agentsclimarketplace
Sign in

Docs writer

Skill byerlikaya/claude-starter-kit/plugin/skills/docs-writer

Keeps documentation in sync with the code: README, usage and related docs when a public API or behavior changes. Leaves no dead or misleading docs behind. Trigger phrases: "documentation", "docs", "update README", "API docs", "write docs", "document it", "write usage"From its SKILL.md

Install
npx -y skills add byerlikaya/claude-starter-kit --skill docs-writer

Assembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.

One thing to look at

  • 20 stars20 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.

SKILL.md

2.8 KB, 600 tokens by cl100k_base, as published. Nobody here has run it

Documentation

Goal: the docs must match the code. Wrong/stale docs are worse than no docs (they inspire trust and mislead). Trigger: when a public API, command, configuration, or user-visible behavior changes.

When it is mandatory

  • A public function/endpoint/CLI signature or behavior changed.
  • A new feature, configuration key, or environment variable was added.
  • The install/run steps changed.
  • A breaking change was made (also coordinate via release/CHANGELOG).

Checklist

  • Docs are up to date for the changed public surface
  • Examples work (copy-paste tested / mentally traced)
  • Dead/misleading wording removed (no leftover old name/parameter)
  • New configuration/env documented (default + whether required)
  • Scope minimal — not a repetition of the code, but "why/how to use it"
  • No secret/real credential in the docs (use a placeholder)

How

  1. Identify the changed surface — extract the public signature/behavior diff from the diff.
  2. Find the right doc — README, docs/, docstring, OpenAPI, command --help. If there is more than one, update them all.
  3. Write: what it does · how it is called (example) · input/output · limits/error cases. Short and correct.
  4. Verify the examples — does the command/code example actually run.
  5. Clean up the old — delete references to removed APIs/parameters.
  6. Translation: if the user-visible doc is multilingual, coordinate with i18n-integrity.

Principles

  • Single source — behavior lives in the code; the doc explains it, does not copy it (a copied doc goes stale).
  • Example > paragraph — a working example beats three paragraphs.
  • Minimal — don't write a giant doc no one will maintain; answer the most-asked question.

Co-authoring a longer doc (guide, tutorial, README rewrite)

For a substantial doc the content lives in the author's head, not the diff — don't guess it. Interview for intent and audience, draft in passes, and let the user steer before you polish. The collaborative workflow (audience/intent questions, outline-first, section-by-section drafting, revision loop): references/coauthoring.md.

Invariant rules

  1. Correctness > completeness — don't write a wrong doc; if unsure, flag it/ask.
  2. Examples must work.
  3. Leave no stale/dead docs.
  4. No secret/real credential — use a placeholder (aligned with §4).
  5. Don't repeat the code — don't just copy the signature; explain the usage.

What ships with it: 1 file

2.3 KB alongside SKILL.md

references/

Gives 0 of the 12 instructions most docs writing skills give in 600 tokens

Counted across 1,637 of the 3,044 authors here whose files we hold, read 2026-08-07

  • Announce the skill at startin 54 of 1637, across 26 files
  • Convert legacy doc files before editingin 45 of 1637, across 7 files
  • Predict questions readers might askin 42 of 1637, across 4 files
  • Generate clarifying questions for initial contextin 42 of 1637, across 3 files
  • Create document scaffold with placeholder textin 42 of 1637, across 3 files
  • Brainstorm content options for each sectionin 42 of 1637, across 3 files
  • Test the document with a fresh context-less instancein 42 of 1637, across 3 files
  • Include exact file paths in every taskin 42 of 1637, across 15 files
  • Ask interview questions one at a timein 42 of 1637, across 27 files
  • Apply surgical edits during refinementin 41 of 1637, across 2 files
  • Offer structured workflow or freeformin 40 of 1637, across 1 file
  • Ask for document meta-contextin 40 of 1637, across 2 files

Said here and by no other author read

  • keep docs in sync with changed code
  • test or trace all documentation examples
  • delete references to removed APIs
  • explain usage rather than copy code
  • ask when uncertain about content

Grouped from the skills themselves: near-identical wordings counted once, and counted by distinct author, so one author publishing three of these counts once. Length counted with cl100k_base; the agent that loads this file may tokenize it differently.

Keep looking

Skills are one crate of 326,835. Ordering is by how many stacks a row turns up in, so the top of any crate is what has actually been picked rather than what has the most stars.