diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62d6cfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Docs
+
+How this project records what it builds and why — and a guide to
+picking the right document for what you're capturing.
+
+## When to write which document
+
+| Artifact | For |
+|---|---|
+| **PRD** (`docs/prds/`) | A feature: what to build, scope, success criteria. |
+| **Research note** (`docs/research/`) | A landscape/tradeoff investigation. |
+| **Decision record** (`docs/decisions/`) | A decision that isn't itself a feature — a policy, a convention, a "we will / won't do this," or a load-bearing choice made inside a larger PRD that deserves to be discoverable on its own. |
+
+A decision that's fully specified by a PRD doesn't need duplicating in
+a decision record. Write one when the *decision* would otherwise be
+buried in prose, lost in an issue thread, or have no in-repo home at
+all (small requests that don't merit a PRD; non-feature choices like
+merge strategy or a trust posture).
diff --git a/docs/decisions/README.md b/docs/decisions/README.md
index 1e8778e..8bd9246 100644
--- a/docs/decisions/README.md
+++ b/docs/decisions/README.md
@@ -7,21 +7,9 @@ reasoning lives in the clone, not in a forge issue thread or a chat log
 that disappears when the provider does.
 
 See `docs/research/issue-tracking-vs-in-repo-decision-history.md` for
-the rationale behind keeping decision history in-repo.
-
-## When to write one
-
-| Artifact | For |
-|---|---|
-| **PRD** (`docs/prds/`) | A feature: what to build, scope, success criteria. |
-| **Research note** (`docs/research/`) | A landscape/tradeoff investigation. |
-| **Decision record** (`docs/decisions/`) | A decision that isn't itself a feature — a policy, a convention, a "we will / won't do this," or a load-bearing choice made inside a larger PRD that deserves to be discoverable on its own. |
-
-A decision that's fully specified by a PRD doesn't need duplicating
-here. Write a record when the *decision* would otherwise be buried in
-prose, lost in an issue thread, or have no in-repo home at all (small
-requests that don't merit a PRD; non-feature choices like merge
-strategy or a trust posture).
+the rationale behind keeping decision history in-repo, and
+[`docs/README.md`](../README.md) for when to write a decision record
+vs. a PRD or research note.
 
 ## Format