26zl Docs Consolidation
Every documentation topic gets one canonical home. A reader should find setup, usage, or design in one predictable place, not reconstruct it from a pile of overlapping Markdown files.
Rules
- Before creating any documentation file, check whether the README or an existing document already covers the topic. Extend that document instead.
- Create a new file only when the user asks for one or the content serves a clearly distinct audience or lifecycle, such as an API reference next to a contributor guide.
- Never leave unrequested working files in the repository: summaries, notes, plans, implementation reports, and task lists belong in the conversation, not in
SUMMARY.md,NOTES.md,PLAN.md, or similar files. - Do not duplicate instructions across files. Link to the canonical section instead of restating it.
- When existing documents overlap, merge them into the canonical one, delete the leftovers, and update inbound links.
- Keep conventional standalone files as they are: README, LICENSE, CONTRIBUTING, CHANGELOG, SECURITY, CODE_OF_CONDUCT, and generated documentation.
- Match documentation size to the change: a small feature earns a section, not a document tree.
Review
Before finishing, list every documentation file the change adds. Each one must be explicitly requested or justified by a distinct audience; fold anything else into an existing document and remove the extra file.