Docs Sync

Docs Sync

Prerequisites

• git
• gh (GitHub CLI, authenticated via gh auth login)

Keep project documentation current with code changes. Three modes:

1. Content sync — update doc content after code changes
2. Site management — maintain doc site structure and navigation
3. Docs audit — identify stale docs that need attention

Repo Discovery

Before doing anything, discover the project's documentation setup:

1. Run git rev-parse --show-toplevel to find the repo root
2. Check for .docs-sync.yml at the repo root — if it exists, read it and use its values for all paths, roles, and site config
3. If no config file, auto-discover:
   • Doc site engine: look for mkdocs.yml, docusaurus.config.js, .vitepress/config.*
   • Doc directory: look for docs/, documentation/, wiki/
   • Known doc files: scan for common patterns (see Doc Roles below)
   • Convention files: CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, CONTRIBUTING.md
4. Run gh repo view --json name,owner to confirm the repo

Config File: .docs-sync.yml

Optional config file at repo root. All fields are optional — auto-discovery fills gaps. See docs-sync.yml in the skill directory for a starter.

# Map your doc files to roles so the skill knows what content belongs where
docs:
  - path: docs/features.md
    role: features

  - path: docs/architecture.md
    role: architecture

  - path: CHANGELOG.md
    role: changelog
    format: keep-a-changelog

  - path: CLAUDE.md
    role: conventions

  - path: README.md
    role: readme

# Doc site configuration (optional)
site:
  engine: mkdocs               # mkdocs | docusaurus | vitepress
  config: mkdocs.yml           # path to site config
  auto_nav: true               # update navigation when docs change

Doc Roles

Roles tell the skill what kind of content a file contains, so it knows how to update it.

Auto-Detection (No Config)

Without a config file, the skill detects roles by filename:

Files not matching any pattern are skipped unless listed in the config.

Workflow: Content Sync

When the user says docs need updating (or after a PR merge):

1. Identify what changed — determine the scope of code changes:

   • If a PR number is provided: gh pr view <N> --json files,title,body
   • If a commit range: git diff --name-only <range>
   • If unspecified: git diff --name-only HEAD~1 (last commit)
   • Read the actual diffs for changed files to understand what changed, not just which files

2. Map changes to affected docs — for each changed file, determine which doc roles are affected:

   • New UI component → features, architecture
   • Changed data model → architecture
   • New keyboard shortcut → features
   • Changed build command → conventions
   • Bug fix → changelog (if tracking fixes)
   • New API endpoint → api, readme (if it's a headline feature)

3. Read current docs — read each affected doc file to understand current content, structure, and style

4. Draft updates — write the specific changes needed for each doc:

   • Match the existing writing style and structure
   • Add to existing sections rather than creating new ones (unless clearly needed)
   • For changelog: add entry under the appropriate version/section
   • For features: add or update the feature entry, not rewrite the whole file
   • For architecture: update the affected section, preserve diagrams

5. Apply or propose — based on user preference:

   • Direct apply: edit the files, commit to a branch, report what changed
   • Review first: show the proposed changes and ask for approval
   • Issue: create a GitHub issue listing which docs need updating and why

Quality Checklist

Before committing doc updates:

• Each update matches the existing style of that doc file
• No content was removed that's still accurate
• New entries are placed in the correct section (not appended randomly)
• Cross-references between docs are consistent
• Changelog entries follow the file's existing format
• Feature descriptions are user-facing (not implementation details)

Workflow: Site Management

When docs are added, moved, or deleted — keep the site structure current.

mkdocs

1. Read mkdocs.yml and parse the nav: section
2. For new docs: determine the correct nav section based on the doc's role and path
3. Add the entry to nav: in the right position
4. For moved docs: update the nav path
5. For deleted docs: remove the nav entry

docusaurus

1. Check sidebars.js or sidebars.ts
2. For auto-generated sidebars: ensure the doc has correct frontmatter (sidebar_position, sidebar_label)
3. For manual sidebars: add/update/remove entries

vitepress

1. Check .vitepress/config.* for sidebar configuration
2. Add/update/remove sidebar entries as needed

General Rules

• Preserve existing organization — don't reorganize the nav, just maintain it
• Follow naming patterns — if existing entries use Title Case, match that
• Respect ordering — add new entries at logical positions, not always at the end
• Update indexes — if a section has an index.md with a list, update it too

Workflow: Docs Audit

When the user asks "which docs are stale?" or "audit my docs":

1. Discover all doc files (see Repo Discovery)
2. For each doc file, check git log -1 --format="%ar" -- <path> for last modified
3. Compare with recent code changes in related areas
4. Report docs that may be stale:
   • Doc hasn't been updated in a long time but related code changed recently
   • Doc references files/functions/patterns that no longer exist
   • Doc describes behavior that the code no longer implements
5. Suggest specific updates needed for each stale doc

Important Rules

• Match existing style — read the doc before updating it. Don't impose a new format.
• Be surgical — update the specific section that changed, don't rewrite entire docs
• Features are user-facing — don't write "Added SyncSettingsView.swift", write "Added sync settings with enable/disable toggle, status indicator, and Sync Now button"
• Don't remove accurate content — only remove content that's now wrong
• Commit to a branch — never push directly to main
• One concern per update — if a PR changed both features and architecture, update both docs but keep the changes focused on what actually changed
• Respect repo conventions — if the repo has CLAUDE.md or CONTRIBUTING.md, read and follow its branch naming, commit message, and PR conventions