Docs Sync

Playbook: docs-sync

Verify that every cmdlet's parameter surface in C# matches its documentation/<Verb-PnPNoun>.md.

Why this is a defect, not hygiene

documentation/*.md is the shipped product. It builds the published site at https://pnp.github.io/powershell/ and the external help file (PnP.PowerShell.dll-Help.xml) that backs Get-Help in the user's console. A parameter documented as optional but declared mandatory sends the user into an error they cannot explain from the docs. Drift here is user-facing.

There are ~849 documentation files and ~850 cmdlets. This is a fan-out job: mechanical, exact, and far too large to do by hand.

Report drift in the session. Never open an issue or PR for it — see Human in the loop. A sweep across 850 cmdlets could otherwise produce a great many of them.

The two surfaces being compared

C# side — attributes on each public property/field of the cmdlet class:

[Parameter(Mandatory = true, ValueFromPipeline = true, Position = 0, ParameterSetName = "ByName")]
[Alias("Name")]
[ValidateNotNull]
public ListPipeBind Identity { get; set; }

Markdown side — a platyPS YAML block per parameter under ## PARAMETERS:

Type: String[]
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:
Required: True
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: True (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters: False

Field mapping

What to check

Per parameter

• Present in both. A parameter in code but not in the doc is invisible to users; a parameter in the doc but not in code is a promise the module does not keep.
• Every YAML field agrees with the attributes, per the mapping above.
• Multiple parameter sets: ## SYNTAX has one fenced powershell block per set, and the sets named there match ParameterSetName values in the class. A restructured parameter set that ## SYNTAX still describes the old way is a common and confusing drift.

Per file

• Parameter subsections under ## PARAMETERS are listed alphabetically.
• The boilerplate -Connection and -Verbose sections are present for connected cmdlets, with the standard wording used by sibling files.
• Front matter is intact and consistent:

  Module Name: PnP.PowerShell
  title: <Verb-PnPNoun>
  schema: 2.0.0
  applicable: <workloads>
  external help file: PnP.PowerShell.dll-Help.xml
  online version: https://pnp.github.io/powershell/cmdlets/<Verb-PnPNoun>.html
  

  title and the online version slug must both equal the real cmdlet name.
• **## PARAMETERS contains only ```yaml fenced blocks.** Any other fenced block there risks the external help build. Examples belong under ## EXAMPLES with ```powershell fences. This is a build-breaking rule, so report it as high severity.
• ## RELATED LINKS present.

Per repository

• A documentation file for every cmdlet, and a cmdlet for every documentation file. Removed cmdlets leaving orphan pages is a recurring drift.
• Filename equals the cmdlet name exactly, including case.
• Cmdlets carrying [Alias("Old-PnPName")] — the alias should be discoverable from the page, and no separate stale page should exist for the old name.

Finding the pair

The class filename does not reliably match the cmdlet name. Resolve through the attribute — search for the pattern \[Cmdlet\( across src/Commands/**/*.cs with your search tool. This sweep needs no shell; the agent profiles for it deliberately grant only read and search tools.

[Cmdlet(VerbsCommon.Get, "PnPList")] → Get-PnPList → documentation/Get-PnPList.md. Map the Verbs* constant to its verb (VerbsCommon.Get → Get, VerbsLifecycle.Request → Request, and so on) rather than assuming the class name carries it.

Procedure

1. Take a scope: changed files, one folder under src/Commands/, or the whole repository.
2. Build the cmdlet → doc pairing. Report unpaired items on both sides first.
3. For each pair, extract both parameter tables and diff them field by field.
4. Report drift. Do not fix silently unless asked — the correct side is not always the code. A doc describing behaviour the code lost may be evidence of a regression.

Reporting

Group by cmdlet, then by parameter. For each: the field, the C# value, the markdown value, and which side you believe is wrong with a reason. Finish with counts — cmdlets checked, clean, drifted, unpaired — so a partial run cannot be mistaken for a full one.

When asked to fix, change only what you can justify from the code, keep the surrounding prose and wording style of the file, and never reformat an untouched YAML block.