Documentation Review

Scope

This skill applies to documentation files in /docs and docs-owned snippet files in docs/_snippets/. Do not use this skill for non-docs files (code, configuration, READMEs outside /docs).

Use This Skill When

• Asked to review, improve, rewrite, or author documentation in /docs.
• Asked for advice on page structure, doc type, audience, or content strategy for /docs.
• Asked to fix formatting, style, or compliance issues in /docs.

Use a Light Touch When

• The request is a trivial grammar or typo fix that does not need full diagnosis.
• The page is already structurally sound and only needs minor editorial cleanup.

Reference Files

This skill uses four reference files under references/. Load them in order and only as needed:

File	Owns	When to Load
references/docs-principles.md	North star, quality dimensions, dual-reader requirement	Always — read first
references/docs-strategy.md	Modes, doc types, intervention thresholds, page-shape guidance	Always — read second
references/docs-antipatterns.md	Diagnosis patterns and corrective moves	When diagnosing a weak or confusing draft
references/storybook-style.md	Editorial, MDX components, frontmatter, formatting, validation rules	In maintenance mode, or as the final pass of edit modes

Ownership Rules

• Strategy references do not own formatting or component rules.
• storybook-style.md does not own doc-type or intervention logic.
• This file (SKILL.md) owns workflow and handoffs only.

Workflow

Follow this sequence for every request. Steps 1–4 are diagnosis; steps 5–7 are action.

1. Determine the Requested Outcome

Read the user's request and map it to a mode:

Request Pattern	Mode
"Fix links, callouts, formatting"	maintenance
"Make this clearer", "improve this page"	improve
"This doc is a mess; rewrite it"	rewrite
"Draft docs for feature X"	author
"What kind of page should this be?"	strategy
"Review this doc" (unspecified)	hybrid — see below

Hybrid behavior: For vague asks like "review this doc":

• If the draft is obviously weak or the ask implies planning → critique-first (lead with diagnosis).
• If the page is decent and the ask implies cleanup → improve-first (lead with edits).

Default: When ambiguous, default to improve, not maintenance.

2. Determine the Primary Doc Type

Read the page and classify it using the doc types in references/docs-strategy.md:

• concept — explains what something is and why it matters
• task — walks the reader through accomplishing a goal
• reference — lookup for options, API, or config
• troubleshooting — diagnose and fix a problem
• migration — move from one version or approach to another
• decision guide — choose between options

Always select one primary type, even if the page contains secondary elements.

After selecting the primary type, identify any secondary sections — sections with their own heading whose content follows a different doc type's shape. Note these for Step 3. See "Common Secondary Sections" in references/docs-strategy.md for expected combinations.

3. Diagnose the Draft

Evaluate the page against the quality dimensions in references/docs-principles.md, in order:

1. Intent clarity
2. Audience fit
3. Information shape
4. Conceptual clarity
5. Task usability
6. Example quality
7. Economy

For secondary sections, evaluate dimensions 3 (Information Shape) and 5 (Task Usability) against the secondary section's own doc type, not the page's primary type. All other dimensions apply page-wide.

If the page shows signs of structural weakness, load references/docs-antipatterns.md and check for common patterns.

4. Choose the Intervention Level

Use the thresholds in references/docs-strategy.md:

• No structural issues, minor style problems → maintenance
• Structure is okay but framing, order, or examples are weak → improve
• Structure is wrong for the page's job → rewrite
• Page does not exist → author
• User wants advice, not edits → strategy

Hard rule: When the draft is structurally weak, do not stop at sentence-level edits. Reorder, split, replace examples, or rewrite the page shape.

Split/escalation rule: If the dominant job is unclear or the page serves multiple unrelated jobs, switch to strategy mode or recommend a page split before polishing. Well-structured secondary sections (see references/docs-strategy.md) are not a reason to split.

5. Improve or Plan

Execute based on the chosen mode:

• maintenance: Apply editorial and compliance fixes. Load references/storybook-style.md as primary guide.
• improve: Strengthen framing, order, explanation, and examples. Keep the page's identity. Use references/storybook-style.md for the final pass.
• rewrite: Materially replace the page. Preserve sound content; discard or restructure the rest. Use references/storybook-style.md for the final pass.
• author: Write the page from scratch using the primary doc type's shape as a guide. Use references/storybook-style.md for the final pass.
• strategy: Return a planning artifact containing:
  • Audience
  • Page job
  • Primary doc type
  • Recommended outline
  • Split/merge recommendation (if applicable)
  • Preserve list (content worth keeping)
  • Do not edit files or run validation.

When editing, you may also improve docs-owned snippet files in docs/_snippets/ if example quality depends on them.

6. Apply Storybook Style

For edit modes (maintenance, improve, rewrite, author):

• Load references/storybook-style.md if not already loaded.
• Apply voice, tone, heading, link, component, and frontmatter rules.
• This step is always downstream of structural and editorial work — never the first pass.

7. Validate

For edit modes only:

yarn fmt:write
yarn docs:check

Fix any errors reported by yarn docs:check, then run it again to confirm.

Do not run validation in strategy mode or when no files were edited.

Handoffs

• PR creation: Do not create a PR automatically. If the user asks for end-to-end execution including a PR, hand off to the pr skill.
• Snippet files: This skill may edit files in docs/_snippets/ when example quality requires it, but does not own snippet creation for non-docs purposes.