Write a manual

A manual explains one subject, such as a protocol, a file format, or a runtime, at one exact version. A lesson teaches a concept and moves on. A manual stays with one system until the reader can predict what it does in a case the manual never showed.

This skill gives the full method. It covers research, ranked sources, and a register of conflicts between sources. It also covers an offline capture kit, a fixed section shape, prose limits, and an audit that must report TOTAL 0. It works in any repository. Inside the AI Engineering from Scratch repo, the tooling already exists, and manuals/a2a-101/ is the worked example.

When to use

• The reader must predict the behavior of one system, at one version, in cases you did not show.
• The subject has a specification, a schema, or a source tree that you can pin to a commit.
• You can run the subject, or a faithful stand-in, offline and record its requests and responses.
• The result is 60 to 100 pages with figures, and other people will maintain it.

When not to use

• You teach a general concept, such as attention or retrieval. Write a lesson instead.
• The subject has no version to pin, or changes every week.
• You cannot run the subject and cannot record its output. A manual without captures is an essay.
• You want a short how-to. A manual of fewer than about 15 sections does not need this shape.