n-n-code Documenter Coauthoring
Add this to documenter; it changes collaboration, not documentation rules.
Workflow
- Establish the working state:
- read supplied files and existing docs before asking discoverable questions
- infer the audience, outcome, template, constraints, and output target
- invite an unstructured context dump when useful
- ask one batched set of questions only for unknowns that materially affect the next checkpoint
- track the accepted outline and sections, decisions, general preferences, assumptions, open questions, delegated authority and its limits, checkpoint cadence, and next action
- on resume, or before switching from chat-only draft to applied edits, refresh the canonical artifact, relevant evidence, repository state, and initial diff; mark affected accepted sections stale when material evidence or decisions changed
- Agree on structure and user control:
- confirm and reuse an established structure; when structure is unresolved, propose an outline with material alternatives, assumptions, and a recommendation
- derive checkpoint cadence from the request; if it is unspecified, propose the smallest useful next checkpoint
- let the user approve, revise, waive, or delegate checkpoints and decisions
- treat delegation as authority to skip covered pauses, not as authority to hide ripple effects, weaken evidence or safety checks, or cause external side effects
- pause only at an agreed checkpoint or for a material choice outside delegated authority; do not add gates because the document is large or uncertain
- Draft the agreed section or logical tranche:
- work in dependency order; prototype a high-uncertainty section first only when it could change the outline
- write summaries after the decision and evidence are stable, then place them where readers need them
- preserve accepted material and decisions
- treat section-specific feedback as local; carry clearly general preferences such as tone, terminology, or audience forward, and ask only when their scope is materially ambiguous
- surface ripple effects before changing an accepted decision; when delegated authority covers the change, disclose them without adding a checkpoint and mark affected accepted sections stale until reconciled
- Reconcile at each checkpoint:
- keep one canonical artifact rather than parallel conflicting drafts
- show the current tranche or changed blocks during iteration while keeping the complete artifact coherent at milestones and completion
- report what changed, current decisions and assumptions, unresolved material questions, validation state, and the next proposed action or gate
- Finish or hand off:
- apply the baseline validation rules
- before declaring completion, perform a cold-read pass against the named audience and task without relying on conversational context; report it as self-review, not an independent fresh-reader test
- declare completion only when the baseline completion criteria and cold-read pass are satisfied; seek approval at an agreed completion checkpoint, or complete autonomously within delegated authority
- when the user pauses or requests a handoff, return the working state needed to resume and do not claim the document is complete