Purpose: Doc scaffolding:
project_log+ ADR templates with guides. Copy to:docs/· Use when: adopting documentation discipline in a repo.
Copy-ready scaffolding for two documentation habits that scale well on solo and small-team projects:
- A session log (
project_log.md) — a running record of design/build sessions. - Decision records (
decision-records/NNNN-*.md) — ADRs for architectural commitments.
Both follow one principle: the repo presents current state only. Living state is overwritten in place; history is append-only; superseded material is archived outside the repo rather than left behind with "deprecated" banners.
| File | Copy to | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
project_log.md |
docs/project_log.md |
the four-zone session log template |
decision-records/0000-template.md |
docs/decision-records/ (rename to NNNN-name.md) |
one ADR |
decision-records/README.md |
docs/decision-records/README.md |
ADR conventions |
claude-rules/project-log.md |
.claude/rules/project-log.md (optional) |
keeps the log discipline from drifting |
mkdir -p docs/decision-recordsin the target repo.- Copy
project_log.mdand thedecision-records/files over. - Replace every
<placeholder>and delete the<!-- guidance -->comments as you fill each section. - (Optional) If the repo uses Claude Code, copy
claude-rules/project-log.mdto.claude/rules/so the end-of-session update discipline is written down where the assistant will see it.
Treating the whole log as append-only. That buries the "current state" pointer
and lets it go stale. The log deliberately mixes living zones (overwrite each
session) with an append-only history zone — keep them separate. See the comments
inside project_log.md.