# Decision memo format

Use when the artifact must record a choice, rejected options, and the consequences people are accepting.

## Great instance

- States the decision in one sentence before the supporting detail.
- Compares real options in a table with criteria that matter.
- Names consequences, owners, and revisit triggers.
- Makes dissent easy to anchor to a specific option or criterion.

## Cut

- Fake options included only to make the winner look obvious.
- Long chronology unless it changes the decision.
- Unowned follow-ups.

## Skeleton

```markdown
# Decision: <choice>

## Context
<what forced the decision now>

## Options
| Option | Upside | Cost | Risk | Owner view |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| <option> | <benefit> | <cost> | <risk> | <stance> |

## Decision
<chosen option and why>

## Consequences
- <accepted tradeoff, owner, revisit trigger>
```

## Section prompts

- Keep to context, options, decision, and consequences unless the user asks otherwise.
- Put pushback targets in table cells.
- Say what would make the decision wrong later.
- Write consequences as commitments, not vibes.

## Renderer moves

Catalog: ../building-artifacts.md#what-each-file-type-becomes - md doc reader sections; table cell anchors.