Documentation finalization

<!-- platform-assumptions: markdown skill guidance for VS Code custom agents in Agent Orchestra; applies to repository documentation and agent markdown updates. --> <!-- markdownlint-disable-file MD041 MD003 -->

Documentation Finalization

Reusable documentation-finalization process for implementation and design updates.

When to Use

• When implementation changed names, behavior, file paths, or architecture references in docs
• When a design document in Documents/Design/ must be created or updated for the current domain
• When obsolete placeholders, duplicate guidance, or stale references must be removed before completion
• When documentation work needs a consistent finalization checklist rather than ad hoc edits

Purpose

Make documentation reflect the shipped state of the repository. Treat deletion of stale content as first-class work, and verify every technical statement against implementation before leaving the documentation phase.

Documentation Areas

Development Docs

• Update current-state, setup, architecture, and workflow documents to match the implementation
• Replace outdated file paths, names, timelines, and phase markers
• Remove "not yet implemented" language once behavior exists

Design Docs

• Keep terminology aligned with actual classes, methods, scripts, headings, and behaviors
• Refresh examples, formulas, schemas, and interaction descriptions to match current behavior
• Remove placeholders such as TBD, coming soon, or obsolete alternative designs

Decision Docs

• Update existing ADRs when a shipped decision changed
• Create or refine decision records only when implementation introduced or documented an actual decision
• Remove obsolete decision records only when a newer source of truth fully supersedes them

Domain Design Docs

• Prefer updating an existing domain file when the feature extends an established design area
• Create a new Documents/Design/{domain-slug}.md file only when no current domain doc covers the feature area
• Keep domain docs focused on the current design state, not as per-issue changelogs

Documentation Maintenance Responsibilities

The documentation specialist is responsible for maintaining:

• CHANGELOG.md: Update BEFORE merge - add entry during PR documentation finalization.
• NEXT-STEPS.md: Update BEFORE merge - update priorities during PR finalization.
• QUICK-START.md: Update when tooling or setup instructions change.
• Documents/Decisions/: Create new decision records from issue body design content during the implementation phase - keep existing ADRs accurate.
• ROADMAP.md: Update when present - reflect milestone and priority changes from implemented features.

See also: Experience-Owner for customer framing documentation.

Finalization Workflow

1. Review the relevant implementation and determine what actually changed.
2. Update the affected development and design documents to match shipped behavior.
3. Apply any required decision-record updates tied to real implementation decisions.
4. Remove obsolete content, duplicate guidance, and placeholder text.
5. Verify terminology, file paths, cross-references, and examples against the codebase.
6. Run markdown formatting and repo validation before handing off completion.

Quality Checks

• Match code names, signatures, entity names, and workflow labels exactly
• Verify file paths, section cross-references, and command examples still exist
• Remove stale future-tense statements once the work shipped
• Prefer consolidation over duplication when multiple docs describe the same rule
• For domain design docs, describe the stable domain behavior rather than issue-by-issue history

Conciseness Guidelines

• Target roughly 150-250 lines per permanent document when practical
• Split a document when it serves multiple unrelated purposes or becomes hard to navigate
• Prefer linking to the authoritative doc instead of restating the same guidance in multiple places
• Value deletion as much as addition when reducing confusion

Validation

• Run markdownlint-cli2 --fix "**/*.md"
• Run pwsh -NoProfile -NonInteractive -File .github/scripts/quick-validate.ps1
• When agent markdown is edited, confirm the tools: frontmatter still matches the capabilities described in the body

Gotchas

Trigger	Gotcha	Fix
Updating docs from intent instead of code	Documentation drifts toward the plan rather than the shipped state	Verify names, paths, and behavior against the current implementation

Trigger	Gotcha	Fix
Turning a domain design doc into issue notes	The file becomes a changelog and stops reflecting the current UX	Rewrite the doc around current domain behavior and delete drift

Frame Ports Filled By This Skill

Port	Work adapter	Auto-N/A adapter	Explicit-skip adapter
implement-docs	agents/Doc-Keeper.agent.md; adapters/implement-docs-adapter.md	adapters/implement-docs-auto-na-adapter.md	adapters/implement-docs-explicit-skip-adapter.md

In /spine-run, the implement-docs port resolves through adapters/implement-docs-adapter.md as the work adapter executed by Senior Engineer. Hub-flow dispatch uses agents/Doc-Keeper.agent.md directly. This split-declaration state is documented in Documents/Design/frame-architecture.md; see footnote § (split-declaration #612).