ADR-016: Template VM Filtering at Orchestrator Level

Status: Accepted Date: 2026-02-19

Context

RVTools exports include template VMs that should be excluded from sizing. The question is where this filtering policy belongs.

Decision

Filter template VMs inside ingest_file() (the orchestrator), not inside individual parsers.

Rationale

• Parsers are pure data transformers; they should not encode business policy
• Centralising the filter means a single code path to audit or change
• The is_template column is available in the canonical schema (ADR-015) for the filter to act on

Alternatives Considered

• Filter inside each parser: Duplicates policy across parsers; harder to change consistently
• Filter in the UI layer: Business logic leaks into presentation; makes unit testing the filter harder

Consequences

• Parsers must always populate is_template accurately for the filter to work correctly
• The orchestrator test suite must verify template rows are excluded
• Future filtering rules (e.g., powered-off VMs) should also live at orchestrator level