Developer Documentation Style

Write developer documentation that helps a busy reader understand or act without translating chatbot prose. This skill supplies a writing discipline, not an artifact schema; a README, runbook, ADR, and API reference keep their own required structure.

Scope and precedence

Apply this skill automatically to durable developer-facing prose and substantial technical explanations. Do not invoke it for short conversational replies, creative writing, product marketing, source code, or documents whose audience is not technical.

Use this precedence:

1. Explicit user, audience, and language requirements.
2. Project-specific terminology, templates, and style rules.
3. The artifact's governing skill or convention.
4. This skill.

Depart from a guideline when clarity for the actual reader improves, then remain consistent within the document.

1. Fix the writing contract