PromptDev
Draft an Architecture Decision Record
A prompt for drafting an Architecture Decision Record with real consequences listed, not just the upside of the choice made.
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Your prompt
Draft an Architecture Decision Record for this decision: use PostgreSQL instead of MongoDB for the new orders service.
Options that were considered: PostgreSQL — relational, strong consistency
MongoDB — already used elsewhere, flexible schema
DynamoDB — managed, but new to the team.
Write it in standard ADR format: Context (the forces and constraints that made this decision necessary), Decision (what was chosen, stated as one clear sentence), and Consequences (both the benefits AND the costs or risks this decision accepts — never write a consequences section that is all upside). For each rejected option, give the one-line reason it lost. If the context given doesn't actually explain why this decision is being made now, ask rather than inventing a plausible-sounding business justification.
Model-agnostic — works in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or any AI chat.
Why this prompt works
- →Requiring costs alongside benefits in Consequences is the entire point of an ADR — a record that only lists upside reads as marketing copy and helps nobody revisit the decision later.
- →Asking for the one-line reason each rejected option lost preserves what future readers actually need: not just what was chosen, but what was ruled out and why, so it isn't re-litigated.
- →The prompt for missing context stops the model from backfilling a business rationale that sounds reasonable but wasn't the real reason, which would make the record historically inaccurate.