Documentation

Documentation

Iron Law

DOCUMENT ONLY WHAT NEEDS PROSE. KEEP DOCS NEAR THE CODE, CONTRACT, OR TEAM THAT MAINTAINS THEM.

When to Use

• The user asks for or approves writing/reviewing READMEs, ADRs, runbooks, tutorials, how-to guides, reference docs, module docs, requirements, acceptance criteria, user stories, or code comments.
• Authoring or revising Consult SKILL.md files; skills are documentation for agents and follow the same clarity rules.
• Deciding whether prose is needed or whether a type, schema, generated reference, test, or command output should be the source of truth.

When NOT to Use

• Ordinary implementation where docs might later be useful but were not requested, approved, or required by a validator. Name the possible docs gap in the final response instead of editing docs.
• API contract design; use api.
• Release coordination, changelog process, release notes, version manifests, or migration notes; use release. Those artifacts land only during release prep.
• Alert mechanics and dashboards; use observability.

Core Ideas

1. Documentation is a separate work product, not an implementation reflex. Before editing docs outside the user's request, ask whether docs are in scope unless a repo validator requires the update.
2. Living documentation has an owner, a nearby source of truth, and a change path; orphaned prose becomes misinformation.
3. One doc has one reader situation: tutorial, how-to, reference, explanation, or runbook.
4. Build the reader's knowledge in layers. Name the starting point, introduce terms before relying on them, and move from prerequisite concepts to working steps to deeper reference. Do not make readers infer the path.
5. Link to source-of-truth artifacts instead of restating generated facts. Put docs next to the code or service whose reviewers can catch drift.
6. Write the why, context, and tradeoffs; let code/tests/schemas prove mechanics.
7. Write like Hemingway, not David Foster Wallace. Short, direct sentences. Concrete nouns and verbs. No throat-clearing, no clever style, no unexplained jargon. Do not use em dashes; use periods, colons, commas, or parentheses instead. Keep only words that earn their place.
8. Delete stale docs when you cannot fix them now.
9. Comments explain why and how when names, types, schemas, tests, or local structure cannot. Encode the rule in code or tests first; add a comment only when the reason remains non-obvious.
10. Runbooks are operational artifacts: symptom, diagnosis, remediation, verification, escalation.
11. Large project docs use the repo's existing docs system. If none exists, choose one during scaffolding or with user approval.
12. Requirements docs should make behavior, constraints, and acceptance explicit. Use user-story format only when it helps; do not let template wording replace concrete acceptance criteria.

Workflow

1. Confirm documentation should run now. Continue only when docs are requested, approved after a concrete gap is found, or required by validation.
2. Identify the reader's immediate question and choose the doc mode. Title the doc as that question.
3. Map the reader's starting knowledge. Add the missing concept, term, prerequisite, or example before the step that depends on it.
4. Check whether the answer already lives in code, schema, tests, CLI help, OpenAPI, or a dashboard. Write only the missing context and link authoritative sources.
5. Add verification: commands, expected state, review owner, or drill requirement. Remove stale or duplicated sections encountered during the edit.
6. For PRDs, specs, issues, user stories, or acceptance criteria, read references/requirements-and-acceptance.md and write from the user's goal to observable behavior.

Verification

• The skill ran because docs were requested, approved after a concrete docs gap was found, or required by validation.
• The doc has one mode and one audience situation.
• The doc builds knowledge in order: starting point, terms, prerequisites, task, then deeper reference.
• Generated/reference facts link to the source of truth.
• README, ADR, runbook, comment, requirements, or acceptance content matches its mode: concise README, one-decision ADR, operational runbook, non-obvious why/how comments, observable acceptance criteria.
• Stale sections are deleted or marked with a tracked rewrite owner.
• CHANGELOG, release notes, migration notes, and version manifests remain under release.

Tripwires

Use these when the shortcut thought appears:

• Link generated or authoritative sources and write only missing context.
• Keep README to purpose, install/run, minimal usage, and links onward.
• Teach terms and prerequisites before using them in steps or reference.
• Encode rules in names, types, schemas, or tests before adding comments.
• Route CHANGELOG, release notes, migration notes, and version manifests to release.
• Ask before editing docs for an implementation change unless docs were requested or validation requires them.
• Write concrete behavior, constraints, non-goals, and proof; templates do not replace acceptance criteria.
• Delete stale prose or mark it with a tracked rewrite owner.
• Split long sentences and keep the concrete decision, contract, workflow, or reader action.

Handoffs

• api: OpenAPI and wire-contract shape.
• observability: alert/runbook signal definitions.
• git-workflow: commit/PR history docs.
• release: CHANGELOG, release notes, migration notes, version manifests.
• proof: acceptance criteria as completion evidence.

References

• ADR template: status, date, context, decision, consequences.
• Requirements and acceptance criteria: references/requirements-and-acceptance.md.

Source: kreek/consult — distributed by TomeVault.