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Change Plan: [Change Title]

0) Intent

Goal: [What we want to achieve — concrete, measurable outcome]

Not goal: [What we explicitly are NOT doing in this change]

Why now: [Why this change is necessary right now]

Trade-off: [What compromise we're accepting]

Owner: [Accountable decision-maker]

1) Current State

  • [Description of current behavior/architecture]
  • [What problems exist]
  • [What works and what doesn't]

2) Scope

In scope:
- [What may change]
- [Which parts of the system are affected]

Out of scope:
- [What we explicitly are NOT changing]
- [What remains unchanged]

3) Constraints / Invariants

  1. [Invariant 1 — what must remain unchanged]
  2. [Invariant 2]
  3. Compatibility: [what must continue to work]

4) Proposed Solution

[Solution description]

Why this option:
- [Reason 1]
- [Reason 2]

Option B (alternative): [name]

[Alternative description and why it's worse]

5) Impact / Risk Model

Risks:
1. [Risk 1] => [consequence]
2. [Risk 2] => [consequence]

Mitigation:
- [How we reduce risk 1]
- [How we reduce risk 2]

6) Execution Plan

Step 1 - [Name]

  • [Action]
  • [Result/completion criterion]

Step 2 - [Name]

  • [Action]
  • [Result/completion criterion]

Step 3 - [Name]

  • [Action]
  • [Result/completion criterion]

7) Kill Criteria

  1. [Criterion 1] => rollback/stop
  2. [Criterion 2] => rollback/stop

8) Decisions

  • [Chosen option and why]
  • [Key technical decisions]
  • [Alternatives that were rejected]

9) Observation Plan

What to observe:
- [Metric 1]
- [Metric 2]

How to verify success:
- [Success criterion 1]
- [Success criterion 2]

10) Next Steps

  1. [First step]
  2. [Second step]