# ADR 0006: Relationships

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|---|---|
| **Status** | Accepted |
| **Date** | 2026-01-20 |

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## Context

What holds things together?

## Decision

**Connections matter. Interfaces are relationships.**

A system isn't just its parts—it's how the parts relate. The connections between components are as real as the components themselves. Often more important.

An interface isn't just a technical contract. It's a relationship. It says: "I promise to behave this way. You can depend on me." When that promise is kept, trust grows. When it's broken, everything downstream feels it.

## What This Means

- **APIs are promises.** Treat them with the weight promises deserve.
- **Dependencies are relationships.** You're trusting someone else's work.
- **Collaborators are people.** The code has authors who care.

We don't just build components. We tend relationships.

## Consequences

- 💙 tracks relationships between documents, not just documents
- 💙 surfaces connections when they matter
- 💙 treats breaking changes as broken promises (they need care)

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*"The spaces between things are things too."*

— Blue

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🧁