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To understand why a codebase is built the way it is, read more than the source: look for the decisions, constraints, rejected alternatives, and incident lessons that explain how it got here. Code and tests show what a system does; linked rationale records can preserve why a team chose that design—and help you follow those reasons without mistaking a relationship for proof of causation.
What the code does—and what it cannot tell you
Source code is usually the clearest record of current behavior. Tests can show which behavior the project expects, while changelogs and user documentation help explain what changed and how a feature is used. But none of these necessarily records why one design was chosen over another, what constraint shaped it, or why an awkward-looking workaround remains.
Google Engineering Practices puts the distinction plainly: “mostly comments are for information that the code itself can’t possibly contain, like the reasoning behind a decision.” Its guidance distinguishes this rationale from documentation explaining what a class, module, or function does and how to use it. Google Engineering Practices: What to look for in a code review
When that context is missing, a maintainer may see an unusual implementation and “clean it up” without knowing it compensates for an operational limit or avoids a previously encountered failure. The gap is not always a lack of documentation about how the system works; it is often a lack of durable evidence about the choices behind it.
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Keep rationale close to the code
One repository-native approach is to record rationale in Markdown files alongside the project. Because the records live in the repository, Git can version them and changes to them can be reviewed with the implementation. This makes the rationale available where contributors already work, rather than leaving it only in a meeting, chat, or someone’s memory.
Keep the Why describes records that capture a decision or behavior, alternatives, the reason for the choice, type, status, evidence level, source, and a trigger for revisiting it. Those fields make a note more useful than a bare assertion: they give later readers a way to see what was considered, how well-supported the explanation is, whether it still applies, and what might justify reconsidering it. Keep the Why project materials
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A practical rationale record
A useful entry can be short, but it should separate what is known from what is inferred. For example, a team could record that a workaround exists, link the incident or operational constraint that prompted it, note the alternative that was rejected, and identify what change would make the workaround safe to revisit. If the original reason is uncertain, say so rather than turning a plausible explanation into a fact.
- Decision or behavior: what was selected or what constraint the code currently accommodates.
- Alternatives: viable options considered, including the reason they were not chosen if known.
- Reason and evidence: the rationale, its supporting source, and whether it is confirmed or inferred.
- Status and revisit trigger: whether the choice remains current and what condition should prompt a review.
Follow the web of decisions, not just a file tree
Linked entries let a reader move from one piece of context to another. A trail might run from an incident to a newly recognized constraint, then to an architecture decision, a workaround, and eventually a replacement. Rather than reading isolated notes, a maintainer can follow how the project’s understanding and implementation changed over time.
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Keep the Why presents these connections as a web readers can walk, including links that may cross repository boundaries. A “See” link indicates a relationship; it does not by itself establish formal causality. Treat the chain as a route through related records, not as proof that one event caused another. Keep the Why
What a rationale graph can—and cannot—establish
A graph makes links easier to navigate, but it cannot determine whether the linked explanations are true. A structural linter may check for required fields or malformed records; it cannot verify that a decision happened for the reason written down. Human review remains necessary, especially when entries describe old incidents, inferred motives, or constraints that may have changed.
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The graph is also limited by the material it has loaded. Keep the Why describes a dashboard without a global index of every repository that might link to an entry. As a result, its view can show only the repositories and references available to it; a missing edge is not evidence that no relationship exists elsewhere.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Use rationale records without freezing old decisions
Rationale should make change safer, not turn past choices into permanent rules. When a decision is superseded, update its status and link the replacement where appropriate. Preserve the earlier reasoning as historical context, while making clear which assumptions still hold and which no longer apply.
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- Keep notes near the implementation they explain, and revise them as the code or operating conditions change.
- Distinguish documented facts from inference, and include a source or evidence level when available.
- Link related decisions and incidents carefully; describe the relationship without implying causation unless the evidence supports it.
- Review the rationale as well as the code. A complete-looking record is not necessarily an accurate one.
Repository-native Markdown is one practical way to preserve decisions, rejected options, workarounds, and lessons in version control. The key is not the graph itself, but the quality of the records: clear evidence, visible uncertainty, useful links, and a status that reflects whether the reasoning still applies.
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