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:

Intent clarity
Audience fit
Information shape
Conceptual clarity
Task usability
Example quality
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.

docs-review