Comprehensive collection of templates for solutions design, architecture decisions, API documentation, runbooks, code reviews, and incident postmortems to standardize engineering practices across teams.
Be concise but comprehensive: Include enough detail for someone unfamiliar with the request to understand the solution without unnecessary verbosity.
Use visuals: Include architecture diagrams, sequence diagrams, or data flow diagrams where they clarify the design.
Focus on decisions: Explain the "why" behind technical choices, not just the "what."
Tailor as needed: Adapt these templates to your organization's standards and processes.
Link Related Docs: Cross-reference related ADRs, runbooks, and design documents.
Involve Teams: Make documentation a collaborative process; get input from the team who lives with these systems daily.
Plan for change: Use version control for your documentation and track significant revisions.
Keep it maintainable: Use consistent formatting and structure across all design documents.
Maintain Consistency: Use these templates consistently across your organization for familiarity and ease of use.
Make Searchable: Store documentation where it's discoverable—wiki, internal docs site, knowledge base.
Keep Current: Set review dates and assign owners to keep documentation fresh.
Review Cadence: Architecture and operational guides should be reviewed quarterly; incident postmortems immediately after incidents; technology radar quarterly.