Diataxis Documentation

About

Enhance project documentation by applying the Diataxis framework, a systematic approach to organizing content based on user needs. This skill helps authors distinguish between learning-oriented tutorials, task-focused how-to guides, factual technical references, and high-level conceptual explanations. By identifying whether a user is studying or working, and whether they need practical steps or theoretical knowledge, the skill ensures documentation is clear, purposeful, and easy to navigate. It includes an iterative improvement process to refine existing content and maintains distinct boundaries between different types of documentation to prevent user confusion.

Key Features

• Iterative improvement workflow for incremental documentation refinement
• 1 GitHub stars
• Decision-tree logic to identify user context (Study vs. Work) and content nature (Action vs. Cognition)
• Best practices for maintaining distinctness and preventing purpose blurring in technical content
• Categorization into four distinct documentation types: Tutorials, How-to Guides, Reference, and Explanations
• Implementation guidance for creating 'learning-by-doing' onboarding experiences

Use Cases

• Writing a step-by-step tutorial for new developers joining a project
• Restructuring a codebase's README or wiki to be more user-friendly
• Documenting complex API parameters or configuration options as factual references