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OE-0008: Decisions
Status: Draft Version: 0.2.0-draft Depends on: OE-0007 (Verification) Phase: The Bedrock Phase
Overview
A decision is a choice made within a specific context, informed by observation and bounded by constraints, preserved as a structured record.
Definition
In Open Engineer, a decision is not merely a choice. It is a recorded, contextualized choice — one that preserves the reasoning, alternatives considered, constraints faced, and verification applied. A decision without its context is an isolated artifact. A decision with its context is a building block for future understanding.
The Context Record as Decision Output
Every decision produces an engineering context record (OE-0003). The minimum required fields of that record — Decision, Observation, Alternatives, Constraints, Reasoning, Verification, Lineage, Assumptions — constitute the structured output of the decision process.
Decisions as Engineering Context
When preserved as a context record, a decision allows future practitioners to understand not just what was done, but why — and to make better decisions as a result. This is the mechanism by which the thread is maintained.
Editorial Gate for New Additions
All additions to the standard — whether new specification content, RFCs, or reference material — must pass the editorial gate defined in reference/editorial-principles.md. That gate includes the four-question framework, the Enduring Concept test, and the Refinement Gate criteria. This document does not duplicate those rules.
Single Responsibility
This document defines the role of decisions within the standard and their relationship to context records. It does not define the editorial process for evaluating decisions (see reference/editorial-principles.md). It references it.
Applicable Laws
This document is governed by all Engineering Laws defined in laws/engineering-laws.md.