Alexnodeland Principled Docs Strategy

Documentation Strategy — Background Knowledge

This skill provides Claude Code with comprehensive knowledge of the Principled documentation strategy. It is not directly invocable — it informs Claude's behavior when documentation-related context is encountered.

When to Consult This Skill

Activate this knowledge when:

• Working with any file in docs/proposals/, docs/plans/, docs/decisions/, or docs/architecture/
• Creating, editing, or reviewing README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, CLAUDE.md, or INTERFACE.md
• Discussing documentation structure, naming conventions, or lifecycle rules
• A user asks about the documentation pipeline or module documentation strategy
• Scaffolding a new module or validating an existing one

Reference Documentation

Read these files for detailed guidance on specific topics:

Structure and Components

• reference/structure-spec.md — Complete structural definition per module type: which directories and files are required for core, lib, and app modules, plus the root-level structure.
• reference/component-guide.md — Purpose, audience, and content expectations for every documentation component (proposals, plans, decisions, architecture docs, README, CONTRIBUTING, CLAUDE, INTERFACE, runbooks, integration docs, config docs).

Naming and Numbering

• reference/naming-conventions.md — NNN-short-title.md patterns, slug rules (lowercase, hyphens, no special characters), zero-padding to 3 digits, sequence numbering rules, fixed-name files, directory naming.

Lifecycles and Immutability

• reference/lifecycle-rules.md — Proposal state machine (draft → in-review → accepted|rejected|superseded), plan lifecycle (active → complete|abandoned), ADR immutability contract (immutable after acceptance, superseded_by exception), valid transitions, and terminal state rules.

Domain-Driven Development

• reference/ddd-decomposition.md — How to apply DDD concepts when creating implementation plans: bounded contexts, aggregates, domain events, task decomposition, and practical examples.

Pipeline Overview

• diagrams/pipeline-overview.md — Visual representation of the Proposals → Decisions → Plans pipeline, lifecycle flows, data flow between stages, immutability boundaries, and module vs. root scope.

Key Principles

1. Existence is enforced, content is organic. Structure must be present. Placeholder TODOs are acceptable. Missing files are not.
2. Living docs reference immutable records. Architecture docs link to ADRs. ADRs are never modified after acceptance (except superseded_by).
3. Docs have audiences. Every file exists for a named reader in a named situation.
4. Proposals have lifecycles. Draft → In Review → Accepted/Rejected/Superseded.
5. Plans use domain-driven decomposition. Bounded contexts, aggregates, domain events, and concrete tasks.

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