Syntavell Docs and ADR
Goal
Keep Syntavell documentation decision-oriented, source-controlled, and useful to future implementers without confusing current state, accepted decisions, preferred direction, and illustrative examples.
Activation Boundaries
Use when:
- The task creates, rewrites, reviews, reorganizes, or reconciles Syntavell docs, Typst design docs, ADRs, RFCs, specs, roadmap documents, repository policies, or contributor docs.
- The task records product decisions, architecture, workspace formats, security models, AI workflows, templates, releases, or repository policies.
- Code and docs contradict each other and the user asks to resolve documentation.
Do not use when:
- The task is ordinary code implementation or testing.
- The user asks for security review; use
syntavell-security-review. - The user asks to commit finished changes; use
syntavell-git-commit. - The request would mark a decision accepted without source evidence or user approval.
Companion skills:
- Use engineering skills when docs require code truth from Rust or TypeScript.
- Use security review for security policy, threat model, disclosure, or privacy-sensitive docs.
- Use maintenance for release docs, health files, and repository policy operations.
Source-of-truth precedence
- The user's explicit documentation goal and accepted wording.
- Current repository files, manifests, code, and docs.
- Accepted ADRs and accepted specifications.
- Proposed RFCs and draft documents.
- This skill's placement defaults and templates.
Treat current, accepted, preferred, proposed, fallback, and illustrative as distinct document states.
Inputs and Preconditions
- Target document type and repository.
- Source documents or code evidence.
- Decision status: draft, proposed, accepted, superseded, deprecated, or informative.
- Any generated artifact rules for Typst/PDF/checksums.
Select a mode
doc-review: review structure, accuracy, placement, and stale claims.existing-doc-rework: reorganize or rewrite docs without changing decisions.new-adr: record a decision ready for acceptance or proposed review.adr-transition: accept, supersede, deprecate, or link decisions.rfc: write or revise a proposal that still has open questions.conflict-resolution: reconcile code, docs, ADRs, and specs when they disagree.
Workflow
Collect sources.
- Inspect current docs, code, manifests, accepted ADRs, and relevant specs.
- Do not rely on memory when repository evidence exists.
Classify document type and state.
- Separate current behavior, accepted decisions, preferred future direction, fallback behavior, and examples.
Place the document.
- Read
references/documentation-standards.mdbefore moving or creating docs. - Keep repository placement consistent with source of truth.
- Read
Write for implementers.
- State decisions, non-goals, invariants, tradeoffs, compatibility, security notes, and validation.
- Link to sources rather than duplicating long sections.
Manage ADR lifecycle.
- Read
references/adr-rfc-templates.mdfor ADR/RFC work. - Preserve numbering and add supersedes/superseded-by links.
- Read
Verify.
- Compile Typst when changed.
- Update generated PDFs and checksums only when tracked by the repository.
- Check links, paths, and status consistency.
Authorization Gates
Explicit user approval is required before:
- Marking an ADR or policy as accepted.
- Inventing license, governance, support, security contact, or disclosure commitments.
- Deleting or superseding existing decisions.
- Regenerating and committing formal PDFs or checksums when the source is uncertain.
Stop Conditions
Stop without editing when:
- Source-of-truth conflicts cannot be resolved from repository evidence.
- The requested doc would misrepresent a draft as accepted.
- The right repository or document owner cannot be identified.
- The edit would create public promises the project has not accepted.
Validation Matrix
| Mode | Required validation |
|---|---|
doc-review |
source links, stale claim scan, placement check |
existing-doc-rework |
no decision-state change, links and paths checked |
new-adr |
context, decision, alternatives, consequences, validation |
adr-transition |
status, date, supersedes/superseded-by, index consistency |
rfc |
goals, non-goals, proposal, compatibility, open questions |
conflict-resolution |
source precedence applied and conflict documented |
Failure Classification
caused-by-change: introduced by the documentation edit.pre-existing: stale or conflicting docs found before the edit.environment: missing compiler, renderer, or source document.unsupported: requested wording would assert an undecided policy or false status.
Final Output Contract
Repository:
Mode:
Documents:
Source evidence:
Decision-state changes:
Actions:
Validation:
New failures:
Pre-existing conflicts:
Remaining risks:
Follow-up:
Reference Routing
- Read
references/documentation-standards.mdbefore creating, moving, or reorganizing docs. - Read
references/adr-rfc-templates.mdfor ADR, RFC, decision-state, or supersession work. - Maintain trigger scenarios in
evals/trigger-validation.json. - Maintain behavior scenarios in
evals/behavior-evals.json.