Technical Documentation
Write clear, maintainable technical documentation for different audiences and purposes.
Document Types
README
- What this is and why it exists
- Quick start (< 5 minutes to first success)
- Configuration and usage
- Contributing guide
API Documentation
- Endpoint reference with request/response examples
- Authentication and error codes
- Rate limits and pagination
- SDK examples
Runbook
- When to use this runbook
- Prerequisites and access needed
- Step-by-step procedure
- Rollback steps
- Escalation path
Architecture Doc
- Context and goals
- High-level design with diagrams
- Key decisions and trade-offs
- Data flow and integration points
Onboarding Guide
- Environment setup
- Key systems and how they connect
- Common tasks with walkthroughs
- Who to ask for what
Principles
- Write for the reader — Who is reading this and what do they need?
- Start with the most useful information — Don't bury the lede
- Show, don't tell — Code examples, commands, screenshots
- Keep it current — Outdated docs are worse than no docs
- Link, don't duplicate — Reference other docs instead of copying