consult

Consult Existing Decisions

Before planning or implementing changes, check whether existing decisions are relevant. This prevents accidentally contradicting past choices.

Steps

1. Search by topic: Run kauri_query with --text "$ARGUMENTS" and --scope both to find decisions across project and user scopes. If the argument is a file path, also search with --file to find decisions associated with that file.

2. Broaden if needed: If the text search returns nothing, try searching by related tags (use kauri_taxonomy_list to see available tags, then kauri_query with --tags).

3. Read the full body: For every decision that looks relevant, call kauri_show <id> to read the complete rationale — not just the title.

4. Report what you found: Before proceeding with the plan, tell the user:

   • Which decisions are relevant and what they say
   • Whether the proposed work is consistent with those decisions
   • Whether any decisions conflict with the proposed approach
   • Whether any decisions should be superseded by the new work

5. Proceed accordingly:

   • Consistent: Continue with the plan, noting which decisions support it.
   • Conflicts: Ask the user whether to (a) adjust the plan to respect the decision, or (b) supersede the decision with kauri_record --supersedes.
   • No relevant decisions found: Proceed normally, and consider whether the new work itself warrants a new decision record.

When to use this

• Before any architectural or design planning
• Before changing conventions, APIs, or boundaries
• Before modifying files that appear in the session-start decision index
• When the user says "let's add", "let's change", "let's refactor", or "how should we"
• When you're unsure whether a past decision covers the current topic