ADR-0006 — Profile-level detection and explicit override

• Status: Accepted
• Date: 2026-07 (as embodied in the 0.2.0b1 codebase)

Context

Single-cell, well and treatment products need different required fields. Users must be able to override detection; detection must remain explainable.

Decision

• Support levels: single-cell, well, treatment.
• Auto-detect from resolved fields, cell-granularity signals and row cardinality heuristics.
• Always allow CLI/API override; record declared, detected, candidates, confidence and explanation on the report.
• Ambiguity and declare/detect mismatch emit dedicated profile issues.

Consequences

• Ambiguous tables may need --profile-level.
• Overrides never hide what detection thought.

Alternatives considered

• Require always-declared level — rejected as poor UX for clear cases.
• Silent best-guess without explanation — rejected.

References

• src/cp_anndata_validator/profiles.py
• src/cp_anndata_validator/checks/profile_consistency.py
• Profile levels