Documentation Standards

Guidance for implementing documentation requirements including project docs, changelogs, and Architecture Decision Records.

Tooling

Available Tools: If using Claude Code, the documentation-review plugin provides comprehensive documentation tools (/doc-review, /doc-create, /doc-update, /changelog). For ADRs, use the adr plugin (/adr:new, /adr:list, /adr:search).

Required Documentation

Mandatory Files (MUST)

Document	Purpose
`README.md`	Project overview, quick start, installation
`CONTRIBUTING.md`	Contributor guidelines, setup instructions
`CHANGELOG.md`	Version history and change documentation
`LICENSE`	Software license terms
`SECURITY.md`	Security policy and vulnerability reporting

Recommended Files (SHOULD)

Document	Purpose
`CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md`	Community standards
`docs/architecture.md`	System design and decisions
API documentation	Generated from code comments

README Requirements

Required Sections (MUST)

README MUST include:

•Project name and brief description
•Badge indicators (CI status, version, coverage, license)
•Installation instructions (multiple methods if applicable)
•Quick start/usage examples
•Links to detailed documentation
•License information
•Contribution link

Recommended Sections (SHOULD)

README SHOULD include:

•Feature list with descriptions
•Architecture overview (diagram recommended)
•Performance characteristics
•Configuration options
•Troubleshooting section

Badge Examples

markdown

[![CI](https://github.com/org/repo/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](...)
[![crates.io](https://img.shields.io/crates/v/package.svg)](...)
[![Coverage](https://codecov.io/gh/org/repo/branch/main/graph/badge.svg)](...)
[![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg)](...)

Changelog Requirements

Format (MUST)

Changelogs MUST follow the Keep a Changelog format.

Version Entry Structure (MUST)

Each version entry MUST be organized into these categories:

Category	Purpose
Added	New features
Changed	Changes to existing functionality
Deprecated	Features to be removed
Removed	Removed features
Fixed	Bug fixes
Security	Security-related changes

Required Elements (MUST)

Changelogs MUST include:

•Version number
•Release date
•Comparison links to previous versions

Unreleased Section (MUST)

The [Unreleased] section MUST be maintained for ongoing changes.

Changelog Template

markdown

# Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/),
and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).

## [Unreleased]

### Added

- New feature description

## [1.0.0] - 2024-01-15

### Added

- Initial release features

### Fixed

- Bug fix description

[Unreleased]: https://github.com/org/repo/compare/v1.0.0...HEAD
[1.0.0]: https://github.com/org/repo/releases/tag/v1.0.0

Contributing Guidelines

Required Sections (MUST)

CONTRIBUTING.md MUST include:

•Prerequisites and tool requirements
•Development environment setup steps
•Build and test instructions
•Code style guidelines
•Pull request process
•Commit message format

Recommended Sections (SHOULD)

CONTRIBUTING.md SHOULD include:

•Project structure overview
•Troubleshooting section
•Contact/support information

Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)

When to Create (MUST)

Significant technical decisions MUST be documented as ADRs.

Location (MUST)

ADRs MUST be stored in version control at docs/adrs/ (or docs/decisions/).

Required Sections (MUST)

Each ADR MUST include:

Section	Content
Title	Descriptive title with ADR number
Status	Proposed, Accepted, Deprecated, Superseded
Context	Background and problem statement
Decision	The chosen approach
Consequences	Positive and negative outcomes

Recommended Sections (SHOULD)

ADRs SHOULD also include:

•Decision drivers (weighted criteria)
•Considered alternatives
•Implementation notes
•Related ADRs

ADR Format (MUST)

ADRs MUST use a structured format such as:

•Structured MADR (recommended)
•MADR (Markdown Architectural Decision Records)
•Nygard format
•Y-Statement format

ADR Naming (MUST)

ADR files MUST use consistent naming: adr_NNNN.md or NNNN-title.md.

ADR Index (MUST)

Projects MUST maintain an ADR index/README listing all decisions.

Implementation Checklist

• Create README.md with required sections
• Create CONTRIBUTING.md
• Create CHANGELOG.md with proper format
• Add LICENSE file
• Create SECURITY.md
• Set up docs/adrs/ directory
• Create ADR template
• Create ADR index/README

Compliance Verification

bash

# Verify required docs exist
ls README.md CONTRIBUTING.md CHANGELOG.md LICENSE SECURITY.md

# Check README has badges
grep -E "^\[!\[" README.md

# Verify changelog format
grep -E "^\## \[" CHANGELOG.md

# Check ADR directory
ls docs/adrs/ || ls docs/decisions/

Documentation Standards

Documentation Standards

Tooling

Required Documentation

Mandatory Files (MUST)

Recommended Files (SHOULD)

README Requirements

Required Sections (MUST)

Recommended Sections (SHOULD)

Badge Examples

Changelog Requirements

Format (MUST)

Version Entry Structure (MUST)

Required Elements (MUST)

Unreleased Section (MUST)

Changelog Template

Contributing Guidelines

Required Sections (MUST)

Recommended Sections (SHOULD)

Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)

When to Create (MUST)

Location (MUST)

Required Sections (MUST)

Recommended Sections (SHOULD)

ADR Format (MUST)

ADR Naming (MUST)

ADR Index (MUST)

Implementation Checklist

Compliance Verification

Additional Resources

Reference Files

Examples