Agent skill · writing content · anthropics
documentation
Write and maintain technical documentation. Trigger with "write docs for", "document this", "create a README", "write a runbook", "onboarding guide", or when the user needs help with any form of technical writing — API docs, architecture docs, or operational runbooks.
Why this skill is useful
Codifies best practices for technical documentation that the AI could infer but doesn't have to guess.
What it needs
About 1k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 23,345 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
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 1. Write for the reader — Who is reading this and what do they need? 2. Start with the most useful information — Don't bury the lede 3. Show, don't tell — Code examples, commands, screenshots 4. Keep it current — Outdated docs are worse than no docs 5. Link, don't duplicate — Reference other docs instead of copying
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills anthropics/documentation