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ADR-0001 — Documentation tooling and structure

Date: 2026-09-01 · Status: accepted

Context

The project starts with no mandated documentation tool. We need complete documentation, with diagrams and screenshots, that can be handed over to colleagues and exported to PDF.

Decision

MkDocs + Material theme, Markdown content, structured according to arc42, complemented by step-by-step guides and ADRs. Diagrams as inline Mermaid. PDF export via the print-site plugin.

Rejected alternatives

Alternative Why rejected
AsciiDoc + Antora + PlantUML More powerful but heavier to install and maintain; Markdown is more widely shared
Astro Starlight Depends on Node.js; oriented towards websites rather than architecture documentation
Corporate wiki (Confluence, etc.) None is mandated today; the Markdown will migrate easily if a tool is chosen later
draw.io diagrams / images Binary or manual export, not diffable; Mermaid is versioned text

Consequences

  • Documentation versioned with the code, reviewed by diff.
  • A single tool to install (pip install -r requirements.txt).
  • Mermaid diagrams are limited to the supported types (flowchart, sequence, class, state, ER, gantt) — sufficient for arc42.
  • Migration to another tool remains possible without rewriting the content.