ADR-0150 - Act first; disposition artifacts at close

Context

Artifact-only handoff reduced repeated chat prose, and neutral placement kept working files out of repositories. Neither rule said when an artifact was warranted or what happened after its work was done. An agent could turn an instruction into a document about the instruction, then leave that document and its sidecars behind indefinitely.

Decision

1. An action request triggers action. When the user directs a change, the agent performs it. It does not create a note, decision record, plan, or other meta-artifact instead unless the user requests that document or the applicable Suspec workflow requires an artifact before execution.
2. Artifacts exist for a job. Ordinary conversation and direct action do not become Suspec artifacts. Create an artifact when the user requests it or the applicable Suspec workflow requires it as a live input; the user need not literally ask for a file. A document must never substitute for the implementation, edit, command, or decision it governs.
3. Disposition happens at lifecycle close. Track every transient artifact and sidecar created or consumed by the active work. Once no current or expected downstream step needs them, present one structured human choice covering every path: delete, leave, or promote. Group related files, but account for each one. Use the native picker when available, with a state-derived recommendation first and automatic Other; otherwise render the same numbered choices plus Other. The agent selects no option. Inaction is not Leave.
4. Timing is strict. Do not ask at creation, after every revision, or while an artifact remains a live input. If work hands off before close, carry the absolute paths forward. The final consumer owns the disposition prompt.
5. Each choice is literal. Delete removes the selected transient set and the selection is the irreversible-action confirmation. Leave keeps the files at their current neutral paths without adding state or cleanup machinery. Promote sanitizes and moves them into a human-selected, project-owned durable destination, repairs references, validates, and never pushes implicitly.
6. Handoff follows the work. When an artifact is the deliverable, chat links it without restating its contents. When the requested result is an action, chat reports the action and its evidence normally. At close, the disposition picker replaces path-only handoff; returning links alone or declaring completion before selection is not close.

Narrowed decisions

• ADR-0145: artifact-only handoff applies when an artifact is the deliverable; it never converts an action request into a document.
• ADR-0147: promotion remains explicit; selecting Promote in the close picker is that explicit request.
• ADR-0148: no automated cleanup or lifecycle state is added; explicit per-run disposition replaces indefinite accumulation as the normal close path.
• ADR-0149: every artifact-producing skill states the close behavior directly and remains complete when installed alone.

Consequences

• User instructions produce work, not unsolicited paperwork.
• Active artifacts remain available through every dependent step.
• Completed transient artifacts cannot disappear or accumulate without a human choice.
• Suspec still owns no store, registry, cleanup daemon, or lifecycle state.

Status

Accepted (2026-07-13).