What this article solves: Engineering teams lose the "why" behind code changes. Decision logs and ADRs (Architecture Decision Records) should preserve that context, but manual documentation fails. This guide explains how to capture decision logs automatically from GitHub, Slack, and Linear without extra writing.

Who this is for: Engineering leads, tech leads, and teams who need architecture documentation and decision logs that stay current with their codebase.

The problem with manual decision logs

Manual ADRs require someone to stop, write, and maintain. Teams pile them up or skip them entirely. Six months later, nobody remembers why the migration happened or what tradeoffs were considered.

Code changes daily. Decision logs change never. The gap widens until the knowledge is lost.

The solution: Capture decisions where they are made: in the PR, in the Slack thread, in the Linear ticket. Surface them automatically as part of your engineering documentation.

What gets captured automatically in decision logs

A generative documentation platform pulls from the artifacts your team already creates:

• PR descriptions: The approach and rationale
• Review comments: Tradeoffs and alternatives debated
• Slack threads: Where the team aligned on a direction
• Linear tickets: Rationale linked to implementation

The system connects these artifacts and generates a decision log entry. Each entry includes:

• A concise summary of the decision
• Key points and tradeoffs discussed
• Source links back to the PR, thread, or ticket

Note: Each decision log entry includes source links back to the original PR, thread, or ticket. Engineers can verify the context and dig deeper when needed.

How source-linked documentation improves decision logs

Source-linked documentation means every claim cites its origin. You can verify. You can dig deeper. You can trust it.

For architecture documentation and decision logs, source linking provides:

1. Traceability: Engineers click through to the original PR or Slack thread
2. Accuracy: No hallucination; the summary is grounded in real artifacts
3. Freshness: When the linked PR or ticket changes, the doc can update

Unlike generic AI summaries, source-linked docs give your team the evidence to judge with.

How to set up automated decision capture from GitHub

To get started with automated decision logs:

1. Connect your GitHub repository: Read-only access is enough. The system indexes PRs, descriptions, and review comments.
2. Add Slack and Linear: Link threads and tickets to complete the traceability chain. Architecture decisions often happen in Slack; Linear tickets connect them to implementation.
3. Generate documentation on demand: Trigger doc generation from a connected repo. The system pulls from PRs, threads, and tickets to build structured decision entries.
4. Use modes for context: Switch between Traditional (general) and On-call or Onboarding modes to tailor output for incident response or new hire ramp.

No code changes required. No new workflows. Connect once and let the engineering knowledge base build itself.

The outcome: decision logs that survive team transitions

When decision logs are generated from your GitHub repository, PRs, Slack, and Linear:

• Architecture documentation stays current with your codebase
• Onboarding gets faster: New engineers see the why behind the code
• Incident response improves: Runbooks and postmortems link to the decisions that shaped the system

The why survives. The context does not get lost. Your team stops searching Slack threads to remember what was decided.