Documentation Impact Analysis
Given a feature description or set of requirements, this skill produces a structured checklist of every documentation file that needs to be created or updated.
Usage
code
/doc-architect [--diff]
Pass --diff to include inline diff previews showing proposed additions and removals for existing files.
What It Looks At
The feature is examined through three lenses:
| Category | Typical location | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Design docs | docs/ | New workflows, architecture changes, tutorials |
| Folder READMEs | Any directory | New or restructured directories |
| Interface docs | Next to source files | API changes, new components, config changes |
How It Works
- •Classify impacts — determine which of the three categories are affected.
- •List files — for each impact, write the concrete file path, whether it's a create or update, and a one-line rationale.
- •Format output — produce a clean markdown section that can be dropped straight into a plan or issue.
Default output
markdown
## Documentation Planning ### Design docs (docs/) - `docs/api/auth.md` — create: JWT authentication flow and configuration ### Folder READMEs - `src/auth/README.md` — create: module purpose and file layout ### Interface docs - `src/middleware/auth.ts` — update: document new auth middleware exports
With --diff
Each item gets a checkbox and an approximate diff block:
markdown
- [ ] `docs/features/theming.md` — update: add dark-mode section ` ` `diff ## Theming System + ### Dark Mode + Enable via settings or system `prefers-color-scheme`. ` ` `
Diff previews are best-effort; if the file can't be read, the skill falls back to the default format.
Example
Feature: real-time notifications
markdown
## Documentation Planning ### Design docs (docs/) - `docs/architecture/notifications.md` — create: event pipeline and delivery guarantees ### Folder READMEs - `src/notifications/README.md` — create: module overview, key files ### Interface docs - `src/notifications/dispatcher.ts` — create: public API for dispatching events - `src/config/notifications.ts` — update: document new config keys