three issues named the branch that fixed them, and a branch is deleted
when it merges — so every `fixed-by:` was a pointer that resolved to
nothing by the time anyone followed it. They name commits and pull
requests now, and playbook 03 says to.

Two records were missing the thing a reader arrives for. 146 did not say
that one of its fixes crash-looped the control plane on a running mesh,
which is the whole reason the delivery subject carries the stream and the
raise path was the only one exercised. 151 did not say that 152 removed
the false reasons its roster moved, or that it stays open for the real
ones.

ADR 0080 enumerates what cycle.py enforces and named four things; it
enforces five. A progressive insight names the fifth — the decision
stands, the list had gone stale. The checks README and playbook 03 gained
the same rule, and 155 points at all three.
2026-09-30 00:28:35 +02:00

3.4 KiB

Checks

python3 00-META/checks/records.py      structure: links, citations, supersession, topics
python3 00-META/checks/index.py        the reading order in 02-DECISIONS/README.md is current
python3 00-META/checks/index.py --write  regenerate it

Non-zero exit on any problem, so it can be a gate rather than a report.

Why this exists. Until now nothing in this repository was verified by anything but reading, which is how a superseded decision stayed live in the constitution for days and in 01-to-be/README.md alongside it. Both were found by a person looking. how-we-build §5 says an unenforced rule is indistinguishable from a wrong one, and costs more, because people believe it — this repository was carrying several.

Every check here failed on something real before it passed. A check that has never failed is indistinguishable from one that cannot.

Check Asserts Found
links every relative link resolves — (run ad hoc during authoring; now permanent)
rests-on decisions: and extends: name records that exist and are accepted the class behind both incidents
live-citation a governing document citing a superseded record names its replacement in the same paragraph 01-to-be/README.md citing ADR 0022 as live guidance
supersession if A says it was superseded by B, B says it supersedes A ADR 0012 never declared that it superseded 0011
numbering the number in the filename is the number in the heading —
topics every record names a topic the index knows —
(index.py) the written reading order matches what the records say —
status-vs-code a to-be document naming specific code is not still designed ten documents, several with a What was built section, describing lab-proven code

What is deliberately not checked

  • 02-DECISIONS/ and 01-RESEARCH/ may cite superseded records freely. A decision record discusses history; research records what was observed. Flagging those would produce noise on correct documents, and a check that cries wolf gets suppressed — which costs more than not having it.
  • 03-DESIGN/00-as-is/ may rest on a superseded record. It describes what runs, and what runs was built under whatever was decided at the time (ADR 0006: as-is describing a superseded decision is exactly what as-is is for).
  • Whether a citation's prose is still true. Only whether the record it points at is live. A document can cite an accepted record and describe it wrongly, and nothing here notices.

So "governing" means 00-META/ and 03-DESIGN/01-to-be/ — the documents that tell somebody what to do.

Adding a check

State what incident it would have caught, and make it fail before you make it pass. A check whose failure has never been observed is a guess about its own correctness.

cycle.py

The development cycle, checked (ADR 0080): a to-be design names a decision, an in-progress/implemented design names its owning code, a located/fixed issue names its owner, a fixed/resolved issue says what fixed it, a graduated research overview says what it became, and no two issue records share a number (issue 155 — the number is how a record is cited, and main lags every open pull request, so two people reading it allocate the same one). python3 00-META/checks/cycle.py