ADR-003 — Context Scope May Exceed Mutation Scope
Runs can read the system context they need while keeping their write boundary narrow.
Status
Accepted
Context
Understanding a change may require related repositories, but editing them all creates unnecessary coupling.
Decision
Support Read Many / Write One as a first-class pattern. A Run must declare or otherwise make its mutation scope explicit. The workspace-root driver may select context repositories from the manifest, but ws run creates a writable worktree only for the selected mutation repository; context repositories are materialized read-only for that Run.
Alternatives considered
Clone and edit the entire system or limit every Run to one repository’s local context.
Consequences
Agents can reason across boundaries while Candidates remain reviewable. The control repository’s AGENTS.md and .agents/skills/ can teach the driver the map without widening a Run’s write scope.
Trade-offs
Read context can drift, and multi-repository changes still need multiple Candidates.