docs: add documentation style guide

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Abhimanyu Saharan
2026-02-11 12:55:22 +00:00
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# Documentation style guide
This repository aims for a NetBox-like style: clear, technical, and written for working engineers.
## Voice and tone
- **Direct and technical.** Prefer short sentences and specific nouns.
- **Narrative flow.** Describe how the system behaves, not how the doc was produced.
- **Calm, professional tone.** Avoid hype.
- **Assume competence, not context.** Define repo-specific terms once, then reuse them.
## Page structure (default)
Use a consistent, scan-friendly layout.
1. **Title**
2. **13 sentence intro**
- What this page covers and who its for.
3. **Deep dives / Related docs** (optional but common)
- Links to more detailed pages.
4. **Main content**
- Prefer sections that match user intent: “Quickstart”, “How it works”, “Configuration”, “Common workflows”, “Troubleshooting”.
5. **Next steps** (optional)
- Where to go next.
## Headings and conventions
- Prefer **verb-led** headings when describing procedures: “Run migrations”, “Regenerate the client”.
- Prefer **intent-led** headings when describing concepts: “How requests flow”, “Auth model”.
- Use numbered steps when order matters.
- Keep headings short; avoid long parentheticals.
## Cross-linking
- Treat the numbered IA pages in `docs/` as **entrypoints**.
- Link to deep dives instead of duplicating content.
- Use readable link text:
- Good: “Deployment guide” → `docs/deployment/README.md`
- Avoid: ``docs/deployment/README.md``
## Link formatting rules
- Use markdown links: `[Deployment guide](deployment/README.md)`.
- Use relative paths that work in GitHub and typical markdown renderers.
- Keep code formatting for:
- commands (`make check`)
- environment variables (`NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL`)
- literal file paths when you mean “this exact file on disk” (not as a navigational link)
## Avoided phrases (and what to use instead)
Avoid doc-meta language:
- Avoid: “evidence basis”, “evidence anchors”, “this page is intentionally…”
- Prefer:
- “Source of truth: …” (only when it matters)
- “See also: …”
- Just link the file or section.
Avoid hedging:
- Avoid: “likely”, “probably”, “should” (unless its a policy decision)
- Prefer: state what the code does, and point to the file.
## Preferred patterns
- **Start here** blocks for role-based entry.
- **Common workflows** sections with copy/paste commands.
- **Troubleshooting** sections with symptoms → checks → fixes.
- **Footguns** called out explicitly when they can cause outages or confusing behavior.
## Example rewrites
### Example 1: remove doc-meta “evidence” language
Before:
> Evidence basis: consolidated from repo root `README.md`, `.github/workflows/ci.yml`, `Makefile`.
After:
> This page describes the development workflow that matches CI: setup, checks, and common local loops.
### Example 2: prefer readable links over code-formatted paths
Before:
- See `docs/deployment/README.md` for deployment.
After:
- See the [Deployment guide](deployment/README.md).
### Example 3: replace “first pass” filler with a clear scope boundary
Before:
- Non-goals (first pass)
After:
- Out of scope