documentation-workflow

name	documentation-workflow
description	> Use when this capability is needed.

/documentation-workflow — Skill-at-T0 Orchestrator

This skill's body is injected into the user's T0 session and executed there. The retired documentation-master-agent is NOT dispatched (deprecated Phase 3.5, 2026-04-25); its orchestration lives here.

Why skill-at-T0: Platform constraint documented in Phases 3.1–3.4 — dispatched subagents don't receive the Agent tool (Anthropic docs).

Input: $ARGUMENTS — optional scope. Default is all.

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CLI Signature

/documentation-workflow [scope] [--dry-run] [--skip-staleness]

Argument / Flag	Default	Meaning
scope	all	all | adr | api | structure | staleness
--dry-run	off	Produce proposed changes without writing them
--skip-staleness	off	Skip the staleness audit (STEP 5)

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STEP 1: INIT

1. Parse args. Normalize scope to one of the 5 values.
2. Read config .claude/config/workflow-contracts.yaml (hub repo: config/workflow-contracts.yaml; if absent, use the inline steps below — this skill is self-contained) → workflows.documentation. master_agent should be null; sub_orchestrators empty.
3. Generate run_id. {ISO-8601}_{7-char git sha} with : → -.
4. Initialize state at .workflows/documentation/state.json (schema 2.0.0) with step_status for all steps, dispatches_used: 0, scope: "<arg>", dry_run: <bool>.
5. Detect context. Git log for architecture-relevant commits since last doc update; presence of openapi.yaml/openapi.json signals API lane.
6. Append INIT event.

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STEP 1.5: PREFLIGHT (dependency-closure gate — BLOCK on missing workers)

Before any dispatch, verify the runtime closure this workflow needs is present AND dispatchable. Pattern provisioning copies by tier and may not resolve a skill's full closure, so a project can have this skill without its workers — a silent inline run or a mid-dispatch crash is the failure this gate prevents.

• Required sub-skills (invoked via Skill()): adr, api-docs-generator, doc-structure-enforcer, doc-staleness. Check each exists at .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md (only those on the path you will actually run).
• Required worker agents (dispatched via Agent()): docs-manager-agent (when bulk drafting runs). File presence (.claude/agents/<name>.md) is necessary but NOT sufficient — the agent registry is pinned at session start (pattern-structure.md → "registry session-pinning"), so probe runtime dispatchability for any agent on the path about to run.
• On any missing/undispatchable dependency → BLOCK with verdict WORKER_REGISTRY_NOT_LOADED, list what is missing, and emit: "run /update-practices to provision the closure, then RESTART the session (agent registry is pinned at session start), then re-run." Write the BLOCKED verdict to this workflow's report artifact and STOP.

Only when the required closure is present and dispatchable, continue.

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STEP 2: ADR (skip if scope ∉ {all, adr} OR no architecture decisions detected)

Skill("/adr", args="create-from-recent-commits")

Scans recent commits for ADR-worthy changes (new dependencies, schema migrations, API contract changes, architectural patterns). Writes to docs/adr/. Honors --dry-run. If no candidates: mark SKIPPED.

Capture paths into state.artifacts.adrs.

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STEP 3: API_DOCS (skip if scope ∉ {all, api} OR no OpenAPI spec)

Skill("/api-docs-generator", args="<project root>")

Extracts API annotations, regenerates OpenAPI spec + Redoc/Swagger UI under docs/api/. Validates against API tests.

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STEP 4: STRUCTURE (skip if scope ∉ {all, structure})

Skill("/doc-structure-enforcer", args="audit")

Verifies docs follow Diataxis or project layout (docs/.structure.yml). audit reports without moves; enforce mode does git mv. If --dry-run, always audit. Otherwise, prompt user before transitioning to enforce. Never auto-mv without confirmation.

Optional: docs-manager-agent dispatch (bulk content drafting)

If audit reveals substantial missing content:

Agent(subagent_type="docs-manager-agent", prompt="""
## Workflow: documentation
## Run ID: <run_id>
## Audit report: <structure audit path>
## Scope: <list of missing doc targets>
## Dry-run: <bool>

Generate draft content for each missing target following the project's
doc structure. Return a contract listing produced drafts for user review.
""")

Increment dispatches_used by 1. Drafts go to docs-drafts/; nothing is promoted to docs/ without user review.

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STEP 5: STALENESS (skip if scope ∉ {all, staleness} OR --skip-staleness)

Skill("/doc-staleness", args="audit --since-last-sync")

Diffs code vs docs, flags references to removed/renamed symbols, broken links, stale examples. Severity-ranked report to test-results/doc-staleness.json.

Gate: if critical_stale_count > 0, transition to step_status.STALENESS = warned (NOT blocked — docs lag is common; surface but don't halt).

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STEP 6: REPORT

1. Finalize state. Write test-results/documentation-verdict.json:

   {
     "schema_version": "2.0.0",
     "run_id": "<run_id>",
     "result": "COMPLETED | WARNED",
     "scope": "<...>",
     "steps_executed": [...],
     "steps_skipped": [...],
     "artifacts": { "adrs": [...], "api_docs": [...],
                    "structure_moves": [...], "staleness_report": "<path>" },
     "staleness": { "critical": <n>  <n>  <n> 
        <n> 
      
   
   

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CRITICAL RULES

• MUST run STEP 1.5 PREFLIGHT before any dispatch and BLOCK with WORKER_REGISTRY_NOT_LOADED if a required sub-skill or worker agent (on the path being run) is missing/undispatchable. Provisioning does not always resolve dependency closures, so this skill can be present without its workers.
• MUST run at T0 — dispatching this as a worker strips Agent at runtime and the optional STEP 4 docs-manager-agent dispatch silently inlines.
• MUST NOT dispatch documentation-master-agent (deprecated 2026-04-25, 2-cycle window).
• MUST NOT auto-execute doc-structure-enforcer in enforce mode without user confirmation — file moves are disruptive.
• MUST NOT treat staleness as hard block — it's warning-only.
• MUST respect --dry-run across all steps — no file writes.
• MUST write .workflows/documentation/state.json + events.jsonl after every step transition.

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Source: abhayla/claude-best-practices — distributed by TomeVault.