Core Concepts
Understanding Align's data model helps you get the most out of the platform.
Decisions
A Decision is any choice made by your team that affects your product, architecture, process, or organization. Examples:
- "We'll use GraphQL for the public API"
- "QA sign-off for release 2.4.1"
- "Approved: increase Redis cluster to 6 nodes"
- "Postponing dark mode to Q3"
Decisions aren't just architecture choices—they include approvals, sign-offs, trade-offs, and prioritization calls.
Decision Snapshots
A Decision Snapshot is Align's structured record of a decision. It contains:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | AI-generated summary of the decision |
| Description | Full context and rationale |
| Decision Type | Architecture, Approval, Trade-off, etc. |
| Status | Active, Superseded, Reverted |
| Participants | People involved in making the decision |
| Evidence | Links to source conversations, tickets, PRs |
| Tags | Categorization for search and filtering |
| Created At | When the decision was captured |
Evidence
Evidence links a Decision Snapshot to its source material:
- Slack/Teams messages — The conversation where the decision was made
- Jira tickets — Related issues or epics
- GitHub PRs — Implementation or ADR documents
- Linear issues — Related tasks
- Documents — Confluence pages, Google Docs, etc.
Evidence provides the audit trail—you can always trace back to the original conversation.
Capture Methods
Real-time Capture
Mention @align in Slack or Teams when a decision is made:
@align We decided to migrate to Kubernetes for better
scaling. The trade-off is increased operational complexity.
Discover (Historical Import)
Use Discover to scan your existing tools for past decisions:
- Connect a source (Jira, GitHub, etc.)
- Align's AI scans for decision-like content
- Review and confirm suggested decisions
- Import them as Decision Snapshots
Manual Entry
Create decisions directly in the Align UI when needed.
Organizations & Tenants
Align uses Organizations (also called tenants) to isolate data:
- Each org has its own decisions, users, and integrations
- Users can belong to multiple organizations
- Data is never shared between organizations
User Roles
| Role | Permissions |
|---|---|
| Admin | Full access, manage integrations, invite users |
| Member | Create and edit decisions, view all decisions |
| Viewer | Read-only access to decisions |
Decision Lifecycle
┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌────────────┐
│ Captured │ ──▶ │ Active │ ──▶ │ Superseded │
└──────────┘ └──────────┘ └────────────┘
│
▼
┌──────────┐
│ Reverted │
└──────────┘
- Active — Current and in effect
- Superseded — Replaced by a newer decision
- Reverted — Decision was rolled back
Search & Discovery
Find decisions using:
- Full-text search — Search across titles, descriptions, and evidence
- Filters — By type, status, date range, participants, tags
- Related decisions — AI-suggested related decisions
- Timeline view — See decisions over time