| name | doc-maintenance |
| description | Keep project docs aligned with recent code and feature changes — detect drift, update affected pages, and add release-relevant notes without rewriting unchanged sections. |
| key | paperclipai/bundled/docs/doc-maintenance |
| recommendedForRoles | ["engineer","product","devrel"] |
| tags | ["docs","documentation","release-notes"] |
Doc Maintenance
Keep the documentation honest with minimum churn. The goal is alignment between docs and behavior, not stylistic rewrites or cosmetic re-organization. Reviewers should be able to read a diff and see "this updates docs to match recent behavior changes".
When to use
- A PR or recent set of merges changed user-visible behavior: CLI flags, API shapes, default values, configuration keys, endpoints, environment variables, supported versions.
- A user-reported bug traced back to outdated documentation.
- A release is being cut and the docs need a pass against the merged commits.
- A new feature shipped but only the engineer's PR description describes how to use it.
When not to use
- The change is internal-only (private helper rename, refactor) with no user-visible impact.
- You want to "improve the docs" without a behavior anchor. That is a separate scoped project, not maintenance — make a plan first.
The pass
- Establish the baseline. Get the commit range you are documenting against (since last release tag, since last merged-doc commit, or since a specific PR).
- Enumerate user-visible changes. Read commits and PR descriptions. List, for each change, what a user can now do differently.
- Map changes to docs. For each change, find every page that mentions the affected concept. Common targets: README, CLI reference, API reference, configuration reference, migration guide, FAQ, examples.
- Update precisely. Edit only the lines that need to change. Do not rewrap paragraphs you did not modify — it pollutes the diff.
- Add new entries where needed. New CLI flag → CLI reference entry. New env var → configuration reference entry. New endpoint → API reference entry. Don't only add it to the changelog.
- Update examples and snippets. Code blocks in docs are wrong faster than prose. Re-run any example that touches new behavior.
- Write the release note. One sentence per user-visible change. Group by Added / Changed / Fixed / Deprecated / Removed. Link to the relevant PRs and docs section.
- Cross-check. Search the docs for the old behavior wording and remove or update stragglers.
Style baseline
- Voice: second person ("you can pass
--json to ..."). Avoid "we" except in narrative pages.
- Tense: present, not future. The behavior exists once shipped.
- Headings: imperative ("Configure the cache") or noun-phrase ("Cache configuration"), match the surrounding page.
- Code blocks: include the language tag so syntax highlighting works.
- Cross-links: link the first mention of a concept on each page; do not link every occurrence.
- Avoid promising future behavior. If something is unreleased, mark it
experimental or omit it.
Drift detection
A doc page is drifting if any of these are true:
- It documents a flag, key, or endpoint that no longer exists.
- An example does not run as written.
- A default value in the docs does not match the code.
- A supported-versions list excludes a version the project actually supports, or includes one it dropped.
- A "Coming soon" section references a feature that shipped or was cancelled.
When you find drift, fix it in the same pass and note it in the release note's Fixed group.
Release-note rules
- One sentence per item. If two sentences are needed, the item is likely two items.
- User impact first, internal cause second.
Faster cold start (avoid full bundle download on first run) beats Refactor bootstrap loader.
- Link the PR for engineering readers and the docs page for users.
- Mark breaking changes explicitly:
**Breaking:** prefix. Include migration steps inline or via link.
Anti-patterns
- Massive doc PRs that bundle stylistic rewrites with real updates. Reviewers cannot tell which lines reflect actual behavior changes.
- "Updated docs" commit messages with no detail. Make the commit say what changed and why.
- Adding to the changelog without updating the reference docs the changelog points to.
- Marking a feature as available before its code lands. Documentation must follow behavior, not promise it.
