diff --git a/src/engine/loader.ts b/src/engine/loader.ts
index ce24893e..d7bae445 100644
--- a/src/engine/loader.ts
+++ b/src/engine/loader.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import type { ViolationDetail } from "../formats/rules";
 import { logDebug } from "../helpers/log";
 import { resolvedProjectPaths } from "../helpers/project-config";
 import { ensureRulesShim } from "../helpers/rules-shim";
+import { UserError } from "../helpers/user-error";
 import { scanRuleSource } from "./rule-scanner";
 
 interface LoadedAdr {
@@ -188,7 +189,37 @@ export function parseAllAdrs(projectRoot: string): Promise<ParsedAdrEntry[]> {
       })
     );
 
-    return parsed.filter((e): e is ParsedAdrEntry => e !== null);
+    const entries = parsed.filter((e): e is ParsedAdrEntry => e !== null);
+
+    // Detect duplicate ADR IDs — two files sharing the same frontmatter id
+    // is an authoring error that causes silent data loss downstream (Map.set
+    // overwrites, Array.find picks the first, etc.).
+    const idToFiles = new Map<string, string[]>();
+    for (const entry of entries) {
+      const id = entry.adr.frontmatter.id;
+      const existing = idToFiles.get(id);
+      if (existing) {
+        existing.push(entry.file);
+      } else {
+        idToFiles.set(id, [entry.file]);
+      }
+    }
+    const duplicates = [...idToFiles.entries()].filter(
+      ([, files]) => files.length > 1
+    );
+    if (duplicates.length > 0) {
+      const details = duplicates
+        .map(
+          ([id, files]) =>
+            `Duplicate ADR ID: ${id}\n${files.map((f) => `  - ${f}`).join("\n")}`
+        )
+        .join("\n\n");
+      throw new UserError(
+        `${details}\n\nEach ADR must have a unique id in its YAML frontmatter.`
+      );
+    }
+
+    return entries;
   })();
 
   parsedAdrsCache.set(projectRoot, promise);
diff --git a/src/helpers/adr-writer.ts b/src/helpers/adr-writer.ts
index bee7bf66..f77abf2e 100644
--- a/src/helpers/adr-writer.ts
+++ b/src/helpers/adr-writer.ts
@@ -140,7 +140,17 @@ export async function findAdrFileById(
     })
   );
 
-  return results.find((adr) => adr?.frontmatter.id === id) ?? null;
+  const matches = results.filter((adr) => adr?.frontmatter.id === id);
+  if (matches.length > 1) {
+    const collidingFiles = files.filter((_file, i) => {
+      const parsed = results[i];
+      return parsed?.frontmatter.id === id;
+    });
+    throw new UserError(
+      `Duplicate ADR ID: ${id}\n${collidingFiles.map((f) => `  - ${f}`).join("\n")}\n\nEach ADR must have a unique id in its YAML frontmatter.`
+    );
+  }
+  return matches[0] ?? null;
 }
 
 interface UpdateAdrResult {
diff --git a/tests/engine/loader.test.ts b/tests/engine/loader.test.ts
index d49b71d5..c2fa2f80 100644
--- a/tests/engine/loader.test.ts
+++ b/tests/engine/loader.test.ts
@@ -256,6 +256,25 @@ export default { invalid syntax here !!! } satisfies RuleSet;
     expect(first.value.adr.frontmatter.id).toBe("TEST-001");
   });
 
+  test("parseAllAdrs throws on duplicate ADR IDs", async () => {
+    const adrsDir = join(tempDir, ".archgate", "adrs");
+
+    // Two files with different names but same frontmatter id
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(adrsDir, "GEN-099-topic-a.md"),
+      `---\nid: GEN-099\ntitle: Topic A\ndomain: general\nrules: false\n---\n# Topic A\n`
+    );
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(adrsDir, "GEN-099-topic-b.md"),
+      `---\nid: GEN-099\ntitle: Topic B\ndomain: general\nrules: false\n---\n# Topic B\n`
+    );
+
+    await expect(parseAllAdrs(tempDir)).rejects.toThrow("Duplicate ADR ID");
+    await expect(parseAllAdrs(tempDir)).rejects.toThrow("GEN-099");
+    await expect(parseAllAdrs(tempDir)).rejects.toThrow("GEN-099-topic-a.md");
+    await expect(parseAllAdrs(tempDir)).rejects.toThrow("GEN-099-topic-b.md");
+  });
+
   test("parseAllAdrs reads from custom directory", async () => {
     // Configure custom path
     const customAdrsDir = join(tempDir, "governance");
diff --git a/tests/helpers/adr-writer.test.ts b/tests/helpers/adr-writer.test.ts
index 58e79a5c..f0429d4c 100644
--- a/tests/helpers/adr-writer.test.ts
+++ b/tests/helpers/adr-writer.test.ts
@@ -202,6 +202,30 @@ describe("findAdrFileById", () => {
     expect(result!.body).toContain("Backend context.");
   });
 
+  test("throws on duplicate ADR IDs", async () => {
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(tempDir, "GEN-099-topic-a.md"),
+      `---\nid: GEN-099\ntitle: Topic A\ndomain: general\nrules: false\n---\n# Topic A\n`
+    );
+    writeFileSync(
+      join(tempDir, "GEN-099-topic-b.md"),
+      `---\nid: GEN-099\ntitle: Topic B\ndomain: general\nrules: false\n---\n# Topic B\n`
+    );
+
+    await expect(findAdrFileById(tempDir, "GEN-099")).rejects.toThrow(
+      "Duplicate ADR ID"
+    );
+    await expect(findAdrFileById(tempDir, "GEN-099")).rejects.toThrow(
+      "GEN-099"
+    );
+    await expect(findAdrFileById(tempDir, "GEN-099")).rejects.toThrow(
+      "GEN-099-topic-a.md"
+    );
+    await expect(findAdrFileById(tempDir, "GEN-099")).rejects.toThrow(
+      "GEN-099-topic-b.md"
+    );
+  });
+
   test("skips unparseable files gracefully", async () => {
     writeFileSync(join(tempDir, "BAD-001-broken.md"), "not valid frontmatter");
     await createAdrFile(tempDir, {