/dld-lookup — Look Up Decisions

You are looking up decision records. This skill is used in two ways:

1. Proactively by you (the AI agent) — whenever you encounter @decision(DL-XXX) annotations in code you're reading or about to modify, look up the decision to understand the rationale before proceeding. This is not optional.
2. On request by the developer — to query decisions by ID, tag, code path, or keyword.

Prerequisites

Check that dld.config.yaml exists at the repo root. If not, tell the user to run /dld-init first and stop.

Read dld.config.yaml to understand the project structure (flat vs namespaced, decisions directory). The decisions directory path can be resolved by reading the decisions_dir field from dld.config.yaml. Decision records (DL-*.md) live in the records/ subdirectory under the decisions directory.

Query modes

Parse the user's input to determine the query type:

By ID: /dld-lookup DL-047

Find and read the decision file DL-047.md. Search the records subdirectory (decisions/records/, including namespace subdirectories) for the file.

Display the full decision record.

By tag: /dld-lookup tag:payment-gateway

Scan all decision files and find those with the matching tag in their YAML frontmatter tags field.

Display a summary table, then offer to show full details for any specific decision:

Found 3 decisions tagged `payment-gateway`:

| ID | Title | Status |
|----|-------|--------|
| DL-045 | Payment gateway retry strategy | accepted |
| DL-046 | Idempotency key format | proposed |
| DL-047 | Gateway timeout handling | proposed |

Would you like to see the full details for any of these?

By code path: /dld-lookup path:src/billing/vat.ts

Scan all decision files and find those with a matching path in their references field. Match both exact paths and partial paths (e.g., vat.ts should match src/billing/vat.ts).

Display results the same way as tag lookup.

By keyword: /dld-lookup <search terms>

If the input doesn't match the DL-NNN, tag:, or path: patterns, treat it as a keyword search. Search across:

• Decision titles
• Decision body content (Context, Decision, Rationale, Consequences sections)
• Tags

Display results the same way as tag lookup.

Proactive usage (encountering @decision annotations)

When you encounter @decision(DL-XXX) in code — whether you are reading, modifying, or reviewing it — you MUST look up the referenced decision before proceeding. This applies to all interactions with annotated code, not just when explicitly asked.

After reading the decision:

1. Understand the rationale behind the annotated code
2. Assess whether your planned changes are compatible with the decision
3. If they conflict — stop and inform the user. Explain the conflict and suggest recording a new decision via /dld-decide that supersedes the existing one. Do not silently modify code in a way that contradicts an active decision.
4. If they're compatible — proceed with the modification

This is the core DLD feedback loop — @decision annotations are mechanical triggers that ensure design rationale is consulted before code is changed.