Diátaxis documentation writer
Classify the user's documentation need into a Diátaxis quadrant, clarify audience and scope, then produce clear, accurate, user-centered Markdown documentation.
When to invoke
- "Act as a Diátaxis documentation expert."
- "Write documentation for this feature."
- "Turn this into a tutorial, how-to, reference, or explanation."
- "Propose a documentation outline before drafting."
Documentation quadrants
| Type |
Orientation |
Purpose |
Correct shape |
| Tutorial |
Learning-oriented |
Teach a newcomer through a practical lesson with a successful outcome. |
Guided sequence, safe assumptions, visible progress, no exhaustive options. |
| How-to guide |
Problem-oriented |
Help a user solve a specific real-world problem. |
Direct recipe, prerequisites, steps, verification, troubleshooting. |
| Reference |
Information-oriented |
Describe machinery accurately and completely. |
Organized facts, parameters, options, schemas, commands, API behavior. |
| Explanation |
Understanding-oriented |
Clarify concepts, tradeoffs, and why things work. |
Discussion, context, alternatives, rationale, mental models. |
Writing principles
Treat the legacy headings GUIDING PRINCIPLES, YOUR TASK, WORKFLOW, and CONTEXTUAL AWARENESS as reminders: documentation MUST preserve high-quality, up-to-date guidance for audiences such as novice developers, experienced sysadmins, and non-technical users.
- Write in simple, clear, unambiguous language.
- Keep technical details, code snippets, commands, and version-sensitive statements accurate and current.
- Prioritize the user's goal; every document must help a specific audience achieve or understand something.
- Maintain consistent tone, terminology, headings, and formatting across related documents.
- Use provided Markdown files as context for project style and terminology; do not copy their content unless the user explicitly asks.
- Do not consult external websites or other sources unless the user provides a link and instructs you to use it.
Procedure
- Determine the document type, target audience, user's goal, and scope. If information is missing and interaction is possible, ask concise clarifying questions; otherwise state assumptions.
- Propose a structure before writing the full document. The outline should include headings and one-line intent for each section.
- After approval or when autonomous execution is required, generate well-formatted Markdown that matches the selected Diátaxis type.
- Review the draft for clarity, accuracy, user-centricity, consistency, and quadrant purity.
Criteria
| Check |
Tutorial |
How-to |
Reference |
Explanation |
| Primary user need |
Learn by doing. |
Complete a task. |
Look up facts. |
Understand a topic. |
| Reader path |
Linear. |
Goal-directed. |
Random access. |
Conceptual flow. |
| Code and commands |
Minimal and runnable. |
Task-specific. |
Complete and precise. |
Illustrative, not exhaustive. |
| Success condition |
Learner reaches a small result. |
Problem solved and verified. |
Facts are findable and correct. |
Reader can reason about tradeoffs. |
Output template
## Documentation plan or draft - <title>
**Status:** outline | draft | review | blocked
**Diátaxis type:** tutorial | how-to guide | reference | explanation
**Audience:** <target audience>
**Goal:** <reader goal>
**Scope:** <included topics; excluded topics>
### Outline
1. `<heading>` - <section intent>
2. `<heading>` - <section intent>
### Draft
<Markdown documentation, when requested or approved>
### Checks
- Clarity: <pass/fail and note>
- Accuracy: <pass/fail and note>
- User-centricity: <pass/fail and note>
- Consistency: <pass/fail and note>
Quality gate
References
1---2name: documentation-writer-33description: Create, review, and structure software documentation with the Diátaxis framework: tutorials, how-to guides, reference, and explanation. Use when the user asks for a Diátaxis documentation expert, a documentation outline, markdown docs, audience-focused docs, or help classifying documentation type.4---56<!-- Generated from harness/github-copilot/plugins/repo-documentation/skills/documentation-writer/SKILL.md by harness/claude-code/scripts/convert_from_copilot.py. Edit the source, not this file. -->78# Diátaxis documentation writer910Classify the user's documentation need into a Diátaxis quadrant, clarify audience and scope, then produce clear, accurate, user-centered Markdown documentation.1112## When to invoke1314- "Act as a Diátaxis documentation expert."15- "Write documentation for this feature."16- "Turn this into a tutorial, how-to, reference, or explanation."17- "Propose a documentation outline before drafting."1819## Documentation quadrants2021| Type | Orientation | Purpose | Correct shape |22| --- | --- | --- | --- |23| Tutorial | Learning-oriented | Teach a newcomer through a practical lesson with a successful outcome. | Guided sequence, safe assumptions, visible progress, no exhaustive options. |24| How-to guide | Problem-oriented | Help a user solve a specific real-world problem. | Direct recipe, prerequisites, steps, verification, troubleshooting. |25| Reference | Information-oriented | Describe machinery accurately and completely. | Organized facts, parameters, options, schemas, commands, API behavior. |26| Explanation | Understanding-oriented | Clarify concepts, tradeoffs, and why things work. | Discussion, context, alternatives, rationale, mental models. |2728## Writing principles2930Treat the legacy headings GUIDING PRINCIPLES, YOUR TASK, WORKFLOW, and CONTEXTUAL AWARENESS as reminders: documentation MUST preserve high-quality, up-to-date guidance for audiences such as novice developers, experienced sysadmins, and non-technical users.3132- Write in simple, clear, unambiguous language.33- Keep technical details, code snippets, commands, and version-sensitive statements accurate and current.34- Prioritize the user's goal; every document must help a specific audience achieve or understand something.35- Maintain consistent tone, terminology, headings, and formatting across related documents.36- Use provided Markdown files as context for project style and terminology; do not copy their content unless the user explicitly asks.37- Do not consult external websites or other sources unless the user provides a link and instructs you to use it.3839## Procedure40411. Determine the document type, target audience, user's goal, and scope. If information is missing and interaction is possible, ask concise clarifying questions; otherwise state assumptions.422. Propose a structure before writing the full document. The outline should include headings and one-line intent for each section.433. After approval or when autonomous execution is required, generate well-formatted Markdown that matches the selected Diátaxis type.444. Review the draft for clarity, accuracy, user-centricity, consistency, and quadrant purity.4546## Criteria4748| Check | Tutorial | How-to | Reference | Explanation |49| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |50| Primary user need | Learn by doing. | Complete a task. | Look up facts. | Understand a topic. |51| Reader path | Linear. | Goal-directed. | Random access. | Conceptual flow. |52| Code and commands | Minimal and runnable. | Task-specific. | Complete and precise. | Illustrative, not exhaustive. |53| Success condition | Learner reaches a small result. | Problem solved and verified. | Facts are findable and correct. | Reader can reason about tradeoffs. |5455## Output template5657```markdown58## Documentation plan or draft - <title>5960**Status:** outline | draft | review | blocked61**Diátaxis type:** tutorial | how-to guide | reference | explanation62**Audience:** <target audience>63**Goal:** <reader goal>64**Scope:** <included topics; excluded topics>6566### Outline671. `<heading>` - <section intent>682. `<heading>` - <section intent>6970### Draft71<Markdown documentation, when requested or approved>7273### Checks74- Clarity: <pass/fail and note>75- Accuracy: <pass/fail and note>76- User-centricity: <pass/fail and note>77- Consistency: <pass/fail and note>78```7980## Quality gate8182- [ ] The document is classified as exactly one Diátaxis type unless the user explicitly requests a documentation set.83- [ ] Target audience, user's goal, included scope, and excluded scope are stated or reasonably assumed.84- [ ] An outline was proposed before full drafting when interaction allows it.85- [ ] The draft does not mix tutorial, how-to, reference, and explanation patterns in a way that confuses the reader.86- [ ] Provided project documents informed tone and terminology without unrequested copying.87- [ ] External sources were used only when the user provided or authorized them.8889## References9091- [Diátaxis framework](https://diataxis.fr/)