ADR-0049: Meterless's Scout Intent plans each review before a model runs
Status: accepted · Date: 2026-10-24
Superseded in part by ADR-0053: point 5, "the benefit is measured, or the engine is not kept", no longer keeps the engine off; it is on by default.
Decided by: the owner · Written by: the advisor (claude-code, claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-24
Follows: ADR-0012 and ADR-0014 (review classes), ADR-0018 (Meterless engines)
Trigger: the owner, 24 October: "which fourth one are we missing? … we must say clearly that we do not do art for art's sake, only what is really worth using in our scenario."
Why we use it, and only here
Every review today runs the same agents whatever the change is. A version bump in go.mod does not need a test-writing Prover;
a change to the login code needs more than a documentation fix does. Meterless's Scout Intent reads raw input, detects its
intent and risk, and routes it before any model runs. That is the review plan Proven lacks.
Decision
- Before the agents run, Scout Intent classifies the change: dependency change, refactor, feature, security-sensitive code, documentation only, configuration; with the signals that led there and any ambiguity.
- The classification chooses the plan, inside the review classes of ADR-0014: which agents, tools (ADR-0040) and sources (ADR-0046) run, and whether the review is doubled. A dependency-only change runs the dependency evidence without the Prover; a security-sensitive change is doubled; a documentation-only change runs no model.
- It never lowers a configured rule: a class set by the organisation's policy (ADR-0036) stays the minimum.
- Built in Go to Meterless's specification and checked with its eval harness, published as it is.
- The benefit is measured, or the engine is not kept: model calls and time per review with and without the plan, and no finding lost on the corpus.
Consequences
- Cheaper, faster reviews for simple changes; more attention where the risk is.
- With ADR-0048, all four Meterless engines are used, each where it earns its place.