gza-docs-review

star 11

Review documentation for accuracy, completeness, and missing information that users may need

mhawthorne By mhawthorne schedule Updated 6/2/2026

name: gza-docs-review description: Review documentation for accuracy, completeness, and missing information that users may need allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep, Write, Bash(ls:*), Bash(uv run --help), Bash(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S) version: 1.0.0 public: false

Documentation Review Skill

Evaluate project documentation for accuracy and identify gaps that potential users may encounter.

When to Use

  • User asks to review/evaluate documentation
  • User asks "are the docs accurate?"
  • User asks "what's missing from the docs?"
  • Before a release to ensure docs match implementation

Process

Step 1: Discover documentation structure

  1. Find all documentation files:

    ls docs/
    
  2. Check for README and other root docs:

    • README.md
    • CONTRIBUTING.md
    • CHANGELOG.md
  3. Map the documentation structure to understand what's documented.

Step 2: Read the documentation

Read key documentation files:

  • README.md (entry point)
  • Quick start / getting started guide
  • Configuration reference
  • API/CLI reference
  • Examples/tutorials

Step 3: Verify against implementation

For CLI tools, compare docs against actual --help output:

uv run <tool> --help
uv run <tool> <command> --help

Check for:

  • Missing commands - commands in CLI but not in docs
  • Missing options - flags/options not documented
  • Incorrect syntax - documented syntax doesn't match actual
  • Deprecated features - docs mention features that no longer exist

For libraries/APIs:

  • Compare documented functions/classes against actual code
  • Check if examples still work
  • Verify type signatures match

Step 4: Identify information gaps

Look for missing information users commonly need:

Installation & Setup:

  • Prerequisites clearly listed?
  • Installation steps complete?
  • Authentication/credentials setup?
  • First-run experience documented?

Core Concepts:

  • Key terms defined?
  • Architecture/flow explained?
  • Data model documented?

Usage:

  • Common workflows covered?
  • Examples for each major feature?
  • Error messages explained?

Troubleshooting:

  • Common errors documented?
  • FAQ section?
  • Debug/verbose mode explained?

Reference:

  • All commands/functions documented?
  • All options/parameters listed?
  • Default values specified?
  • Environment variables listed?

Step 5: Check internal consistency

  • Do links work (especially relative links)?
  • Is terminology consistent across docs?
  • Do examples use consistent patterns?
  • Are version numbers/dates current?

Step 6: Compile findings

Organize findings into categories:

Accuracy Issues

Things that are wrong or outdated:

  • Incorrect command syntax
  • Missing options/flags
  • Deprecated features still documented
  • Wrong default values

Missing Information

Things users may need but aren't documented:

  • Undocumented commands/features
  • Missing conceptual explanations
  • No troubleshooting guidance
  • Missing examples for common use cases

Minor Issues

Non-critical improvements:

  • Broken links
  • Typos
  • Inconsistent formatting
  • Outdated examples

Output Format

Write findings to reviews/<timestamp>-docs-review.md.

  1. Generate timestamp:

    date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S
    
  2. Write the report to reviews/<timestamp>-docs-review.md with this structure:

# Documentation Review

## Overall Summary
[1-2 sentence summary]

## Accuracy Issues Found
| Issue | Location | Details |
|-------|----------|---------|
| Missing command X | config.md | CLI has `foo` but docs don't mention it |

## Missing Information
| Topic | Why Users Need It |
|-------|-------------------|
| Error handling | Users won't know how to recover from failures |

## Minor Issues
- [list of small fixes]

## Spec Review

### Outdated Specs
| Spec | Issue | Details |
|------|-------|---------|

### Possibly Aspirational
| Spec | Notes |
|------|-------|

### Specs OK
- [list of specs that match implementation]

## Recommendations
1. [Priority fix 1]
2. [Priority fix 2]
  1. Tell the user the path to the review file so they can open it.

Tips

  • Prioritize user journey - Focus on what a new user needs to get started
  • Think like a newcomer - What would confuse someone who doesn't know the tool?
  • Check edge cases - Error states, unusual configurations, advanced features
  • Verify examples - Outdated examples are worse than no examples
  • Note positive findings too - Call out what's done well

Common Documentation Gaps

Based on patterns across projects, commonly missing items:

  1. Task/object lifecycle - States and transitions
  2. Resume vs retry semantics - When to use which
  3. Cost/resource expectations - What will this cost me?
  4. Worktree/workspace concepts - How parallel execution works
  5. Dependency resolution - How ordering is determined
  6. Error recovery - What to do when things fail

Part 2: Feature Spec Review

Review feature specs in specs/features/ for accuracy against the current implementation. (Behavior specs in specs/behavior/ are prescriptive requirements checked separately by gza-behavior-check; do not review them here.)

Important: Aspirational vs Outdated

Specs can be forward-looking (describing planned features) or outdated (describing old behavior). Use this heuristic:

  • Aspirational (skip): Describes functionality that doesn't exist in code but sounds intentional/planned. Leave these alone.
  • Outdated (flag): Describes functionality that used to work differently, or references old file paths, old command names, or deprecated patterns.

When in doubt, flag it with a note that it "may be aspirational."

Step 1: Discover specs

ls specs/features/

Step 2: Review each spec

For each spec file:

  1. Read the spec to understand what it describes
  2. Check if the feature exists - search for relevant code, commands, or config
  3. Compare behavior - does the implementation match the spec?

Look for:

  • File paths that don't exist - spec references src/foo/bar.py but file is gone or moved
  • Command/option names that changed - spec says --old-flag but CLI uses --new-flag
  • Workflow steps that no longer apply - spec describes a process that's been simplified or changed
  • Config fields that were renamed or removed

Step 3: Compile spec findings

Add a "Spec Review" section to your report:

### Spec Review

#### Outdated Specs
| Spec | Issue | Details |
|------|-------|---------|
| task-resume.md | Wrong file path | References `src/gza/resume.py` but logic is now in `runner.py` |

#### Possibly Aspirational (needs human review)
| Spec | Notes |
|------|-------|
| beads-integration.md | Describes beads integration but no beads code found - may be planned |

#### Specs OK
- task-chaining.md - matches implementation
- docker-testing.md - matches implementation

Tips for spec review

  • Don't auto-update specs - just flag issues for human review
  • Check git blame if unsure - recent specs are more likely aspirational
  • Focus on concrete claims - file paths, command names, config fields
  • Skip vague/conceptual content - prose descriptions of goals are hard to verify
Install via CLI
npx skills add https://github.com/mhawthorne/gza --skill gza-docs-review
Repository Details
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article Path SKILL.md
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