Codify ADR successor-risk and challenge classification

Context

The operator surfaced a workflow gap while reviewing #11730 closeout and the #11731 / ADR 0014 discussion path: ADRs are accepted decision snapshots, not immutable law. Later V-B-A evidence, high-blast Discussions, or better repo reality can legitimately challenge an accepted ADR. Older tickets created before a later ADR are trickier: they may be superseded by the ADR rather than valid backlog work.

Existing substrate already covers adjacent pieces:

• #10758 added the general age-aware successor-risk audit to ticket-intake.
• #11370 / ADR 0005 added Decision Record plumbing for Ideation Sandbox graduations.
• learn/agentos/decisions/0005-adr-at-graduation-for-ideation-sandbox.md makes ADRs the authority target when a graduation produced one.

This ticket adds the missing ADR-specific classifier so agents do not misread accepted ADRs as hard blockers, or old tickets as still-valid merely because they remain open.

Existing-Enforcement Sufficiency Audit

Current enforcement is close but incomplete. successor-risk-audit.md handles age and missing close-links, but not ADR chronology. ADR 0005 handles Discussion-origin Decision Record requirements, but not later ADR challenges or pre-ADR tickets superseded by accepted ADRs. Adding one focused reference payload plus map pointers is sufficient; a new top-level skill or AGENTS.md rule would be broader than the friction.

Contract Ledger Matrix

The Problem

Current workflow text can catch stale tickets and Discussion-origin ADR requirements, but it does not explicitly classify the chronological relationship between a ticket/Discussion/PR and an accepted ADR:

• A pre-ADR ticket may now be superseded-by-adr and should not be implemented as written.
• A post-ADR proposal may be a valid adr-challenge if it brings fresh evidence and routes the decision change explicitly.
• A PR can conflict with an accepted ADR and still be legitimate if the same lane updates, amends, or supersedes the ADR before merge.
• Epic review and epic closeout need the same distinction: ADRs can close old premises, but later high-blast evidence can also reopen or reshape an ADR.

Architectural Reality

• ticket-intake is the natural home for the detailed audit because it fires before agents accept existing work as executable.
• ticket-create, ideation-sandbox, epic-review, epic-resolution, pr-review, and pull-request should get one-line map pointers where the lifecycle needs the same distinction.
• AGENTS.md should not absorb the classifier unless a repeated failure proves it needs a turn-loaded trigger. The detailed mechanics belong in skill payloads per Progressive Disclosure and turn-memory pre-flight discipline.
• ADR 0005 remains authoritative for Discussion graduation / Decision Record requirements; this ticket layers ADR chronology and challenge handling on top.

The Fix

Add an ADR Successor-Risk / Challenge Audit reference payload and wire it into the workflow maps that create, intake, review, or close architecture-bearing work.

Expected classifier vocabulary:

• no-adr-impact
• adr-aligned
• superseded-by-adr
• adr-challenge
• adr-amendment-required
• adr-authority-pending

The classifier must distinguish accepted ADRs as current authority from immutable blockers: the right response to new evidence is explicit amendment / supersession, not bypass.

Acceptance Criteria

• ticket-intake references an ADR-specific successor-risk audit before accepting architecture/substrate tickets as valid-as-written.
• The audit records artifact chronology against related ADR status/date and distinguishes pre-ADR supersession from post-ADR challenge.
• The audit defines the classifier vocabulary and the evidence required for each verdict.
• ticket-create prompts architecture/substrate tickets to declare Decision Record impact when they create, depend on, amend, supersede, or challenge an ADR.
• ideation-sandbox routes high-blast proposals that conflict with accepted ADRs through explicit keep/amend/supersede/retire decision handling.
• epic-review and epic-resolution check later ADRs before declaring work still open, complete, or superseded.
• pr-review and/or pull-request include a one-line audit that PRs conflicting with accepted ADRs must include the ADR amendment/supersession path or name the merge-order dependency.
• AGENTS.md remains unchanged unless the implementation discovers a concrete need for a turn-loaded pointer; if touched, it is one-line only.
• The implementation preserves Map-vs-Atlas shape: detailed mechanics in a reference payload; maps only point to it.

Out of Scope

• Rewriting existing ADR content.
• Closing old tickets or epics as part of this patch.
• Adding a new top-level skill.
• Mechanical CI enforcement for ADR challenge compliance.
• Treating ADRs as immutable blockers.

Avoided Traps

• Do not duplicate the full classifier into every workflow map.
• Do not reopen #10758; this is a narrower ADR-specific companion, not the generic age-aware audit.
• Do not reopen #11370; this extends Decision Record handling after ADR 0005, not the original ADR-at-graduation implementation.
• Do not add always-loaded AGENTS.md bloat for a lifecycle-specific classifier.
• Do not classify old tickets as invalid by age alone; require ADR conflict evidence.

Related

• #10758
• #11370
• ADR 0005
• ADR 0014 discussion around #11731 / #11740
• Epic #11730 closeout residual-gate review

Handoff Retrieval Hint: ADR successor risk challenge classifier ticket-intake Decision Record impact superseded by ADR amend supersede retire