Where Do Decisions Live? Data Model Analysis

Output

Where Do Decisions Live?Key Insight
Decisions have multiple access patterns - that's the clue to where they belong.
Access Patterns
1. "What decisions in this flow?"
   Need: Filter by flowId
   Speed: Fast (flow context)

2. "All architecture decisions across flows"
   Need: Filter by type, cross-flow
   Speed: Fast (doc generation)

3. "Decisions I might want to pivot"
   Need: Filter by madeBy=claude, status=made
   Speed: Fast (review workflow)

4. "What decision led to this code?"
   Need: Lookup by affectedFile
   Speed: Fast (traceability)

5. "All decisions from today's work"
   Need: Filter by date range
   Speed: Moderate (reporting)

Three OptionsOption A: Embedded in Flows Only
gvFlow {
  decisions: gvDecision[]  // Embedded array
}
✓ Simple, co-located
✗ Cross-flow queries slow (scan all flows)
✗ Can't index by type/file efficiently
Option B: Top-Level gvDecisions (Recommended)
gvDecision {           // Own JSONL file
  flowId: string       // FK to flow
  turnId: string       // FK to turn
}

gvFlow {
  decisionIds: string[] // References only
}
✓ Fast cross-flow queries
✓ Index by type, file, date
✓ Scales independently
△ Extra join for flow context
Option C: Hybrid (Denormalized)
gvDecision {           // Own JSONL (source of truth)
  flowId, turnId, ...
}

gvFlow {
  decisions: gvDecisionSummary[]  // Denormalized
}                       // id, title, type, status only
✓ Best of both worlds
✓ Fast flow-scoped reads
✓ Fast cross-flow queries
△ Must keep in sync
Recommended: Option B (Top-Level)
Storage:
  /data/gvflows.jsonl      // Flows
  /data/gvturns.jsonl      // Turns (née kontasks)
  /data/gvdecisions.jsonl  // Decisions

Relationships:
  gvDecision.flowId  → gvFlow.id
  gvDecision.turnId  → gvTurn.id
  gvFlow.id          ← gvDecision[] (via query)

MCP Tool Design
// Record decision during turn
gvHub_record_decision({
  flowId: "flow-123",
  title: "Use JSONL for storage",
  type: "architecture",
  chosen: "JSONL append-only files",
  alternatives: ["SQLite", "PostgreSQL"],
  rationale: "Consistent with existing patterns",
  impact: "medium"
})

// Query decisions (fast, indexed)
gvHub_list_decisions({
  flowId?: string,       // Filter by flow
  type?: string,         // Filter by type
  madeBy?: string,       // claude | human
  status?: string,       // made | reviewed | pivoted
  since?: Date           // Date filter
})

// Get flow with decisions in one call
gvHub_get_flow({
  flowId: "flow-123",
  includeDecisions: true  // Joins automatically
})

The Full Object Graph
gvFlow                    Top-level work container
   │
   ├── gvSession[]        Claude process instances
   │      └── gvTurn[]    Prompt/response pairs
   │
   └── gvDecision[]       Key choices (own storage)
          └── turnId      Links back to turn

Storage files:
  gvflows.jsonl      ── gvFlow
  gvsessions.jsonl   ── gvSession
  gvturns.jsonl      ── gvTurn (was kontasks.jsonl)
  gvdecisions.jsonl  ── gvDecision

Why Not in Turns?You identified the problem exactly:
If decisions only live in turns:
  • Must read all turns to find decisions
  • MCP tool: slow (scan kontasks.jsonl)
  • API: slow (parse HTML output?)
  • Cross-flow: very slow (scan all flows, all turns)

With top-level gvDecisions:
  • Direct lookup by flowId: O(n) on decisions
  • Index by type: instant
  • Cross-flow by date: instant
  • Turn still has decisionIds for context
Decision Summary
gvDecisions should be top-level objects stored in their own JSONL file, with foreign keys to flows and turns.

This gives you:
Fast queries across all flows
Indexable by type, maker, status, date
Independent scaling (decisions grow faster than flows)
Clean separation for doc generation

Quick Actions

Original Request

No layout configured

Details

Type General

Status Completed

Scope vibetools

Tags gvshellgvhubdecisionsdata-modelarchitecture

Created 9 Jan 2026, 1:17 pm

Updated 9 Jan 2026, 1:17 pm

Timing

⏱️ 63.6s

0 tools

● TTFE 0% ● Thinking 100% ● Tools 0%

Created By claude

Raw Data

{
  "id": "2d6e2f7b-c7e2-457c-a303-84db80eaf189",
  "type": "general",
  "status": "completed",
  "title": "Where Do Decisions Live? Data Model Analysis",
  "description": "Analyzing whether decisions should be top-level objects or embedded in flows",
  "context": {
    "output": "<div style=\"background:#1e1e1e;color:#e0e0e0;padding:20px;border-radius:8px;font-family:'Consolas','Monaco',monospace;\">\n<h2 style=\"font-family:sans-serif;color:#fff;margin:0 0 20px 0;\">Where Do Decisions Live?</h2>\n\n<div style=\"background:#2d2d2d;padding:16px;border-radius:6px;margin-bottom:20px;border-left:4px solid #61afef;\">\n<p style=\"margin:0;color:#61afef;font-weight:bold;\">Key Insight</p>\n<p style=\"margin:8px 0 0 0;color:#e0e0e0;\">Decisions have multiple access patterns - that's the clue to where they belong.</p>\n</div>\n\n<h3 style=\"font-family:sans-serif;color:#fff;margin:0 0 12px 0;\">Access Patterns</h3>\n\n<div style=\"background:#2d2d2d;padding:16px;border-radius:6px;margin-bottom:16px;\">\n<pre style=\"margin:0;line-height:1.8;color:#e0e0e0;font-size:13px;\">\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">1.</span> <span style=\"color:#c678dd;\">\"What decisions in this flow?\"</span>\n   Need: Filter by flowId\n   Speed: Fast (flow context)\n\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">2.</span> <span style=\"color:#61afef;\">\"All architecture decisions across flows\"</span>\n   Need: Filter by type, cross-flow\n   Speed: Fast (doc generation)\n\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">3.</span> <span style=\"color:#e5c07b;\">\"Decisions I might want to pivot\"</span>\n   Need: Filter by madeBy=claude, status=made\n   Speed: Fast (review workflow)\n\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">4.</span> <span style=\"color:#22c55e;\">\"What decision led to this code?\"</span>\n   Need: Lookup by affectedFile\n   Speed: Fast (traceability)\n\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">5.</span> <span style=\"color:#f43f5e;\">\"All decisions from today's work\"</span>\n   Need: Filter by date range\n   Speed: Moderate (reporting)\n</pre>\n</div>\n\n<h3 style=\"font-family:sans-serif;color:#fff;margin:0 0 12px 0;\">Three Options</h3>\n\n<div style=\"display:grid;gap:16px;margin-bottom:20px;\">\n\n<!-- Option A -->\n<div style=\"background:#2d2d2d;padding:16px;border-radius:6px;border-left:4px solid #f43f5e;\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 12px 0;color:#f43f5e;font-weight:bold;\">Option A: Embedded in Flows Only</p>\n<pre style=\"margin:0;line-height:1.6;color:#e0e0e0;font-size:12px;background:#1e1e1e;padding:12px;border-radius:4px;\">\n<span style=\"color:#c678dd;\">gvFlow</span> {\n  decisions: <span style=\"color:#e5c07b;\">gvDecision</span>[]  <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Embedded array</span>\n}\n</pre>\n<p style=\"margin:12px 0 0 0;color:#22c55e;\">✓ Simple, co-located</p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0 0 0;color:#f43f5e;\">✗ Cross-flow queries slow (scan all flows)</p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0 0 0;color:#f43f5e;\">✗ Can't index by type/file efficiently</p>\n</div>\n\n<!-- Option B -->\n<div style=\"background:#2d2d2d;padding:16px;border-radius:6px;border-left:4px solid #22c55e;\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 12px 0;color:#22c55e;font-weight:bold;\">Option B: Top-Level gvDecisions (Recommended)</p>\n<pre style=\"margin:0;line-height:1.6;color:#e0e0e0;font-size:12px;background:#1e1e1e;padding:12px;border-radius:4px;\">\n<span style=\"color:#c678dd;\">gvDecision</span> {           <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Own JSONL file</span>\n  flowId: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">string</span>       <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// FK to flow</span>\n  turnId: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">string</span>       <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// FK to turn</span>\n}\n\n<span style=\"color:#c678dd;\">gvFlow</span> {\n  decisionIds: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">string</span>[] <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// References only</span>\n}\n</pre>\n<p style=\"margin:12px 0 0 0;color:#22c55e;\">✓ Fast cross-flow queries</p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0 0 0;color:#22c55e;\">✓ Index by type, file, date</p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0 0 0;color:#22c55e;\">✓ Scales independently</p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0 0 0;color:#e5c07b;\">△ Extra join for flow context</p>\n</div>\n\n<!-- Option C -->\n<div style=\"background:#2d2d2d;padding:16px;border-radius:6px;border-left:4px solid #e5c07b;\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 12px 0;color:#e5c07b;font-weight:bold;\">Option C: Hybrid (Denormalized)</p>\n<pre style=\"margin:0;line-height:1.6;color:#e0e0e0;font-size:12px;background:#1e1e1e;padding:12px;border-radius:4px;\">\n<span style=\"color:#c678dd;\">gvDecision</span> {           <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Own JSONL (source of truth)</span>\n  flowId, turnId, ...\n}\n\n<span style=\"color:#c678dd;\">gvFlow</span> {\n  decisions: <span style=\"color:#e5c07b;\">gvDecisionSummary</span>[]  <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Denormalized</span>\n}                       <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// id, title, type, status only</span>\n</pre>\n<p style=\"margin:12px 0 0 0;color:#22c55e;\">✓ Best of both worlds</p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0 0 0;color:#22c55e;\">✓ Fast flow-scoped reads</p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0 0 0;color:#22c55e;\">✓ Fast cross-flow queries</p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0 0 0;color:#e5c07b;\">△ Must keep in sync</p>\n</div>\n\n</div>\n\n<h3 style=\"font-family:sans-serif;color:#fff;margin:0 0 12px 0;\">Recommended: Option B (Top-Level)</h3>\n\n<div style=\"background:#2d2d2d;padding:16px;border-radius:6px;margin-bottom:16px;\">\n<pre style=\"margin:0;line-height:1.8;color:#e0e0e0;font-size:13px;\">\n<span style=\"color:#c678dd;\">Storage:</span>\n  /data/gvflows.jsonl      <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Flows</span>\n  /data/gvturns.jsonl      <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Turns (née kontasks)</span>\n  /data/gvdecisions.jsonl  <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Decisions</span>\n\n<span style=\"color:#c678dd;\">Relationships:</span>\n  gvDecision.flowId  → gvFlow.id\n  gvDecision.turnId  → gvTurn.id\n  gvFlow.id          ← gvDecision[] (via query)\n</pre>\n</div>\n\n<h3 style=\"font-family:sans-serif;color:#fff;margin:0 0 12px 0;\">MCP Tool Design</h3>\n\n<div style=\"background:#2d2d2d;padding:16px;border-radius:6px;margin-bottom:16px;\">\n<pre style=\"margin:0;line-height:1.6;color:#e0e0e0;font-size:12px;background:#1e1e1e;padding:12px;border-radius:4px;\">\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Record decision during turn</span>\n<span style=\"color:#61afef;\">gvHub_record_decision</span>({\n  flowId: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">\"flow-123\"</span>,\n  title: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">\"Use JSONL for storage\"</span>,\n  type: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">\"architecture\"</span>,\n  chosen: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">\"JSONL append-only files\"</span>,\n  alternatives: [<span style=\"color:#98c379;\">\"SQLite\"</span>, <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">\"PostgreSQL\"</span>],\n  rationale: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">\"Consistent with existing patterns\"</span>,\n  impact: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">\"medium\"</span>\n})\n\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Query decisions (fast, indexed)</span>\n<span style=\"color:#61afef;\">gvHub_list_decisions</span>({\n  flowId?: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">string</span>,       <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Filter by flow</span>\n  type?: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">string</span>,         <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Filter by type</span>\n  madeBy?: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">string</span>,       <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// claude | human</span>\n  status?: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">string</span>,       <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// made | reviewed | pivoted</span>\n  since?: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">Date</span>           <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Date filter</span>\n})\n\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Get flow with decisions in one call</span>\n<span style=\"color:#61afef;\">gvHub_get_flow</span>({\n  flowId: <span style=\"color:#98c379;\">\"flow-123\"</span>,\n  includeDecisions: <span style=\"color:#d19a66;\">true</span>  <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">// Joins automatically</span>\n})\n</pre>\n</div>\n\n<h3 style=\"font-family:sans-serif;color:#fff;margin:0 0 12px 0;\">The Full Object Graph</h3>\n\n<div style=\"background:#2d2d2d;padding:16px;border-radius:6px;margin-bottom:16px;\">\n<pre style=\"margin:0;line-height:2;color:#e0e0e0;font-size:13px;\">\n<span style=\"color:#c678dd;\">gvFlow</span>                    <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">Top-level work container</span>\n   <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">│</span>\n   <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">├──</span> <span style=\"color:#61afef;\">gvSession</span>[]        <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">Claude process instances</span>\n   <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">│      └──</span> <span style=\"color:#e5c07b;\">gvTurn</span>[]    <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">Prompt/response pairs</span>\n   <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">│</span>\n   <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">└──</span> <span style=\"color:#22c55e;\">gvDecision</span>[]       <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">Key choices (own storage)</span>\n          <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">└──</span> turnId      <span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">Links back to turn</span>\n\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">Storage files:</span>\n  gvflows.jsonl      ── <span style=\"color:#c678dd;\">gvFlow</span>\n  gvsessions.jsonl   ── <span style=\"color:#61afef;\">gvSession</span>\n  gvturns.jsonl      ── <span style=\"color:#e5c07b;\">gvTurn</span> (was kontasks.jsonl)\n  gvdecisions.jsonl  ── <span style=\"color:#22c55e;\">gvDecision</span>\n</pre>\n</div>\n\n<h3 style=\"font-family:sans-serif;color:#fff;margin:0 0 12px 0;\">Why Not in Turns?</h3>\n\n<div style=\"background:#2d2d2d;padding:16px;border-radius:6px;margin-bottom:20px;border-left:4px solid #f43f5e;\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px 0;color:#f43f5e;font-weight:bold;\">You identified the problem exactly:</p>\n<pre style=\"margin:0;line-height:1.8;color:#e0e0e0;font-size:13px;\">\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">If decisions only live in turns:</span>\n  • Must read all turns to find decisions\n  • MCP tool: <span style=\"color:#f43f5e;\">slow</span> (scan kontasks.jsonl)\n  • API: <span style=\"color:#f43f5e;\">slow</span> (parse HTML output?)\n  • Cross-flow: <span style=\"color:#f43f5e;\">very slow</span> (scan all flows, all turns)\n\n<span style=\"color:#7f848e;\">With top-level gvDecisions:</span>\n  • Direct lookup by flowId: <span style=\"color:#22c55e;\">O(n) on decisions</span>\n  • Index by type: <span style=\"color:#22c55e;\">instant</span>\n  • Cross-flow by date: <span style=\"color:#22c55e;\">instant</span>\n  • Turn still has decisionIds for context\n</pre>\n</div>\n\n<hr style=\"border:none;border-top:1px solid #3d3d3d;margin:0 0 20px 0;\">\n\n<h3 style=\"font-family:sans-serif;color:#fff;margin:0 0 12px 0;\">Decision Summary</h3>\n\n<div style=\"background:#2d2d2d;padding:16px;border-radius:6px;border-left:4px solid #22c55e;\">\n<p style=\"margin:0;color:#e0e0e0;\">\n<strong style=\"color:#22c55e;\">gvDecisions should be top-level objects</strong> stored in their own JSONL file, with foreign keys to flows and turns.\n</p>\n<p style=\"margin:12px 0 0 0;color:#e0e0e0;\">\nThis gives you:\n</p>\n<ul style=\"margin:8px 0 0 0;padding-left:20px;color:#e0e0e0;\">\n<li>Fast queries across all flows</li>\n<li>Indexable by type, maker, status, date</li>\n<li>Independent scaling (decisions grow faster than flows)</li>\n<li>Clean separation for doc generation</li>\n</ul>\n</div>\n\n</div>",
    "requestedAt": "2026-01-09T02:45:00.000Z",
    "requestId": "080198b1-65b0-4e56-b5ac-dd51df2a6ebc",
    "choices": [
      {
        "label": "Top-level gvDecisions",
        "value": "Implement gvDecisions as top-level objects in their own JSONL file with FK to flows/turns",
        "primary": true
      },
      {
        "label": "Hybrid approach",
        "value": "Use hybrid - top-level storage but denormalize summaries into flows for fast reads"
      },
      {
        "label": "Design MCP tools first",
        "value": "Design the full MCP tool API for decisions before implementing storage"
      }
    ],
    "turnTiming": {
      "totalMs": 63599,
      "ttfeMs": 55,
      "thinkingMs": 63544,
      "toolExecutionMs": 0,
      "toolCallCount": 0,
      "thinkingPct": 100,
      "toolsPct": 0,
      "ttfePct": 0
    }
  },
  "createdBy": "claude",
  "createdAt": "2026-01-09T03:17:29.798Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-01-09T03:17:35.116Z",
  "requestId": "080198b1-65b0-4e56-b5ac-dd51df2a6ebc",
  "scope": "vibetools",
  "tags": [
    "gvshell",
    "gvhub",
    "decisions",
    "data-model",
    "architecture"
  ],
  "targetUser": "claude"
}