# Documentation Hygiene > Use when reviewing documentation quality, when establishing README and changelog standards, when preventing doc rot, when in-code comments duplicate code instead of explaining intent, or when subdirectories of a repo have no documentation entry point. - Skill: `tomevault-io/documentation-hygiene` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/documentation-hygiene` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/documentation-hygiene/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/documentation-hygiene --- # Documentation Hygiene ## Overview Define the project's documentation contract — what gets documented, where it lives, how it stays current — *before* docs rot. Output is `.forge/docs-policy.md`: README standard per repo and subdirectory, in-code comment policy (WHY not WHAT), doc-rot prevention rules (dates, code links, generated docs), public-vs-internal doc split, and changelog discipline. Pairs with `code-review-and-quality` (review enforces the policy) and `shipping-and-launch` (CHANGELOG updated per release). ## When to Use - A repo is older than 3 months and the README hasn't been touched since the first commit - Subdirectories have grown to 5+ files with no entry-point doc - In-code comments are mostly restating the code instead of explaining intent - A new contributor takes >2 hours to figure out where things live - A release shipped without a CHANGELOG entry - A doc references a system that no longer exists ## When NOT to Use - Greenfield project, day one — README will exist; full policy can wait until week 2 - Throwaway prototype - A single typo fix in one doc ## Common Rationalizations | Thought | Reality | |---------|---------| | "The code is self-documenting" | Code shows *what*, not *why*. Two months later the original author cannot reconstruct why. | | "Docs get stale anyway, why bother" | Dated docs with code links rot slower than undated docs. The half-life of a comment near its code is years; far from its code, weeks. | | "README is enough" | README without subdirectory docs creates a treasure hunt for every new contributor. | | "We'll document before launch" | You won't. And if you do, the doc will be wrong because you'll write it from memory. | | "Comments are noise" | Comments that explain WHY are signal. Comments that restate the code are noise. The fix is to write the right comments, not to delete all comments. | | "Generated docs are good enough" | Generated docs answer "what does this function take" — not "when should I call it" or "what changes if I don't." | ## Red Flags - A README that hasn't been touched since the repo was created - A subdirectory with 10+ files and no entry-point doc - A comment that restates the code: `// increment i by 1` next to `i++` - A doc with no last-updated date or commit reference - A dead link in any doc (broken internal link or 404 external) - A CHANGELOG missing entries for the last 2 releases - A doc describing a system that was deleted or renamed 3 months ago - "TODO: document this" markers older than 90 days ## Core Process ### Step 1: Define the README standard In `.forge/docs-policy.md`, the README contract for every repo top-level: ```markdown # One-sentence description. ## What this is 2-3 sentence description. ## Status Stable / Beta / Experimental — and what that means for breaking changes. ## Quick start The single command (or 3) that gets a developer running. ## Where things live Pointers to subdirectory READMEs. ## Contributing How to propose a change. Link to CONTRIBUTING.md if it exists. ## License SPDX identifier. ``` For every subdirectory with >5 files: a README that answers "what is in here, why is it here, who owns it." ### Step 2: Set the in-code comment policy The rule: **explain WHY, not WHAT.** | Bad (WHAT) | Good (WHY) | |---|---| | `// increment i` | `// skip the sentinel row at index 0` | | `// loop over users` | `// fan-out concurrency capped at 5 to respect upstream rate limit` | | `// returns null` | `// returns null when the user has been soft-deleted; callers must filter` | | `// magic number 86400` | `// 86400 = 24h in seconds; matches the auth token TTL in config.ts` | Comments are required for: - Non-obvious algorithmic choices (why this sort order, why this caching) - Workarounds (`// workaround for issue-1234 in upstream-lib v3.x`) - Cross-file invariants (`// invariant: ordersByUser is updated by users.ts:create()`) - Hot-path performance decisions Comments are forbidden for: - Restating the obvious - Commented-out code (delete it; git remembers) - Personal opinions ### Step 3: Establish doc-rot prevention Every doc carries: - **Last-updated date** at the top (or a `` footer) - **Code links** that resolve at HEAD (use permalinks to `main`, not commit hashes) — if the link 404s, CI fails - **A scope statement** — what this doc covers, what it doesn't - **An owner** — a person or team responsible for keeping it current Prefer generated docs (typedoc, rustdoc, godoc) for API reference. Hand-written docs for *concepts*, *workflows*, and *decisions* (ADRs). ### Step 4: Define the public-vs-internal doc split In `.forge/docs-policy.md`: - **Public docs** — user-facing, marketing-grade, versioned (cross-ref `api-design` for endpoint docs) - **Internal docs** — engineering-facing, in-repo, allowed to assume context (`CONTRIBUTING.md`, ADRs, runbooks) - **Confidential docs** — credentials, customer data, financials — never in the repo Each doc has a banner indicating its tier. ### Step 5: Set changelog discipline Follow [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com): one entry per user-visible change, grouped by `Added`, `Changed`, `Deprecated`, `Removed`, `Fixed`, `Security`. Breaking changes flagged with `BREAKING:` prefix. Refactors don't get entries unless they affect performance, security, or behavior. Updated *in the PR that makes the change*, not at release time. ### Step 6: Audit for dead links and stale docs CI job runs weekly: - Check every internal link resolves - Check every external link returns 2xx - Flag any doc with last-updated > 180 days where the linked code has changed since - Flag any TODO older than 90 days Failures open tickets, not block CI (these are guideposts, not gates). ## Verification - [ ] `.forge/docs-policy.md` written - [ ] Every repo top-level has a README following the standard - [ ] Every subdirectory with 5+ files has a README - [ ] No comment in the codebase restates obvious code (spot-check via review) - [ ] No commented-out code in the codebase (grep `^// .*[a-zA-Z(]` for obvious patterns) - [ ] Every doc has a last-updated date and an owner - [ ] CHANGELOG entries exist for the last 5 releases, grouped by Keep-a-Changelog categories - [ ] No dead links in any in-repo doc (CI verified) - [ ] No TODO comments older than 90 days without a tracking issue --- > Source: [aneja5/forge-skills](https://github.com/aneja5/forge-skills) — distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io).