Imported from sdcorejs/sdcorejs-agent (plugin/skills/sdcorejs-documentation/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add sdcorejs/sdcorejs-agent --skill sdcorejs-documentation. Copyright stays with the author.

Documentation

Shared Protocols

Read _refs/shared/runtime-protocols.md; load _refs/shared/documentation-layout.md only for operations below .sdcorejs/documentation/**. Every .sdcorejs/** write applies _refs/shared/artifact-lifecycle.md and emits artifact_context. Resolve tracks through _refs/shared/system-registry.json, approved artifact identity through _refs/shared/approved-artifact.mjs, and semantic repository ownership through _refs/shared/repository-contract.mjs; checkout paths and the current working directory are never durable repository identity.

Purpose

Expose one documentation skill while keeping detailed documentation behaviors in refs. This skill chooses the mode, loads the matching _refs/documentation/* reference, then executes it.

Long-term documentation verbs owned here:

• write
• rewrite
• improve
• structure
• summarize existing docs/artifacts
• convert
• standardize

Core Documentation Modes

Keep documentation modes distinct. Do not mix them unless the user explicitly asks for multiple outputs.

api-doc is a subtype of write-technical-doc, not a separate skill mode.

Global Documentation Rules

• Choose the documentation mode from user intent and source evidence.
• Do not mix documentation modes unless the user explicitly asks.
• Do not invent behavior, architecture, workflows, API fields, commands, roles, screens, infrastructure, or business rules that are not visible from code, tests, configuration, decorators, filenames, existing docs, type annotations, or surrounding context.
• Prefer concise, accurate, maintainable documentation over verbose documentation.
• Match the project's existing tone, terminology, formatting, and documentation style.
• Preserve executable code unless the user explicitly asks for code changes.
• Do not rename symbols, reorder decorators, or change imports unless a documentation tool explicitly requires it and the user asked for that tool.
• Update stale or wrong existing documentation instead of adding duplicate or contradictory content.
• Keep code identifiers, commands, environment variables, config keys, API paths, UI labels, class names, method names, and file names exact.
• Runtime-localize generated prose; keep reusable skill source English-only.
• Never include real secrets, tokens, passwords, private keys, production credentials, or sensitive internal values. Use placeholders such as <API_KEY>, <PROJECT_ID>, <USER_ID>, or example.com.
• Mark destructive or irreversible actions clearly.

Mode Selection

Routing Rules

• Use sdcorejs-product for PRDs, user stories, acceptance criteria, UAT, product decisions, and requirement traceability.
• Use sdcorejs-design for UI/UX design, screen flows, wireframes, PNG previews, and FE handoff specs.
• Use sdcorejs-test for test plans, test evidence, UAT execution evidence, and test implementation.
• Use sdcorejs-explore for project summary, code-map, trace-flow, env-setup, recovery, persona, and memories. If the user asks to summarize the project/codebase/repo/system, route to summary-read by default or summary-refresh only when they explicitly ask to refresh/persist the summary. If they explicitly name an existing doc, summarize it here instead.
• Use this skill for general documentation, code documentation, user-facing guides, technical docs, and lightweight task requirement records under .sdcorejs/documentation/requirements/.
• Route code comments, implementation comments, docstrings, doc comments, JSDoc, TSDoc, documented functions/classes/APIs, and localized equivalents to code-documentation mode.
• Route standalone REST/API reference docs to write-technical-doc unless the user specifically asks for in-code API doc comments.
• Use sdcorejs-product instead when the user asks for full PRD/user story/acceptance criteria/UAT/traceability work rather than a task-level requirement record.

Workflow

1. Resolve the target project root and active track from the request and current repo signals.
2. Discover the portal/module repository topology read-only, derive stable repository IDs, and resolve the semantic owner before choosing any output path. Module guides, requirements, technical docs, and their assets are written in the owning module repository. An unavailable or unwritable owner blocks the write; portal fallback is forbidden.
3. Select one mode from the table above. If two modes match, prefer the explicit user wording; in finish tails, prefer the tail mode passed by the orchestrator. If the user explicitly asks for multiple documentation outputs, run each selected mode separately and label the outputs.
4. Read the matching reference completely before writing.
5. Execute only the selected reference. Do not load every documentation reference up front.
6. Keep generated prose runtime-localized; keep identifiers, env keys, permission codes, route paths, filenames, and symbols in English.
7. Preserve UTF-8 and locale marks. Mojibake in documentation, prompts, comments, or user-facing strings is a blocking defect.
8. Verify with the smallest relevant command or check available in the target project, and report skipped verification explicitly.

Tail Modes

Documentation Gate Tail

When called by sdcorejs-angular, sdcorejs-nestjs, sdcorejs-nextjs, or direct sdcorejs-test after the test decision:

1. Load _refs/documentation/gate.md.
2. Identify whether corresponding user-guide and technical-doc files already exist for the touched feature/module.
3. Ask the approval gate before creating any missing user-guide or technical-doc for a new feature. Saved preferences may default updates, but must not silently authorize new doc file creation.
4. Pass the captured choices to the documentation tail modes below.

Code Documentation Tail

When called by Angular/NestJS/Next.js track skills after source code was created or modified:

1. Load _refs/documentation/code-documentation.md.
2. Apply maintainability-focused source-code documentation automatically.
3. Do not ask for approval and do not let user/technical-doc skips disable this step.
4. Add or update only useful source-code documentation: public/exported contracts, framework-standard docs, and concise comments for non-obvious logic. Do not comment obvious code.

Code Documentation Direct Mode

When called directly for code comments, docstrings, or documentation comments:

1. Load _refs/documentation/code-documentation.md.
2. Detect whether the user wants public contract docs, implementation comments, or both.
3. Detect the language/framework from syntax, imports, decorators, filenames, and local style.
4. Preserve executable code and update stale existing code documentation instead of adding duplicates.

Technical Doc Tail

When called after the documentation gate:

1. Load _refs/documentation/write-technical-doc.md.
2. If technical_doc=skip, make no edits and report that technical docs were skipped.
3. If technical_doc=create, create the approved technical doc from source evidence.
4. If technical_doc=update, update the existing corresponding technical doc from source evidence.

Requirement Record Tail

When called after the documentation gate or direct requirement request:

1. Load _refs/documentation/write-requirement.md.
2. If the user provided a TASKID, write or update <semantic-owner-repo>/.sdcorejs/documentation/requirements/<TASKID>/<TASKID>.md.
3. If no TASKID exists but the user wants a requirement record, ask for TASKID before writing.
4. If the user declines requirement recording, skip and report it.

User Guide Tail

When called after auto-docs in a write-code flow:

1. Load _refs/documentation/write-user-guide.md.
2. Run Mode 1 for every touched module when user_guide=create or user_guide=update, in that module's semantic owner repository.
3. For required missing/stale images, request sdcorejs-test (ui-evidence-capture). Reuse the target project's runner, environment/persona catalog, and real-ui/manual-real-ui auth; consume ui_capture_context, test_evidence, and artifact_context.
4. Link only current, verified, PII-safe documentation assets. Keep missing, blocked, login/access-denied, or diagnostic images as unlinked checklist entries. Evidence must classify the visual as real-ui, generated-mockup, or illustration and bind its source and app revisions; only real-ui can satisfy a real screenshot requirement.
5. Never write user-guide artifacts into the sdcorejs-agent authoring repo unless that repo is explicitly the target for documentation testing.

Direct Documentation Requests

For direct write/rewrite/improve/structure/summarize/convert/standardize requests on docs or source artifacts:

1. Identify the source docs or code artifacts from the user's request, current diff, or project context.
2. If the request is really project discovery ("summarize this project", "map the repo", "trace this flow", "setup dev"), route to sdcorejs-explore.
3. If the request includes TASKID or asks to record a requirement, load _refs/documentation/write-requirement.md and write/update the requirement record. Stop there unless the user also explicitly asked for technical docs.
4. If the request asks for code comments, implementation comments, docstrings, doc comments, JSDoc, TSDoc, documentation comments, or public API documentation comments, load _refs/documentation/code-documentation.md, preserve executable behavior, and stop unless the user also explicitly asked for standalone technical docs.
5. If the target artifact is ambiguous and no existing convention is discoverable, ask for the destination path.
6. Load _refs/documentation/write-technical-doc.md.
7. Preserve source meaning; do not invent requirements, APIs, constraints, or acceptance criteria.

Artifact Output

For each new or updated .sdcorejs/documentation/** artifact, add lifecycle metadata when the format permits. Feature/change documentation is normally required_with_change; saved preferences are shared_owned only when this workflow explicitly owns the update; screenshots, traces, browser state, and temporary export intermediates are local_only. Emit the standard artifact_context and pass it to the caller. Include stable repository_id, repository_role, optional module_id, repository-relative path, source/app revision, source spec/plan identity, and content hash. The portal may own only portal/integration docs, indexes, references, and generated cross-repository aggregates. Such an aggregate is a non-editable projection: it links module-owned sources or consumes versioned exports and preserves every module repository/revision/path in provenance. Never create an editable module document copy in the portal.

Cross-References

• _refs/documentation/gate.md - user-guide/technical-doc approval, saved preferences, and new-doc creation guard
• _refs/documentation/code-documentation.md - source-code documentation, including public contracts and implementation comments
• _refs/documentation/write-user-guide.md - end-user guide generation and aggregate/export flow
• _refs/documentation/write-technical-doc.md - technical docs and document operations
• _refs/documentation/write-requirement.md - task-level requirement record under .sdcorejs/documentation/requirements/<TASKID>/<TASKID>.md
• _refs/shared/finish-gate.md - surfaces the documentation gate inside code-generation flows
• _refs/orchestration/tail/auto-docs.md - change-scoped execution records, distinct from evergreen documentation
• sdcorejs-explore - project discovery, summaries, code maps, flow traces, env setup, and documentation harvests