# Decision: the first receipt download uses PDF

Fictional example: Northstar customer portal. This records an illustrative product choice.

## Status and authority
- Status: agreed for this fictional example.
- Decision maker: the portal product owner.
- Contributors: the developer, reviewer and Support representative.
- Decision date: recorded in the real decision when agreed; no actual approval is implied here.
- Affected work: the receipt-download brief and implementation item.

## Context
Customers need a portable payment record. The portal already has a PDF approach, and the first change is limited to a completed order's receipt. The team needs a format the reviewer can inspect against agreed fields.

## Options and tradeoffs
- Option: generate a PDF with the existing approach.
- Benefit: a portable document using a familiar implementation path.
- Cost or limitation: the layout and output fields need explicit verification.
- Evidence: the existing generator and receipt-format agreement would be linked in actual work.

- Option: provide a printable HTML view first.
- Benefit: reuses browser rendering.
- Cost or limitation: printed output depends on the browser and print settings.
- Evidence: a prototype would be needed to compare output; none is claimed in this example.

## Decision and reason
- Chosen option: PDF using the existing approach.
- Reason: it fits the agreed portable-document outcome and avoids a new dependency in the first change.
- Uncertainty: the developer still needs to verify the generator's handling of the agreed fields.

## Consequences and follow-up
- What changes: a completed order gains a receipt-download action.
- Required work: the developer implements the output; the reviewer checks fields, ownership and failure behavior.
- What we accept: refund receipts and bulk export need separate definitions; the product owner agrees that scope.

## Revisit when
The current generator cannot represent the required fields, or observed customer needs require a different accessible output. Discuss a replacement decision before changing the implementation scope.

## Sources and later changes
Link the current format agreement and receipt brief. Keep any later replacement decision connected to this record.