codebase-documenter

Codebase Documenter

Generate documentation scaffolding for a project that has none, or has the wrong shape. This skill produces structured starters with bracketed placeholders the team fills in. It does not write prose for you.

Triggers

Trigger Phrase	Operation
scaffold project documentation	Generate README, ARCHITECTURE, API, code comment scaffolds
bootstrap docs for new codebase	Produce starter docs with placeholders
add starter README	Create README scaffold only
set up documentation standards	Drop standards references into the repo
document this codebase from scratch	Full scaffold pass

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• A repository has no README.md, ARCHITECTURE.md, or API reference, and you need a populated skeleton.
• A team is onboarding without a tech writer and wants documented standards alongside the templates.
• You need a starting point for code-comment conventions in a polyglot project.

Use a different skill when:

• Documentation already exists and you want to verify accuracy. Use doc-accuracy.
• You want to detect missing XML docs, docstrings, or JSDoc against the code. Use doc-coverage.
• README and CLAUDE.md indexes have drifted from the code layout. Use doc-sync.
• You want narrative prose generated for an existing component. Use the explainer agent.

Boundaries

• Writes scaffolding and standards references only. Does not write narrative prose for the project.
• Placeholders use bracket convention [Like this] so a writer can search and replace.
• Templates must be filled in by a human or downstream skill. The skill does not infer project specifics.

Process

1. Confirm the target directory and confirm no overwrite of existing docs without explicit user consent.
2. Copy assets/templates/README.template.md to README.md (or path the user requests).
3. Copy assets/templates/ARCHITECTURE.template.md to ARCHITECTURE.md if a separate architecture doc is wanted.
4. Create parent directories (docs/, docs/standards/, or any user-requested path) before any copy step that targets them.
5. Copy assets/templates/API.template.md to docs/API.md (or equivalent) if the project exposes an API.
6. Copy assets/templates/CODE_COMMENTS.template.md to docs/standards/CODE_COMMENTS.md (or link from the README).
7. Point the team at references/documentation_guidelines.md and references/visual_aids_guide.md for voice and visual standards.

Templates

Template	Purpose
assets/templates/README.template.md	Project front door. Why, quick start, structure, common tasks, troubleshooting.
assets/templates/ARCHITECTURE.template.md	System overview, components, data flow, decisions, failure modes.
assets/templates/API.template.md	API reference per endpoint with conventions and examples.
assets/templates/CODE_COMMENTS.template.md	Docstring and inline comment standards across languages.

References

Reference	Purpose
references/documentation_guidelines.md	Voice, structure, audience framing, placeholder convention.
references/visual_aids_guide.md	When and how to use diagrams, tables, callouts.

Verification Checklist

• No environment-specific paths in any template
• All user-provided paths are validated against path traversal
• Bracketed placeholders match the [Word or short phrase] convention
• Code fences are balanced and use language identifiers on the opener only
• Voice is active, audience is the project's reader (not the documenter)
• No marketing language, weasel words, or filler
• Diagrams added only when they reduce ambiguity (see references/visual_aids_guide.md)

Anti-Patterns

Avoid	Why	Instead
Filling in placeholders speculatively	Produces fiction the team will rediscover and rewrite	Leave brackets; team fills in
Copying README content into ARCHITECTURE	Both files drift; readers cannot tell which is current	One concept per document
Adding diagrams for every section	Visual noise distracts from text	Diagram only where ambiguity is real
Long preamble before quick start	Readers leave before they reach the value	Quick start in the first screen