Your ADRs become constraints the rest of the system can enforce.
You already have ADRs. Mneme reads the enforceable parts, turns them into rules, and uses those rules to check a proposed change. This walkthrough uses Mneme's own ADR-005—no model or external service required.
The ADR stops being a document and starts doing work.
One ADR becomes one check. This example shows the warning that check produces.
ADR-005 · Brand versus package namespace. The Python namespace is mneme. MnemeHQ is a forbidden dependency token on code-bearing surfaces.
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01 Decision
A Markdown ADR carries accepted status, foundational priority, code scope, and constraint directives.
docs/adr/ADR-005.md · FORBID_DEPENDENCY: MnemeHQ -
02 Compile
The compiler emits the active constraint into project memory.
ADR Markdown → .mneme/project_memory.jsonCurrent Mneme -
03 Check
The input uses the brand token as if it were the Python package namespace.
from MnemeHQ.memory_store import MemoryStore -
04 ResultWARN
The compiled rule fires through the normal checker and names its source ADR.
WARN [ADR-005] · trigger: mnemehq
Run it yourself
Compile Mneme's own ADRs
The repository walkthrough previews the import, writes a fresh memory file, and checks a namespace violation.
git clone https://github.com/MnemeHQ/mneme
cd mneme
pip install -e .
python examples/demo-adr-import.pyUnknown directives and unresolved equal-precedence conflicts fail closed instead of being silently omitted.
What happened
Markdown remains the source; Mneme extracts only the parts it needs to enforce.
Mneme works out which ADR wins before an agent or CI job relies on it.
The compiled decision can guide agents and block violations in the same way as the architectural-drift proof.
Common questions
Does the compiler replace Markdown ADRs?
No. ADR files remain the source. The compiler emits a structured downstream artifact for enforcement.
What happens when two ADRs conflict?
If precedence cannot be resolved deterministically, compilation stops. A human must supersede one decision, change priority, narrow scope, or otherwise remove the ambiguity.
Why does this example end in WARN?
This page proves that the compiler emits a working rule and that the rule can flag a bad input. The full deny-and-pass sequence is shown in the governed Python agent demo.
Compile the decisions you already maintain.
Keep the ADRs human-readable and make their active constraints executable.
pipx install "mneme-hq>=0.9.0"