documentation-management

Documentation Management Skill

` / `` markers (#2269, 2026-04-27). Adds a second description map (`README_TOOL_DESCRIPTIONS`) for short, scannable entries (the README audience differs from CLAUDE.md), with fallback + warning when a new tool is missing a short variant. Soft-skips when README has no markers so the script remains drop-in compatible. `checkGovernance()` extended to fail when README markers exist but the table is stale; closes the recurring drift that needed three manual sync PRs in a month (#2217 / #2264 / #2268). -->

Full specification: docops-spec.md

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Fast Path: Common Tasks

Update Documentation Content

# 1. Edit canonical source
edit docs/architecture/MEMORY_SYSTEM.md  # or relevant file

# 2. Verify docs are indexed
npx tsx scripts/check-docs-indexed.ts

Add New Document

1. Create file in appropriate docs/ directory
2. REQUIRED: Add YAML frontmatter (title, description, tier, keywords, related_files)
3. REQUIRED: Add entry to docs/README.md
4. Commit and push

Change Doc Pipeline

1. Edit pipeline script/config
2. REQUIRED: Update docs/ops/docops-spec.md
3. REQUIRED: Update this skill (.claude/skills/documentation-management.md)
4. Run all checks (see Verification below)
5. Commit and push

Verify Pipeline Health

npx tsx scripts/check-docs-indexed.ts
npx tsx scripts/generate-repo-index.ts --check
npx tsx scripts/inject-governance.ts check

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Core Concepts

Canonical Sources

Source	Purpose
docs/README.md	Human-readable index (SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH)
docs/INDEX.yaml	Machine-parseable index
docs/**/*.md	Canonical documentation
Root *.md	Project entry points

Generated Outputs

Output	Generated By	From
docs/interfaces/agent.md	generate-docs-content.ts	core/types/agent.ts
docs/design/components.md	generate-docs-content.ts	src/ module scan
docs/ops/docs-inventory.md	generate-docs-content.ts	ADR + MCP tool scan
docs/reference/capabilities.md	generate-repo-index.ts	Source code
docs/reference/tools/*.md	generate-tool-reference.ts	TOOL_MANIFEST + *InputSchema
CLAUDE.md tool index	inject-governance.ts	MCP tool files

Tier System

• Tier 1 (Essential): README, CLAUDE.md, QUICK_START, TROUBLESHOOTING
• Tier 2 (Reference): Hub documents (architecture/README.md, etc.)
• Tier 3 (Detail): Deep-dive documents, ADRs, proposals

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Pipeline Scripts

generate-docs-content.ts

Auto-generates documentation sections that are derivable from source code: the AgentRole interface, a module inventory, and the ADR / MCP tool counts. Prevents drift by reading directly from the source of truth.

npx tsx scripts/generate-docs-content.ts       # Generate all
npx tsx scripts/generate-docs-content.ts --check # CI validation

generate-repo-index.ts

Generates capability index from source code. MCP tools are discovered by parsing the canonical tools: [...] return array in mcp/tools/index.ts.

npx tsx scripts/generate-repo-index.ts       # Generate index
npx tsx scripts/generate-repo-index.ts --check # CI validation

inject-governance.ts

Injects MCP tool table into CLAUDE.md. Tool descriptions are defined in the TOOL_DESCRIPTIONS map — add an entry there when registering a new MCP tool.

npx tsx scripts/inject-governance.ts inject  # Update CLAUDE.md
npx tsx scripts/inject-governance.ts check   # CI validation

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CI Validation

docs-check.yml jobs

The pipeline runs a family of jobs covering: TypeDoc freshness, capabilities.md regeneration, link validation, docs coverage, secrets scanning, DocOps skill sync, canonical-index enforcement, markdown lint, spell check, skills/index.yaml freshness, agents/index.yaml + gap-coverage check, and governance drift. Blocking-vs-warning status is declared per job in the workflow file.

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Enforcement Rules

Rule 1: Canonical Index Required

All documentation MUST be indexed in docs/README.md.

Rule 2: No Parallel Indexes

docs/README.md is the ONLY permitted documentation index.

Rule 3: Generated Files Must Match Source

CI fails if generated files drift from canonical sources.

Rule 4: DocOps Changes Require Skill Update

Changes to pipeline files require updating this skill and docs/ops/docops-spec.md.

Pipeline files:

• scripts/generate-docs-content.ts
• scripts/generate-repo-index.ts
• scripts/inject-governance.ts
• .github/workflows/docs-check.yml

---

Troubleshooting

"docs-content check failed"

npx tsx scripts/generate-docs-content.ts
git add docs/interfaces/agent.md docs/design/components.md docs/ops/docs-inventory.md
git commit -m "docs: regenerate source-derived docs"

"Link check failed"

1. Run npx lychee . --config lychee.toml to identify broken links
2. Fix links in canonical source

"CI keeps failing on docs"

# Run full validation suite locally
pnpm lint
pnpm typecheck
npx tsx scripts/generate-docs-content.ts --check
npx tsx scripts/generate-repo-index.ts --check
npx tsx scripts/inject-governance.ts check

---

Quality Checklist

Before committing documentation changes:

• File indexed in docs/README.md
• npx tsx scripts/generate-docs-content.ts --check passes (if types/module structure changed)
• npx tsx scripts/generate-repo-index.ts --check passes (if MCP tools added/renamed)
• Links work: npx lychee . --config lychee.toml
• No secrets in content

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Periodic Drift Audit

Adapted from paperclipai/paperclip doc-maintenance skill. Triggers: weekly cadence, post-release, after a major merge, or on explicit request ("audit docs", "doc drift").

Targets

User-facing docs that get stale fastest as the codebase moves:

• README.md — features table, quickstart, prerequisites
• docs/README.md — canonical doc index
• docs/getting-started/INSTALLATION.md — install commands, Node/pnpm versions
• docs/getting-started/CONFIGURATION.md — env var table, config schema
• CLAUDE.md — Canonical Paths table, MCP Tools table (auto-generated, but check the non-auto sections)

Cursor Pattern (incremental review)

Store the last-reviewed commit SHA in .doc-review-cursor (gitignored — it's local audit state, not project state). On each audit run:

LAST_SHA=$(cat .doc-review-cursor 2>/dev/null || echo "HEAD~200")
git log "$LAST_SHA"..HEAD --oneline --no-merges > /tmp/audit-window.log

After committing the audit fixes:

git rev-parse HEAD > .doc-review-cursor

Without the cursor, every audit re-reads the whole history → audits get skipped. With it, audits stay incremental and cheap.

Commit Classification

From the audit window, only these commit prefixes warrant a doc check:

Prefix	Action
feat: / feat(...):	Check feature tables, README highlights, capability docs
fix: containing breaking / API-removal	Check API reference, migration notes
New top-level src/ directory	Check architecture overview, canonical paths
chore(deps): major bumps	Check prerequisites + compat tables

Ignore: refactor, test, chore(ci), docs, style — they don't shift user-facing surface.

What to Look For

Run the audit through this lens:

Drift class	Signal
False negative	Shipped capability missing from feature/MCP tool/expert tables. Resolved design questions still marked TBD. Removed adapters/skills still listed.
False positive	"Coming soon" / "planned" features that have shipped. Cancelled items still on roadmap. Capability claims that contradict current implementation.
Quickstart breakage	npx/pnpm commands that don't work. Prerequisites pinning unsupported versions. Clone URL drift. Required env vars unmentioned.
Feature-table drift	## MCP Tools Reference count mismatch. Adapter "Works with" table missing recently-added CLI. Skill index missing a new skill.

For our auto-generated tables (CLAUDE.md MCP tools, capabilities.md, docs/interfaces/agent.md), drift is a generation-script bug, not a doc edit — file an issue against the script instead of editing the rendered output.

Audit-PR Discipline

• Branch: docs/audit-$(date +%Y%m%d)
• Commit message lists fixes + the source PR/commit that triggered each
• Factual fixes only — do NOT bundle style refactors, link-checker autofixes, or formatting passes. Style/refactor PRs are separate; mixing them defeats the audit's signal-to-noise.
• If a doc needs more than drift fixes (e.g., a section is structurally wrong), open a follow-up issue rather than expanding the audit PR

Out of Scope

• Auto-generated tables (handled by scripts/inject-governance.ts, scripts/generate-docs-content.ts, scripts/generate-repo-index.ts, etc.) — see Pipeline section above
• Style/voice/markdown formatting — orthogonal, separate PRs
• Adding new docs — separate workflow; this audit only fixes drift in existing docs

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Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)

ADRs capture the why behind significant technical decisions. Code shows what was built; ADRs explain why this way and what alternatives were rejected. They're the highest-leverage documentation in the repo for onboarding (humans and agents) and for evaluating future changes.

ADRs live in docs/adr/ with sequential numbering: 0001-foo.md, 0002-bar.md, …

When to write an ADR

• Choosing a framework, library, or major dependency (consensus_vote candidate)
• Designing a data model or schema
• Selecting an authentication, voting, or routing strategy
• Deciding on a public-API shape (REST, MCP tool, CLI command)
• Any decision expensive to reverse — that's the threshold

ADR template

# ADR-NNNN: <decision in present tense>

## Status

Proposed | Accepted | Superseded by ADR-MMMM | Deprecated

## Date

YYYY-MM-DD

## Context

What problem are we solving? What constraints (technical, organizational, time-bound) apply?
Cite the issue, vote, or incident that prompted the decision.

## Decision

The chosen approach, in 1-3 sentences.

## Alternatives Considered

Each as its own subsection. Pros, cons, and **why rejected**. Don't skip — the rejected
alternatives are how future readers understand the trade-off space.

## Consequences

Positive AND negative outcomes. What new constraints does this create?
What follow-up work falls out of this decision?

ADR lifecycle

PROPOSED → ACCEPTED → (SUPERSEDED-BY-NNNN | DEPRECATED)

• Don't delete old ADRs. They're historical context. A superseded ADR + its replacement together tell the story of why the system evolved.
• When a decision changes, write a new ADR that references and supersedes the old one. Update the old one's Status: line to Superseded by ADR-NNNN.
• ADRs are immutable after Accepted in spirit — fix typos, but don't rewrite the substance. New thinking goes in a new ADR.

When NOT to write an ADR

• Reversible decisions (small refactor choices, naming style nits)
• Mechanical changes (dependency bump, lockfile update)
• Decisions already captured in a higher-level doc (CLAUDE.md, .rules/) — reference, don't duplicate

Anti-rationalization — Documentation

Excuse	Counter
"The code is self-documenting"	Code says how, not why. The why-this-not-that lives nowhere if not in an ADR or doc comment.
"I'll document it later"	Later never comes. The context decays within days; what felt obvious now will be a mystery to next-quarter-you. Document at decision time.
"We'll update the docs in the next release"	Drift compounds. By the next release, the doc says one thing, the code does another, and the audit gate fires (see #2225 audit). Update docs in the same PR as the code change.
"Comments lie, only code is truth"	Lies-in-comments is a culture problem, not a comments problem. Code can also lie (subtly broken implementations). Both need review.
"Nobody reads the docs anyway"	Future-you reads them. New contributors (human or agent) read them. The skill-tree of the project depends on them.
"It's just an internal API"	Internal APIs accumulate Hyrum's Law just like public ones (see api-and-interface-design). Internal docs prevent internal coupling.

Verification — Documentation changes

• Every public-API change has a documentation update in the same PR
• Significant architectural decisions have an ADR (or reference an existing one)
• Auto-generated docs regenerated via the pipeline scripts after source changes
• Doc additions follow the Tier system (Tier 1 essential / Tier 2 reference / Tier 3 detail)
• No drift from canonical sources — npx tsx scripts/check-docs-indexed.ts passes
• Markdown lint clean: npx markdownlint 'docs/**/*.md' '*.md'

Related Documents

• DocOps Spec: docs/ops/docops-spec.md
• Documentation Index: docs/README.md
• Inventory: docs/ops/docs-inventory.md
• ADR directory: docs/adr/

Red flags

• Public-API change PR with no doc update in the same diff
• Architectural decision merged without an ADR
• Auto-generated doc table broken (inject-governance.ts check fails)
• Stale @deprecated references in docs/ after a removal
• Doc PR with markdown lint errors (line wraps, table formatting)