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| schema: foundry-doc-v1 | schema: foundry-doc-v1 |
| title: "Style guide — meeting notes" | title: "Style guide — meeting notes" |
| slug: style-guide-meeting-notes | slug: style-guide-meeting-notes |
| category: reference | category: reference |
| type: topic | type: topic |
| content_type: topic | content_type: topic |
| quality: complete | quality: complete |
| short_description: "Editorial standards for meeting notes in the platform (COMMS genre): header fields, agenda discipline, decisions-versus-notes distinction, and the action-items table format." | short_description: "Editorial standards for meeting notes in the platform (COMMS genre): header fields, agenda discipline, decisions-versus-notes distinction, and the action-items table format." |
| status: active | status: active |
| bcsc_class: public-disclosure-safe | bcsc_class: public-disclosure-safe |
| last_edited: 2026-05-24 | last_edited: 2026-05-24 |
| editor: pointsav-engineering | editor: pointsav-engineering |
| cites: [] | cites: [] |
| paired_with: style-guide-meeting-notes.es.md | paired_with: style-guide-meeting-notes.es.md |
| --- | --- |
| > Meeting notes exist for the action items and the decisions. Everything else is archive material. | > Meeting notes exist for the action items and the decisions. Everything else is archive material. |
| **Meeting notes** (COMMS genre) record what was decided and what happens next in a meeting. They are not a transcript. A reader who was absent reads the notes to learn the outcome and their obligations — not to reconstruct the conversation. For decisions that carry architectural weight, a [[architecture-decisions|formal ADR]] is the right artifact, not meeting notes. This article is the human-facing standard; the machine-readable counterpart lives in `service-disclosure/templates/meeting-notes.toml`. | **Meeting notes** (COMMS genre) record what was decided and what happens next in a meeting. They are not a transcript. A reader who was absent reads the notes to learn the outcome and their obligations — not to reconstruct the conversation. For decisions that carry architectural weight, a [[architecture-decisions|formal ADR]] is the right artifact, not meeting notes. This article is the human-facing standard; the machine-readable counterpart lives in `service-disclosure/templates/meeting-notes.toml`. |
| ## When to use this template | ## When to use this template |
| Use meeting notes for any meeting that produces decisions or action items. Short informal check-ins that produce neither do not need notes — a chat message to the channel suffices. Notes are required when: | Use meeting notes for any meeting that produces decisions or action items. Short informal check-ins that produce neither do not need notes — a chat message to the channel suffices. Notes are required when: |
| - A decision is made that affects scope, timeline, or ownership of work. | - A decision is made that affects scope, timeline, or ownership of work. |
| - An action item is assigned to a named person. | - An action item is assigned to a named person. |
| - A question is left open and needs to be tracked to resolution. | - A question is left open and needs to be tracked to resolution. |
| ## Structure | ## Structure |
| **Header block** (before any heading): | **Header block** (before any heading): |
| ``` | ``` |
| Meeting: <descriptive title — not "Sync" or "Check-in"> | Meeting: <descriptive title — not "Sync" or "Check-in"> |
| Date: <YYYY-MM-DD> | Date: <YYYY-MM-DD> |
| Attendees: <names or roles, comma-separated> | Attendees: <names or roles, comma-separated> |
| ``` | ``` |
| | Section | Purpose | | | Section | Purpose | |
| |---|---| | |---|---| |
| | **Agenda** | The topics listed going in. One item per line. Marked with ✓ if covered, — if deferred. | | | **Agenda** | The topics listed going in. One item per line. Marked with ✓ if covered, — if deferred. | |
| | **Decisions** | A bulleted list of discrete decisions made. Each bullet names the decision and is self-contained — readable without the Notes context. | | | **Decisions** | A bulleted list of discrete decisions made. Each bullet names the decision and is self-contained — readable without the Notes context. | |
| | **Action items** | A table: `Owner` \| `Action` \| `Due`. One row per item. If no date was set, `Due` is `TBD` — not blank. | | | **Action items** | A table: `Owner` \| `Action` \| `Due`. One row per item. If no date was set, `Due` is `TBD` — not blank. | |
| | **Notes** | Optional. Context that supports the decisions or action items. This section is archive material — compress aggressively. Three sentences is usually sufficient; more than ten suggests a memo is warranted. | | | **Notes** | Optional. Context that supports the decisions or action items. This section is archive material — compress aggressively. Three sentences is usually sufficient; more than ten suggests a memo is warranted. | |
| ## Register and tone | ## Register and tone |
| Decisions are phrased as completed facts: "Agreed: X will ship on 2026-07-01" rather than "We discussed shipping X." Action items use imperative form ("Write the draft proposal") and name a specific owner. "TBD" is acceptable for due dates; "someone" is not acceptable for owners. | Decisions are phrased as completed facts: "Agreed: X will ship on 2026-07-01" rather than "We discussed shipping X." Action items use imperative form ("Write the draft proposal") and name a specific owner. "TBD" is acceptable for due dates; "someone" is not acceptable for owners. |
| The Notes section is prose-minimal. It exists for context, not for narrative — do not transcribe the discussion. | The Notes section is prose-minimal. It exists for context, not for narrative — do not transcribe the discussion. |
| Sentence-length budget: mean around twenty words for prose sections. The Decisions and Action items sections use fragments where clarity permits. | Sentence-length budget: mean around twenty words for prose sections. The Decisions and Action items sections use fragments where clarity permits. |
| ## See also | ## See also |
| - [[style-guide-ticket-comment|Style Guide — Ticket Comment]] | - [[style-guide-ticket-comment|Style Guide — Ticket Comment]] |
| - [[style-guide-memo|Style Guide — Memo]] | - [[style-guide-memo|Style Guide — Memo]] |
| - [[language-protocol-substrate|Language Protocol Substrate]] | - [[language-protocol-substrate|Language Protocol Substrate]] |