Hexblade warlock is powerful for the wrong reasons and warlock

[Mister_Squinty]

No.

Social and Exploration challenges should consume party resources. Maybe the guard needs to be bribed. (gold) Maybe they need to wait for their noble patron to catch up before they get to work. (time) Maybe they need to use magic to impress the king with their superb capabilities as adventurers. (spell slots) Maybe they need to out-drink the local thug to get him to open up about the carta's operations in the city. (HP/Gold/Time) Maybe getting to the tower requires you to forge through an intense thicket of razor vines. (HP)

If there are no resources being expended and/or no consequence/possibility of failure, these encounters are a waste of time.

Should I do a formal write-up of my rulings I made to make gritty realism work in 5e? IE, what I did to handle things like spell duration, magic item acquisition, and the like?

If you want to classify them as "party resources", Time/Gold/HP are consumed (and replenished) with the same rules across all classes. There are also Social challenges that can be overcome with skill checks (Persuasion/Deception/Intimidation/Insight) rather than bribery or magical displays.

The same with Environmental encounters. Intelligent uses of Nature/History/Survival checks can make finding a hidden cave easier. Creative uses of Acrobatics and Athletics skills can overcome a number of physical obstacles.

Not every encounter needs to deplete the party of a material resource (except perhaps Time, which passes regardless of activity)