> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.decktalk.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Design decisions

> One note per choice the code cannot explain by itself: what was decided, why, what it rules out, and what would change it.

One note per choice that the code cannot explain by itself. Each says what was decided, why, what it
rules out, and what would change it. These are engineering notes for whoever reads or changes the
code, and [ARCHITECTURE.md](https://github.com/jacobcbeaudin/decktalk/blob/main/ARCHITECTURE.md) is
the overview they hang from. To see the stages from the outside first, read
[How it works](/concepts/how-it-works).

| Note | Decides |
| - | - |
| [Timing comes from the spoken words](/decisions/timing-from-the-spoken-words) | Every time in the system is derived from word timestamps |
| [The recorder covers the page in magenta](/decisions/the-magenta-cover) | How the start of the section clock is found in a recording |
| [The pipeline is six stages](/decisions/the-six-stages) | Why these six, why `score` follows `record`, and why `check` is a command |
| [Providers, local voices and forced alignment](/decisions/the-provider-interface) | The closed set of voices, what each declares, and where word times come from |
| [The skills are part of the product](/decisions/the-skills-contract) | Why six skills ship in the wheel and a test holds them true |
| [No compatibility while DeckTalk is alpha](/decisions/no-compatibility-while-alpha) | Why nothing migrates and no name is kept alive |


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