> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://alike.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Decisions

> Record why you chose an approach, so that later sessions and teammates get the reason.

A decision is a choice that you made, with the reason. Alike gives recorded decisions to later agent sessions that work on the same code. This prevents a new session from undoing a choice that it does not know about.

## Record a decision

Ask your agent when you decide something:

> Record a decision in Alike: we store timestamps in UTC. We rejected local time because of daylight-saving bugs. It applies to `src/db/` and `src/api/time.ts`.

A good decision has:

* **A title**: the choice, in a few words.
* **An outcome**: what you will do.
* **A rationale**: why you chose it, and why you did not choose the alternatives.
* **Code anchors**: the repository, branch, pull request, issue, or file paths that the decision applies to.

Your agent can also record a decision without a request, when it sees that you chose between options. It records only your own work.

## How later sessions get the decision

* When a session starts on the same work item, the brief lists the decisions for that work.
* When an agent is about to use a file in the decision's paths, Alike adds a short note. This works in Claude Code, Codex CLI, and Factory droid.
* Any agent can search decisions: "What did we decide about retries?"

## Decision status

| Status | Meaning |
| - | - |
| `proposed` | Suggested, not yet agreed |
| `made` | Agreed. This is the default |
| `implemented` | Done in the code |
| `revisited` | Under review again |
| `superseded` | Replaced by a newer decision. Alike stops giving it to agents |
| `rejected` | Not chosen. Alike still shows it, marked as rejected, so that agents do not suggest it again |

A decision can also be **one-time** (for one situation) or **standing** (a rule for all future work).

To replace a decision, ask your agent to record the new decision and mark the old one as superseded.

## Record a rejected alternative

Put the rejected alternatives in the rationale. If an alternative is important, record it as its own decision with the status `rejected`. Then agents that think of that option find the reason it was rejected.

## Decisions that Alike finds

Alike also finds decisions in your sessions. These start as not confirmed, and agents see them without the `(confirmed)` mark. If Alike found a wrong decision, ask your agent to dismiss it with the reason "incorrect".

## Who sees decisions

With the default High Sharing preset, everyone in your workspace sees your decisions. See [Who sees what](https://alike.help/privacy/who-sees-what.md).


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