Three Tier Docs

SKILL: Three-Tier Documentation

Purpose: Auto-sync documentation across 3 tiers (CLAUDE.md → CONTEXT.md → docs/) Target: Documenter agent after implementation

Quick Start

When to Use This Skill

• After implementing features
• After refactoring code
• After creating new components
• Run via /document command

Quick Reference

# Tier 1: Sync 3 Entry Point documents
# - CLAUDE.md (≤200 lines)
# - docs/ai-context/project-structure.md
# - docs/ai-context/docs-overview.md

# Tier 2: Component CONTEXT.md (≤200 lines)
# - Purpose, key files, patterns

# Tier 3: Feature CONTEXT.md (≤200 lines)
# - Implementation details

What This Skill Covers

In Scope

• 3-tier documentation hierarchy (CLAUDE.md, CONTEXT.md, docs/)
• Size limits and content organization
• Auto-sync patterns after code changes

Out of Scope

• Detailed templates → @.claude/skills/three-tier-docs/REFERENCE.md
• Verification skills → docs-verify
• Git documentation workflow → @.claude/skills/git-master/SKILL.md

Core Concepts

3-Tier Hierarchy

Tier 1: Entry Points (3 files only)

• CLAUDE.md - Architecture, features, Quick Start (≤200 lines)
• docs/ai-context/project-structure.md - Tech stack, file tree (≤200 lines)
• docs/ai-context/docs-overview.md - Documentation navigation, Tier mapping (≤200 lines)
• Required: CLAUDE.md top section must reference the other 2 files
• Constraint: docs/ai-context/ folder must contain exactly 2 files

Tier 2: CONTEXT.md (Component Directory)

• Purpose: Component context
• Content: Purpose, key files, patterns
• Size: ≤200 lines per file
• Scope: Component-level context

Tier 3: CONTEXT.md (Feature Directory)

• Purpose: Feature implementation details
• Content: Implementation details, deep-dive
• Size: ≤200 lines per file
• Scope: Feature-level context

Content Organization

Execution Steps

Step 1: Sync Tier 1 Documents

Tier 1 Structure (3 files total):

• CLAUDE.md - Project architecture, features, Quick Start (≤200 lines)
• docs/ai-context/project-structure.md - Tech stack, file tree
• docs/ai-context/docs-overview.md - Documentation navigation, Tier mapping

Required: CLAUDE.md must reference project-structure.md and docs-overview.md at the top

Verification:

# Check Tier 1 files exist
for file in "CLAUDE.md" "docs/ai-context/project-structure.md" "docs/ai-context/docs-overview.md"; do
  if [ ! -f "$file" ]; then
    echo "FAIL: Missing Tier 1 file: $file"
    exit 1
  fi
done

# Check CLAUDE.md references the other 2 files
if ! grep -q "project-structure.md" CLAUDE.md || ! grep -q "docs-overview.md" CLAUDE.md; then
  echo "FAIL: CLAUDE.md must reference project-structure.md and docs-overview.md"
  exit 1
fi

echo "✓ Tier 1 documents verified"

Step 2: Generate Component CONTEXT.md Files

Target directories: Any directory with code files (e.g., src/, components/, lib/)

Script: See REFERENCE.md for full bash implementation

# Generate CONTEXT.md for key directories
for dir in src/ components/ lib/ .claude/commands/ .claude/skills/ .claude/agents/; do
  [ -d "$dir" ] || continue
  [ -f "$dir/CONTEXT.md" ] && [ -s "$dir/CONTEXT.md" ] && continue
  # Generate template (see REFERENCE.md for full script)
  echo "✓ Generated $dir/CONTEXT.md"
done

Size Limit: ≤200 lines per file

Step 3: Verify Documentation Compliance

Invoke the docs-verify skill for comprehensive validation.

Validation includes:

• Tier 1 line limits (≤200 lines): CLAUDE.md, project-structure.md, docs-overview.md
• ai-context file count (exactly 2 files)
• Cross-reference validation
• Circular reference detection

Script: See @.claude/skills/docs-verify/SKILL.md for full verification commands

Step 4: Inline Verification

Verify documentation compliance immediately after update:

# 1. Tier 1 Line Limits (≤200)
for file in CLAUDE.md docs/ai-context/*.md; do
  [ -f "$file" ] || continue
  lines=$(wc -l < "$file" | tr -d ' ')
  [ "$lines" -gt 200 ] && echo "FAIL: $file has $lines lines (limit: 200)"
done

# 2. ai-context file count (exactly 2)
count=$(find docs/ai-context -maxdepth 1 -name "*.md" -type f | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
[ "$count" -ne 2 ] && echo "FAIL: docs/ai-context/ has $count files (expected: 2)"

# 3. Cross-reference check
grep -oE '@[^][:space:]]+' CLAUDE.md | while read ref; do
  [ ! -e "${ref#@}" ] && echo "Broken: $ref"
done

Verification Failure Recovery

Line count violations: CLAUDE.md >200 lines → Extract to docs/ai-context/ | CONTEXT.md >200 lines → Move examples or simplify

Broken cross-references: Check file exists with test -f {path} | Use absolute paths (e.g., @.claude/skills/...)

Missing frontmatter: Add required fields (name, description) | Validate with yamllint {file}

Recovery Steps: Invoke docs-verify skill → Find violating file → Apply fix from REFERENCE.md → Re-verify

Further Reading

Internal: @.claude/skills/three-tier-docs/REFERENCE.md - Complete templates, examples, verification patterns | @.claude/skills/documentation-best-practices/SKILL.md - Size limits, quality standards

External: Documentation System Design | Writing for AI

Version: claude-pilot 4.4.15

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