Dual Surface Docs Drift

Dual-Surface Docs Drift

The Problem

Two READMEs covering overlapping scope will diverge:

• Root README describes feature X
• Wiki page also describes feature X
• One gets updated, the other doesn't

The Solution

Option 1: Cross-Reference (Preferred)

The less-detailed doc points to the more-detailed:

<!-- README.md (brief) -->
## Configuration

For basic setup, set `API_KEY` in your environment.

For advanced configuration options, see the 
[Configuration Guide](https://github.com/org/repo/wiki/Configuration).

<!-- wiki/Configuration.md (detailed) -->
## Configuration

Complete reference for all configuration options...

Option 2: Consolidate

If both documents serve the same audience, merge them:

<!-- Keep ONE source, delete or redirect the other -->
## Configuration

[Full content here, single location]

Option 3: Audience Separation

If audiences differ, make the separation explicit:

<!-- README.md header -->
> **Developer docs**: This README is for contributors.
> **User docs**: See the [Wiki](./wiki) for end-user documentation.

Decision Table

Verification

Search for duplicated headers:

# Find potential overlaps
grep -h "^##" README.md wiki/*.md | sort | uniq -d

If the same H2 appears in both, you have drift risk.

When to Apply

• Adding documentation to an existing repo
• Noticing outdated info in one of two places
• Documentation audit

Tags

documentation drift maintenance wiki