Reference rules are monotonic

Context

A document names other documents in depends, updates, obsoletes and includes, and lint checks what it names. Under ADR-0001 the naming document may be frozen. If a rule could be satisfied when the document froze and violated later because the named document changed status, a frozen document would start failing lint through no edit of its own, with no permitted way to stop it.

Decision

Every reference rule is monotonic: a reference that is valid stays valid. includes, updates and obsoletes may name only accepted documents, and accepted is a terminal status, so what they name never changes status again. No document can be put in violation by another author's later action.

Alternatives

No alternatives were weighed.

Consequences

Easier:

• A frozen document that passed lint when it froze passes lint for as long as the repository lives.
• Lint output for a repository changes only when a document in it changes.

Harder:

• A reference to a document that is not yet accepted cannot be made through updates, obsoletes or includes. A design that builds on a proposed document names it in depends instead.

Constrained:

• Any rule added later that checks one document against another will have to hold once satisfied, or it breaks the property for every frozen document at once.

Sources

• docs/DECISIONS.md at 9654fe2d, section Linting, states the property and the reasoning. This sets created and decided.
• PROCESS.md at 9654fe2, section Relationships, states that updates and obsoletes may reference only accepted documents, and that a spec page may only include accepted documents.
• The decision was taken in a design session before that commit, not publicly available, and first written down on 2026-09-13. The date it was taken is not recalled.