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adr-ref-guard

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$97 forever

Quick advisory scan of markdown files for stale references to superseded/deprecated ADRs. Lightweight check — use the adr skill for full consistency audits.

Writing & Docs

What this skill does


# ADR Reference Guard

Check markdown files for references to superseded or deprecated ADRs. Advisory only — never auto-replace.

## When to Use

This is a **manual check skill** — invoke it when you want to audit ADR references:
- Before a PR review, to catch stale ADR references
- After an ADR supersession, to find docs that reference the old ADR
- When the user asks to verify ADR references are current

This skill does NOT auto-activate on Write/Edit operations.

## Detection Patterns

Scan the content being written/edited for:
1. `ADR-NNNN` or `ADR NNNN` (any digit count)
2. Markdown links: `[...](path/to/NNNN-*.md)`
3. Phrases: "as decided in ADR", "per ADR", "see ADR", "according to ADR", "defined in ADR"

## Workflow

1. **Extract references**: Identify all ADR numbers referenced in the content
2. **Locate ADR directory**: Use Glob to find `{docs/decisions,docs/adr,adr,decisions}/[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]-*.md`
3. **Find ADR files**: For each referenced number, Glob for `NNNN-*.md` in the ADR directory
4. **Check status**: Read each referenced ADR file, parse YAML frontmatter `status` field
5. **Warn if needed**:
   - If `status` starts with `superseded by`: warn with the replacement ADR
   - If `status` is `deprecated`: warn about relevance
   - If `status` is `proposed` or `accepted`: no warning needed

## Warning Format

Present warnings after the write/edit operation completes. Include the file being edited:

```
ADR Reference Warning (in docs/setup.md):
- ADR-0003 (Use PostgreSQL) is superseded by ADR-0007 (Use SQLite).
  Consider updating the reference to ADR-0007.
- ADR-0005 (Legacy Auth) is deprecated.
  Verify this reference is still relevant.
```

## Constraints

- **Never auto-replace** references. Only inform the user.
- **Never block** the write/edit operation. Present the warning after completion.
- If multiple ADRs are referenced and some are current, only warn about the stale ones.
- If multiple stale references found, suggest running ADR consistency check for a full audit.

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