Project Overview Doc

Project Overview Document Generator

Produce a single, professional .docx document that lets a non-technical reader (product owner, manager, new hire) understand what a project is, why it exists, and who's involved — with zero architecture or implementation detail. Technical readers get that from the companion architecture-document and high-level-design skills.

Sections (in this order)

Cover page, Version History, Document Approval, Revision Log, and the Table of Contents are inserted automatically by the builder — your sections array starts at "1. Project Overview".

Diagram Policy

Applies to the .docx path only — Markdown embeds Mermaid source directly instead of rendering anything (see "Output Format" below).

Prefer a real Mermaid diagram — rendered via mmdc and embedded with B.diagramImage() — over diagramPlaceholder(), but only once you have concrete structure to draw (real names, not "TBD"). Read references/diagram-generation.md when you're actually about to render one — it has the full build order, the bundled config (assets/mermaid-config.json), the exact mmdc flags, and token-saving tips. Skip it entirely if this document ends up needing no diagrams.

Missing Information Policy

Never invent business objectives, stakeholders, or workflow details you have no basis for — a fabricated-but-plausible detail is worse than an honest gap. Use toBeCompleted("...") for any section you lack real input for, explaining what's needed, and still generate everything else. If the user has a codebase, README, or existing docs available, prefer pulling real content from those over asking them to recall everything from memory.

Output Format

Ask the user which output format they want, unless they've already said so in this request (e.g., "as a docx", "in markdown," "just give me an .md file") — a quick single-choice question is enough, don't block on it otherwise:

• Word document (.docx) — the default assumption if the person hasn't specified and their context suggests a formal deliverable. Follow "Using the builder" below.

• Markdown (.md) — no script needed, write the file directly. Use these conventions so it stays structurally equivalent to the docx version:

  • Front matter: instead of a cover page, open with the title as an # heading, the project name as an italic subtitle line, then a metadata table instead of separate Version History / Approval / Revision Log tables:

    # Project Overview
    *Acme Order Platform*
    
    | Field | Value |
    |---|---|
    | Version | 0.1 |
    | Author | Jane Doe |
    | Date | 2026-07-19 |
    | Status | Draft |
    | Approved By | Jane Doe (Tech Lead) |
    

  • Headings: #/##/###/#### matching the same section levels used in the table above — don't flatten everything to one level, that's what keeps the document skimmable and consistent with the docx version.

  • Tables: standard Markdown tables.

  • Diagrams — unlike the .docx path, don't render or embed an image here. Write the actual Mermaid source directly in a fenced code block; GitHub, GitLab, Obsidian, and most modern Markdown viewers render mermaid code blocks natively, so this is a real diagram, not a placeholder:

    ```mermaid
    flowchart TD
        A[Client] --> B[API Gateway]
        B --> C[Order Service]
        C --> D[(Database)]
    ```
    

    Only fall back to a text placeholder if you don't yet have concrete enough detail to draw something real (mirrors toBeCompleted above):

    > 📊 **DIAGRAM PLACEHOLDER — TO BE COMPLETED**
    > Not enough detail yet to draw the System Architecture Diagram — need
    > the actual component names and how they connect.
    

  • "To be completed" callout — same blockquote treatment:

    > ⚠️ **TO BE COMPLETED**
    > Explanation of what input is needed to fill this in.
    

  • Save as Project_Overview.md instead of Project_Overview.docx.

Workflow

Ask the output format first (see "Output Format" above). For Markdown, skip straight to writing the file using those conventions — the numbered steps below describe the .docx path.

1. Gather what's available: project name/description, business objectives, scope, stakeholders — ask if not already given, but don't block on it.
2. Draft each section as data using the builder functions below.
3. Build the .docx with scripts/docx_builder.js.
4. Skip PDF conversion by default — docx_builder.js is already tested and hardened (table widths and text alignment are enforced at the library level), so routine generations don't need a re-render just to confirm it worked. Only convert to PDF and view it if the user explicitly asks for visual verification, or if something about this generation is unusual (e.g., a new kind of content the library hasn't handled before, or a reported rendering problem). When you do need it: soffice --headless --convert-to pdf <file>.docx (or libreoffice --headless ...), then pdftoppm -jpeg -r 100 <file>.pdf page and view the images.
5. Save to /mnt/user-data/outputs/Project_Overview.docx (or .md if that's the chosen format) and present it.

Using the builder (for the .docx path)

This library requires the docx npm package. Before running any script, check it's available with node -e "require('docx')"; if that fails, install it with npm install docx in the working directory first — don't assume it's pre-installed, since that varies by environment.

const B = require("./scripts/docx_builder.js");

const sections = [
  B.h1("1. Project Overview"),
  B.para("Acme Order Platform is an internal service that ..."),

  B.h1("2. Business Objectives"),
  ...B.bullets(["Reduce manual order-processing time by 40%", "..."]),

  B.h1("3. Scope"),
  B.h2("3.1 In Scope"),
  ...B.bullets(["Order intake and validation"]),
  B.h2("3.2 Out of Scope"),
  ...B.bullets(["Payment processing (handled by Acme Billing)"]),

  B.h1("6. Stakeholders"),
  B.table(["Name / Team", "Role", "Responsibility", "Contact"],
    [["Jane Doe", "Tech Lead", "Owns architecture decisions", "jane@acme.com"]],
    [2400, 2000, 3200, 1400]),

  B.h1("7. Business Workflow"),
  B.para("Orders flow from intake through validation, allocation, and dispatch."),

  // Prefer B.diagramImage(path, {caption}) with a real mmdc render when
  // possible (see "Diagram Policy" above) — diagramPlaceholder() is the fallback:
  B.diagramPlaceholder({
    name: "Business Process Flow",
    purpose: "Show the end-to-end order lifecycle from placement to fulfillment.",
    recommendedContent: ["Customer", "Order Service", "Inventory Service", "Fulfillment"],
  }),
];

await B.buildDocument("/mnt/user-data/outputs/Project_Overview.docx", {
  docLabel: "Project Overview",
  title: "Project Overview",
  subtitle: "Acme Order Platform",
  versionHistory: [["0.1", "2026-07-19", "Jane Doe", "Initial draft"]],
  approvers: [["Jane Doe", "Tech Lead", "", ""]],
  revisionLog: [],
  sections,
});

Available functions: h1/h2/h3/h4, para, bullets, table(headers, rows, widths), pageBreak, toBeCompleted(explanation), diagramPlaceholder({name, purpose, recommendedContent, notes}), and buildDocument(path, options). Always use the heading functions (not bold paragraphs) for section titles — Word builds the clickable Table of Contents and Navigation Pane from real heading styles.

Success Criteria

A product owner or new hire with zero technical background should finish this document understanding what the project is, why it matters to the business, and who to talk to — without needing any of the companion technical documents.