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Documentation Skill

Build a documentation skill for AI agents with source inputs, doc outputs, SKILL.md outline, governance controls, and quality checks.

10 min read
Axiom Studio Team· Engineering

What This Skill Does

Target user

Engineering, developer-relations, product, and support teams that maintain docs from changing source material.

Search intent

Learn how to package repeatable documentation updates into an auditable AI-agent skill.

Use When

  • A code, API, product, or policy change needs matching documentation.
  • The team wants consistent release notes, guides, READMEs, or reference updates.
  • Documentation must cite source files or tickets instead of relying on memory.

Do Not Use When

  • The agent cannot access the source artifact behind the documentation change.
  • The request is to invent unsupported product claims or customer references.
  • The documentation requires legal, compliance, or pricing approval not present in the work item.

Required Inputs

  • Source diff, API schema, product brief, ticket, or release note.
  • Target docs path and audience.
  • Voice, terminology, and style guide.
  • Required review gates for legal, compliance, or product claims.

Expected Outputs

  • Updated documentation or a proposed patch.
  • Source references used to justify changes.
  • Open questions where source material is missing.
  • Quality checklist covering accuracy, links, examples, and stale claims.

A documentation skill turns source-grounded writing into a repeatable agent workflow. It helps agents update docs, release notes, guides, or READMEs without inventing unsupported claims.

The skill is especially useful when docs must follow a house style, cite source artifacts, and surface review gates for product, legal, security, or compliance owners.

Documentation Workflow

Skill example

The agent should start with the source artifact, not with a blank page. Code diffs, schemas, product briefs, tickets, and official docs are stronger evidence than memory or nearby prose.

After drafting, the agent should verify links, examples, headings, and unsupported claims, then state what remains unverified.

Skill Folder and SKILL.md Outline

Skill example

Documentation skills benefit from references because style, terminology, and source priority rules can be longer than the main procedure.

The SKILL.md should define inputs, source order, writing constraints, output format, and review gates. It should not authorize unsupported marketing, legal, or compliance claims.

Suggested Folder Files

1

SKILL.md - documentation workflow, source requirements, output format, and stop conditions.

2

references/style-guide.md - voice, terminology, formatting, and banned claims.

3

references/source-priority.md - source order for code, docs, tickets, and external docs.

4

templates/doc-update.md - structured summary and review checklist.

Illustrative SKILL.md outline

---
name: documentation
description: Update or draft documentation from source artifacts with citations, style consistency, and explicit review gates.
---
1. Identify the source artifact and target audience before drafting.
2. Read the relevant code, schema, ticket, or product source directly.
3. Update only claims supported by source material.
4. Preserve existing docs structure and terminology unless asked to reorganize.
5. List unresolved questions and required human review gates.

No unsafe executable examples

This outline is intentionally non-executable. Add helper scripts only after security review, provenance checks, and platform-specific permission review.

Platform Compatibility Notes

Skill example

Docs workflows are broadly portable, but each platform discovers and loads skill files differently. Keep the writing process portable and the install instructions platform-specific.

If a docs skill depends on web access or external source lookup, document that dependency explicitly and verify whether the runtime permits it.

Platform Compatibility Notes

1

Claude Code: use project skills for repo docs conventions and keep CLAUDE.md for standing repository rules.

2

Codex: pair documentation skills with AGENTS.md source-reading expectations so docs stay grounded in the repo.

3

OpenCode: ensure global documentation skills do not override product-specific terminology unexpectedly.

4

OpenClaw: review registry-installed doc skills before allowing them to rewrite public docs.

Governance Controls

Skill example

Documentation is part of the product surface. A docs skill should make claims easier to audit, not easier to fabricate.

For public docs, the review record should include source artifacts, changed paths, verification commands, and the owner for any unverified claim.

Governance Controls

1

Require source references for product, security, pricing, and compliance claims.

2

Gate legal, customer, benchmark, and roadmap claims through the right owner.

3

Log changed docs paths and source artifacts.

4

Run link, build, or docs tests when the repo provides them.

Quality Checklist

1

Every new claim is supported by a source artifact.

2

Examples compile or are clearly marked illustrative.

3

Links and anchors are valid after the change.

4

The output states what was not verified.

Govern the documentation skill through tracked work

VibeFlow ties reusable agent skills to work items, execution logs, commits, security review, QA, and durable context so teams can see which workflow influenced each change.

See VibeFlow

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Continue Learning

What Are Agent Skills?

The reusable skill model and SKILL.md anatomy.

Frontend Design Skill

A related skill pattern for user-facing interface work.

Code Review Skill

Review source changes before documenting their behavior.

What is AI Software Engineering?

How docs fit into AI-assisted software delivery.

Claude Skills

How Claude Code discovers and loads documentation skills.