decision-eval

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from review. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: decision-eval
description: Spawns the decision-scorer agent after architect proposes 2+ variants in an ADR. Produces a weighted scoring table and recommended choice saved to docs/decisions/.
when_to_use: |
  Apply when:
  - architect has written an ADR with 2+ alternatives under ## Alternatives Considered or ## Options
  - architect is about to finalize a multi-variant decision and needs an objective tie-breaker
  - CTO explicitly requests scoring before gate:arch approval
  Do NOT apply when:
  - The change is a bug fix, docs-only, or style/formatting update
  - The ADR has only 1 option (no real alternatives)
  - User says "skip scoring" or "no scoring"
  - project_size is nano (overhead exceeds value)
effort: medium
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Bash, Agent
paths:
  - "docs/decisions/**"
  - "docs/architecture/**"
  - ".great_cto/PROJECT.md"
---

# Decision Eval — automated scoring for architectural alternatives

Invoke after architect proposes 2+ variants, before creating gate:arch.

## When to invoke

Invoke this skill when ALL of these are true:

1. An ADR (`docs/decisions/ADR-*.md`) or ARCH doc (`docs/architecture/ARCH-*.md`)
   contains a section with 2 or more named alternatives (look for
   `## Alternatives Considered`, `## Options`, or bold-prefixed options like
   `**Option A:**`)
2. The architect has not yet created `gate:arch`
3. The user has not said "skip scoring", "no scoring", or "skip decision-eval"
4. `project_size` in PROJECT.md is NOT `nano`

Skip silently (do not even mention) if any condition fails.

## How to invoke

Read the most recent ADR or ARCH doc to confirm 2+ variants exist, then spawn
the `decision-scorer` agent with the file path as context:

```bash
# Identify target document
TARGET=$(ls -t docs/decisions/ADR-*.md 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -z "$TARGET" ] && TARGET=$(ls -t docs/architecture/ARCH-*.md 2>/dev/null | head -1)

# Confirm 2+ variants
VARIANT_COUNT=$(grep -cE "^\*\*[A-Za-z]|^### [A-Za-z]|^- \*\*[A-Za-z]" "$TARGET" 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
```

If `VARIANT_COUNT >= 2`, dispatch the agent:

```
Agent: decision-scorer
Context: <TARGET file path>
Task: Score the architectural variants in <TARGET> against .great_cto/PROJECT.md criteria.
      Save output to docs/decisions/.
```

## Output location

The decision-scorer agent saves results to:
```
docs/decisions/DECISION-<slug>-<YYYYMMDD>.md
```

After the agent completes, read the output file and surface the recommendation
to the architect:

```
Decision scoring complete:
  Recommended: <variant name> (<score>/5.00)
  Runner-up:   <variant name> (<score>/5.00)
  Full report: docs/decisions/DECISION-<slug>-<YYYYMMDD>.md

Architect: review the scoring rationale before accepting or overriding the recommendation.
```

## Skip conditions

Output nothing and proceed to the next step if:
- `project_size: nano` in PROJECT.md
- Fewer than 2 variants found in the ADR/ARCH doc
- User message contains "skip scoring" or "skip decision-eval" or "no scoring"
- The target document is a bug-fix or docs-only ADR (check title for "fix:", "docs:", "chore:")

## Integration with architect workflow

This skill sits between Step 4 (Write ADR) and Step 5 (Create gate:arch) in
`agents/architect.md`. Architect invokes it by name:

```
Invoke skill: decision-eval
```

After scoring completes, architect may:
- Accept the recommendation → proceed to gate:arch with the recommended option
- Override the recommendation → document rationale in the ADR under a new
  `## Scoring Override` section before creating gate:arch