Product Decision Records (PDRs)
Product Decision Records (PDRs)
Section titled “Product Decision Records (PDRs)”PDRs answer “what do we choose to build / NOT build, and why?” (product / business).
They are the product-side complement to ADRs (../decisions/), which answer
“how do we build it?” (technical / architecture).
| ADR | PDR | |
|---|---|---|
| Question | How do we build it? | What do we build / not build? |
| Authority | Tech lead | Product owner |
| Lives in | docs/decisions/ | docs/product-decisions/ |
| Example | ”Ship Native AOT to protect IP" | "No SAML for the SMB tier” |
Why PDRs exist
Section titled “Why PDRs exist”Without a PDR, a decision like “we don’t do SAML for SMB” gets re-litigated every time a customer asks or a new dev suggests it. With a PDR, the answer is a link. This matters most once a team forms: it stops the same debate from happening 20 times.
How to write one
Section titled “How to write one”- Copy
../templates/T10-pdr.md. - Number sequentially:
PDR-0001,PDR-0002, … - Status:
proposed→accepted→ (deprecated|superseded). - Append-only: never delete a PDR; supersede it with a newer one and link both ways.
| PDR | Title | Status |
|---|---|---|
| PDR-0001 | Open-core split — public MIT SDK, private commercial Pro | accepted |
Candidate decisions to capture (need product-owner confirmation)
Section titled “Candidate decisions to capture (need product-owner confirmation)”These came up during the 2026-06-21 workflow audit as likely product decisions, but they have not been explicitly ratified. Confirm with the product owner before writing each as an accepted PDR — do not assume:
- Cloud/SaaS timing (self-host first vs hosted offering, and when).
- Target segment scope (SMB vs mid-market vs enterprise) and what that excludes (e.g. SAML, on-prem HA).
- Channel/feature prioritization that is deliberately out of the near-term roadmap.