Identify the reader's task, requested artifact, and authoritative sources. Infer clear intent; ask only when missing facts affect the result.
Read the relevant code/configuration, current docs and decisions. Do not invent why a decision was made, what an API supports, or who approved it.
Write the smallest document that lets that reader act. Separate instructions, reference facts, rationale, and unresolved proposals when their use differs.
Preserve exact consequential claims, names, units, interfaces, and approval status. Label new inference rather than silently inserting it into a summary.
Verify touched examples, commands, links/anchors, and prerequisites against the stated environment. Use a clean walkthrough when installation or first-use behavior is the claim. Record unrun checks and environment limits.
For broad structural edits, trace affected headings, cross-references, numbered clauses and terms before editing; inspect the final diff and downstream links. Review depth follows blast radius and consequence, not file line count.

Optional references

References are beside this file. Retrieve only guidance that changes the result.

Need	Reference
Executable examples, accuracy, task walkthrough	documentation-testing.md
Technical/policy/government/public/executive/academic register	editorial-registers.md
Incidents, timelines, post-mortems	incident-response-documentation.md
Authorization evidence and SSP/SAR/POA&M artifacts	operational-acceptance-documentation.md
Sensitive examples and classification	security-aware-documentation.md
Institutional change/governance artifacts	itil-and-governance-documentation.md
Document templates or notation conventions	documentation-structure.md, clarity-and-style.md, diagram-conventions.md

Use the sibling fact-checking skill when external claims need verification. Security content can use ordis-security-architect; multi-document lineage uses muna-wiki-management; Pandoc/Typst production uses muna-document-designer. Do not require those packs for ordinary writing or block on their absence.

Roles and output

doc-critic, structure-analyst, and editorial-reviewer are optional focused reviewers. complex-writer and complex-reviewer help with broad documentation edits when independent verification is useful. Engineering workflows own source code changes. An explicit rewrite/translation request supplies authorization; no second confirmation or paired review is automatically required.

Return the document or a concise prioritized review with cited evidence. For a review, give the factual defect, reader consequence, and correction. Keep actual source behavior, local verification, stakeholder approval, and publication status separate. Do not turn every edit into a course, checklist, or audit report.

using-technical-writer

Technical Documentation

Workflow