Paths: File paths (shared/ , references/ , ../ln-* ) are relative to skills repo root. If not found at CWD, locate this SKILL.md directory and go up one level for repo root. If shared/ is missing, fetch files via WebFetch from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/levnikolaevich/claude-code-skills/master/skills/{path} .

Reference Documentation Creator

Type: L2 Worker

This skill creates the reference documentation structure (docs/reference/) and smart documents (ADRs, Guides, Manuals) based on project's TECH_STACK. Documents are created only when justified (nontrivial technology choices with alternatives).

Purpose

Create the reference documentation directory structure (docs/reference/) with README hub, then generate ADRs, Guides, and Manuals only for justified (nontrivial) technology choices based on TECH_STACK from Context Store.

When to Use This Skill

This skill is a L2 WORKER invoked by ln-100-documents-pipeline orchestrator.

This skill should be used directly when:

• Creating only reference documentation structure (docs/reference/)

• Setting up directories for ADRs, guides, and manuals

• NOT creating full documentation structure (use ln-100-documents-pipeline for complete setup)

Inputs

From ln-100 (via ln-110 Context Store):

{ "context_store": { "PROJECT_NAME": "my-project", "TECH_STACK": { "frontend": "React 18", "backend": "Express 4.18", "database": "PostgreSQL 15", "orm": "Prisma 5.0", "auth": "JWT", "cache": "Redis 7" }, "DEPENDENCIES": [...], "flags": { "hasBackend": true, "hasDatabase": true, "hasFrontend": true } } }

TECH_STACK is used for smart document creation in Phase 2.

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/docs_quality_contract.md , shared/references/docs_quality_rules.json , and shared/references/markdown_read_protocol.md .

Workflow

The skill follows a 4-phase workflow: CREATE STRUCTURE → SMART DOCUMENT CREATION → VALIDATE STRUCTURE → VALIDATE CONTENT. Phase 2 creates documents only for justified technology choices.

Phase 1: Create Structure

Objective: Establish reference documentation directories and README hub.

Process:

1.1 Check & create directories:

• Check if docs/reference/adrs/ exists → create if missing

• Check if docs/reference/guides/ exists → create if missing

• Check if docs/reference/manuals/ exists → create if missing

• Check if docs/reference/research/ exists → create if missing

• Log for each: "✓ Created docs/reference/[name]/" or "✓ docs/reference/[name]/ already exists"

1.2 Check & create README:

• Check if docs/reference/README.md exists

• If exists:

• Skip creation

• Log: "✓ docs/reference/README.md already exists, proceeding to validation"

• If NOT exists:

• Copy template: ln-120-reference-docs-creator/references/reference_readme_template.md → docs/reference/README.md

• Replace placeholders:

• {{VERSION}} — "1.0.0"

• {{DATE}} — current date (YYYY-MM-DD)

• {{ADR_LIST}} — - No ADRs yet. Add the first ADR when a nontrivial decision is accepted.

• {{GUIDE_LIST}} — - No project guides yet. Add guides when patterns need project-specific explanation.

• {{MANUAL_LIST}} — - No package manuals yet. Add manuals only for complex external APIs.

• {{RESEARCH_LIST}} — - No research notes yet. Add research only when a concrete question is investigated.

• Preserve the shared opening contract and standard top sections from the template

• Log: "✓ Created docs/reference/README.md from template"

1.3 Output:

docs/reference/ ├── README.md # Created or existing ├── adrs/ # Empty, ready for ADRs ├── guides/ # Empty, ready for guides ├── manuals/ # Empty, ready for manuals └── research/ # Empty, ready for research documents

Phase 2: Smart Document Creation

Objective: Create ADRs, Guides, and Manuals for justified technology choices. Skip trivial/obvious selections.

2.1 Check Context Store:

• If no context_store provided → skip Phase 2, proceed to Phase 3

• If no TECH_STACK in context_store → skip Phase 2, proceed to Phase 3

• Log: "Context Store received with TECH_STACK: [categories count]"

2.2 Load Justification Rules:

• Read references/tech_justification_rules.md

• Parse category → justified/skip conditions

2.3 Analyze TECH_STACK for ADRs:

For each category in TECH_STACK (frontend, backend, database, orm, auth, cache):

Check if justified (from justification rules):

• frontend : Justified if React/Vue/Angular/Svelte (multiple options exist)

• backend : Justified if Express/Fastify/NestJS/Koa (multiple options exist)

• database : Justified if PostgreSQL/MySQL/MongoDB (multiple options exist)

• auth : Justified if JWT/OAuth/Session (decision required)

• orm : Justified if Prisma/TypeORM/Sequelize (multiple options exist)

• cache : Justified if Redis/Memcached (decision required)

Skip if trivial:

• jQuery-only frontend (no framework choice)

• Simple http server (no framework)

• SQLite for dev only

• No auth required

• Raw SQL only

• In-memory cache only

Create ADR if justified:

• Determine next ADR number: adr-NNN-{category}.md

• Use template: shared/templates/adr_template.md

• MCP Research: mcp__context7__resolve-library-id(technology)

• Fill template:

• Title: "ADR-NNN: {Category} Selection"

• Context: Why decision was needed

• Decision: Technology chosen with version

• Rationale: 3 key reasons from research

• Alternatives: 2 other options with pros/cons

• Save: docs/reference/adrs/adr-NNN-{category}.md

• Log: "✓ Created ADR for {category}: {technology}"

Skip if not justified:

• Log: "⊘ Skipped ADR for {category}: trivial choice"

2.4 Analyze TECH_STACK for Guides:

For each technology with complex configuration:

Check if justified:

• Has config file with >20 lines

• Uses custom hooks/middleware/decorators

• Has 3+ related dependencies

Create Guide if justified:

• Determine next guide number: NN-{technology-slug}-patterns.md

• Use template: shared/templates/guide_template.md

• MCP Research: mcp__Ref__ref_search_documentation("{technology} patterns {current_year}")

• Fill template:

• Principle: Industry standard from research

• Our Implementation: How project uses it

• Patterns table: 3 Do/Don't/When rows

• Save: docs/reference/guides/NN-{technology}-patterns.md

• Log: "✓ Created Guide for {technology}"

Skip if standard usage:

• Log: "⊘ Skipped Guide for {technology}: standard usage"

2.5 Analyze TECH_STACK for Manuals:

For each package with complex API:

Check if justified:

• Package has >10 exported methods

• Has breaking changes in current version

• NOT in trivial list: lodash, uuid, dotenv

Create Manual if justified:

• Use template: shared/templates/manual_template.md

• MCP Research: mcp__context7__get-library-docs(topic: "API")

• Fill template:

• Package info with version

• 2-3 most used methods

• Configuration section

• Save: docs/reference/manuals/{package}-{version}.md

• Log: "✓ Created Manual for {package}"

Skip if trivial API:

• Log: "⊘ Skipped Manual for {package}: trivial API"

2.6 Report Smart Creation:

✅ Smart Document Creation complete:

• ADRs created: [count] (justified: frontend, backend, database)
• ADRs skipped: [count] (trivial: cache=in-memory)
• Guides created: [count]
• Guides skipped: [count]
• Manuals created: [count]
• Manuals skipped: [count]

Phase 3: Validate Structure

Objective: Ensure reference/README.md complies with structural requirements and auto-fix violations.

Process:

2.1 Check opening contract:

• Read docs/reference/README.md (first 5 lines)

• Check for <!-- SCOPE: ... --> tag and metadata markers

• Expected: <!-- SCOPE: Reference documentation hub (ADRs, Guides, Manuals) with links to subdirectories -->

• If missing:

• Use Edit tool to add missing opening markers near the top of the file

• Track violation: opening_contract_fixed = True

2.2 Check required sections:

• Load expected sections from references/questions.md

• Required sections:

• "Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)"

• "Project Guides"

• "Package Manuals"

• "Research"

• For each section:

• Check if ## [Section Name] header exists

• If missing:

• Use Edit tool to add section with placeholder:

[Section Name]

{{PLACEHOLDER}}

• Track violation: missing_sections += 1

2.3 Check Maintenance section:

• Search for ## Maintenance header

• If missing:

• Use Edit tool to add at end of file:

Maintenance

Last Updated: [current date]

Update Triggers:

• New ADRs added to adrs/ directory
• New guides added to guides/ directory
• New manuals added to manuals/ directory

Verification:

• All ADR links in registry are valid

• All guide links in registry are valid

• All manual links in registry are valid

• Placeholders {{ADR_LIST}}, {{GUIDE_LIST}}, {{MANUAL_LIST}} synced with files

• Track violation: maintenance_added = True

2.4 Check POSIX file endings:

• Check if file ends with single blank line

• If missing:

• Use Edit tool to add final newline

• Track fix: posix_fixed = True

2.5 Report validation:

• Log summary: ✅ Structure validation complete:

  • SCOPE tag: [added/present]
  • Missing sections: [count] sections added
  • Maintenance section: [added/present]
  • POSIX endings: [fixed/compliant]

• If violations found: "⚠️ Auto-fixed [total] structural violations"

Phase 4: Validate Content

Objective: Ensure each section answers its questions with meaningful content and populate registries from auto-discovery (including documents created in Phase 2).

Process:

4.1 Load validation spec:

• Read references/questions.md

• Parse questions and validation heuristics for all 3 sections

4.2 Validate sections (parametric loop):

Define section parameters:

sections = [ { "name": "Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)", "question": "Where are architecture decisions documented?", "directory": "docs/reference/adrs/", "empty_state": "No ADRs yet.", "glob_pattern": "docs/reference/adrs/.md", "heuristics": [ "Contains link: ADRs or adrs", "Mentions 'Architecture Decision Record' or 'ADR'", "Has actual list or empty-state note", "Length > 30 words" ] }, { "name": "Project Guides", "question": "Where are reusable project patterns documented?", "directory": "docs/reference/guides/", "empty_state": "No project guides yet.", "glob_pattern": "docs/reference/guides/.md", "heuristics": [ "Contains link: Guides or guides", "Has actual list or empty-state note", "Length > 20 words" ] }, { "name": "Package Manuals", "question": "Where are third-party package references documented?", "directory": "docs/reference/manuals/", "empty_state": "No package manuals yet.", "glob_pattern": "docs/reference/manuals/.md", "heuristics": [ "Contains link: Manuals or manuals", "Has actual list or empty-state note", "Length > 20 words" ] }, { "name": "Research", "question": "Where are research/investigation documents stored?", "directory": "docs/reference/research/", "empty_state": "No research notes yet.", "glob_pattern": "docs/reference/research/.md", "heuristics": [ "Contains link: Research or research", "Has actual list or empty-state note", "Length > 20 words" ] } ]

For each section in sections:

Read section content:

• Extract section from reference/README.md

Check if content answers question:

• Apply validation heuristics

• If ANY heuristic passes → content valid, skip to next section

• If ALL fail → content invalid, continue

Auto-discovery (if content invalid or empty-state present):

• Scan directory using Glob tool (section.glob_pattern)

• If files found:

• Extract filenames

• Generate dynamic list:

• ADR-001: Frontend Framework

• 02-Repository Pattern

• Axios 1.6

• Use Edit tool to replace empty-state text with generated list

• Track change: sections_populated += 1

• If NO files:

• Keep concise empty-state note

• Track: empty_states_kept += 1

Skip external API calls:

• Do NOT use MCP Ref search (template already has format examples)

4.3 Report content validation:

• Log summary: ✅ Content validation complete:
  • Sections checked: 4
  • Populated from auto-discovery: [count]
  • Placeholders kept (no files): [count]
  • Already valid: [count]

Complete Output Structure

docs/ └── reference/ ├── README.md # Reference hub with registries ├── adrs/ # Empty or with ADR files ├── guides/ # Empty or with guide files ├── manuals/ # Empty or with manual files └── research/ # Empty or with research files

Reference Files

Templates

Reference README Template:

• references/reference_readme_template.md (v2.0.0) - Reference hub with:

• SCOPE tags (reference documentation ONLY)

• Three registry sections with placeholders

• Maintenance section

Document Templates (for Phase 2 Smart Creation):

• shared/templates/adr_template.md

• Nygard ADR format (7 sections)

• shared/templates/guide_template.md

• Pattern documentation (Do/Don't/When)

• shared/templates/manual_template.md

• API reference format

• shared/templates/research_template.md

• Research/Spike documentation

Justification Rules:

• references/tech_justification_rules.md
• Mapping: category → create/skip conditions

Validation Specification:

references/questions.md (v2.0) - Question-driven validation:

• Q1-Q3: Registry sections (ADRs, Guides, Manuals)

• Q4-Q7: Smart document validation (ADR context, alternatives, patterns)

• Auto-discovery hints

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/research_tool_fallback.md

Best Practices

• No premature validation: Phase 1 creates structure, Phase 3 validates it

• Smart creation: Phase 2 creates documents only for justified choices

• Parametric validation: Phase 4 uses loop for 3 sections (no code duplication)

• Auto-discovery first: Scan actual files before external API calls

• Idempotent: ✅ Can run multiple times safely (checks existence before creation)

• Separation of concerns: CREATE → SMART DOCS → VALIDATE STRUCTURE → VALIDATE CONTENT

NO_CODE_EXAMPLES Rule (MANDATORY for Guides)

Guides document patterns, NOT implementations:

• FORBIDDEN: Full function implementations, code blocks > 5 lines

• ALLOWED: Do/Don't/When tables, method signatures (1 line), pseudocode (1-3 lines)

• INSTEAD OF CODE: Reference source location: "See src/hooks/usePlan.ts:15-30"

• TEMPLATE RULE: guide_template.md includes <!-- NO_CODE_EXAMPLES: ... --> tag - FOLLOW IT

Stack Adaptation Rule (MANDATORY)

• ADRs must reference stack-appropriate alternatives (Compare React vs Vue, not React vs Django)

• Guides must link to correct platform docs (Microsoft for .NET, MDN for JS)

Format Priority (MANDATORY)

Tables (Do/Don't/When) > ASCII diagrams > Lists > Text

Prerequisites

Invoked by: ln-100-documents-pipeline orchestrator

Requires:

• docs/ directory (created by ln-111-root-docs-creator or already present in target project)

Creates:

• docs/reference/ directory structure with README hub

• Validated structure and content (auto-discovery from existing files)

Critical Rules

• Justified creation only: Documents are created only for nontrivial technology choices with real alternatives; trivial/obvious selections are skipped

• NO_CODE_EXAMPLES: Guides document patterns (Do/Don't/When tables), not implementations; no code blocks >5 lines

• Stack adaptation: ADR alternatives must be stack-appropriate (React vs Vue, not React vs Django); links must match platform docs

• Format priority: Tables (Do/Don't/When) > ASCII diagrams > Lists > Text

• Idempotent: Checks existence before creation; safe to run multiple times

Runtime Summary Artifact

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/docs_generation_summary_contract.md

Accept optional summaryArtifactPath .

Summary kind:

• docs-generation

Required payload semantics:

• worker = "ln-120"

• status

• created_files

• skipped_files

• quality_inputs

• validation_status

• warnings

Write the summary to the provided artifact path or return the same envelope in structured output.

Definition of Done

Before completing work, verify ALL checkpoints:

✅ Phase 1 - Structure Created:

• docs/reference/ directory exists

• docs/reference/adrs/ directory exists

• docs/reference/guides/ directory exists

• docs/reference/manuals/ directory exists

• docs/reference/research/ directory exists

• docs/reference/README.md exists (created or existing)

✅ Phase 2 - Smart Documents Created (if Context Store provided):

• ADRs created for justified technology choices (nontrivial)

• ADRs skipped for trivial choices (logged)

• Guides created for technologies with complex config

• Manuals created for packages with complex API

• Each created document has real content (not placeholders)

✅ Phase 3 - Structure Validated:

• SCOPE tag and metadata markers present near top

• Quick Navigation, Agent Entry, and Maintenance sections present

• Four registry sections present (ADRs, Guides, Manuals, Research)

• Maintenance section present at end

• POSIX file endings compliant

✅ Phase 4 - Content Validated:

• All sections checked against questions.md

• Empty-state notes or actual entries present in all registries (no raw placeholders)

• No validation heuristic failures

✅ Reporting:

• Phase 1 logged: creation summary

• Phase 2 logged: smart creation (created/skipped counts)

• Phase 3 logged: structural fixes (if any)

Return Contract

Return normalized status to ln-100:

{ "created_files": ["docs/reference/README.md", "docs/reference/adrs/adr-001-frontend.md"], "skipped_files": [], "quality_inputs": { "doc_paths": ["docs/reference/README.md", "docs/reference/adrs/adr-001-frontend.md"], "owners": { "docs/reference/README.md": "ln-120-reference-docs-creator", "docs/reference/adrs/adr-001-frontend.md": "ln-120-reference-docs-creator" } }, "validation_status": "passed" }

✅ Reporting (continued):

• Phase 4 logged: content updates (if any)

Meta-Analysis

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/meta_analysis_protocol.md

Skill type: documentation-creator . Run after all phases complete. Output to chat using the documentation-creator format.

Technical Details

Standards:

• Michael Nygard's ADR Format (7 sections)

• ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2018 (Documentation standards)

Language: English only

Version: 8.2.0 Last Updated: 2025-01-12