Decision Log — Data Sovereignty

Mirror Mirror Data Sovereignty Course — Template

Purpose: Record every significant decision so future-you understands why things are the way they are. This is the single most underrated tool in any data system. Without it, you'll spend hours reverse-engineering decisions you made six months ago.

Rule: If you debated it for more than 5 minutes, log it. If it affects access, money, tools, or architecture, log it.

How to Use This Log

Add new entries at the top (newest first)
Fill in every column — "Rationale" is the most important field
Review during your weekly ritual (see weekly-review-ritual.md)
Reference decisions by date when explaining choices to others

Decision Categories

Code	Category	Examples
TOOL	Tool selection/change	"Switched from Cloudflare Pages to static builders"
ACCESS	Access grant/revoke	"Added Sarah as Gallery Editor"
ARCH	Architecture change	"Consolidated 3 tap handlers to 1"
COST	Financial decision	"Cancelled Zapier — moved to n8n"
POLICY	Process/policy change	"Require 2FA for all Operational tier"
DATA	Data structure change	"Added Venus Degree field to Leads table"
BRAND	Brand/positioning	"Softened equipment claims on GroveHouse"

Log

Date	Category	Decision	Rationale	Alternatives Considered	Owner
YYYY-MM-DD	TOOL	[What was decided]	[Why — be specific]	[What else was considered]	[Who decided]

Example Entries

Date	Category	Decision	Rationale	Alternatives Considered	Owner
2026-01-31	ARCH	Consolidated RoseCard tap handlers from 3 to 1	Reduced operational complexity. Tap Handler serves HTML profiles (best UX). Others were JSON-only stubs.	Keep all 3 (rejected: path conflicts, maintenance burden)	Brady
2026-01-31	TOOL	Replaced SMTP emailSend with MailerSend HTTP	SMTP credential not reliably configured. MailerSend API is already working for Venus pipeline.	Fix SMTP credential (rejected: MailerSend already proven)	Brady
2026-01-30	ARCH	Migrated from Cloudflare Pages to static builders + Cloudflare Pages	Full control over HTML. No Cloudflare Pages rate limits. Git-trackable. Faster deploys.	Stay on Cloudflare Pages (rejected: rate limiting, limited control)	Brady

Quarterly Review Questions

Every 90 days, scan this log and ask:

Are any decisions overdue for revisiting? Tools change. Needs evolve.
Do any decisions contradict each other? Look for conflicting policies.
What patterns emerge? If you keep making the same type of decision, you might need a policy instead of case-by-case choices.
What decisions had unexpected consequences? Document the follow-up.

Decisions without documentation become mysteries. Mysteries become technical debt.