Complete documentation rebuild
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docs/documentation/policy.md
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# Go Project Documentation Policy
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## Purpose
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Project documentation must help four audiences:
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1. users who need to run the application;
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2. administrators/operators who need to configure and operate it;
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3. developers who need to understand and change it safely;
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4. LLM coding agents that need clear scope, boundaries, and invariants.
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Docs should be accurate, concise, task-oriented, and organized by audience. Prefer links to canonical docs over repetition.
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## Core Rules
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### 1. Keep docs concise
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Each document should cover a defined scope and only the essentials for that scope.
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Avoid:
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- long background explanations;
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- repeated reference material;
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- implementation detail in user-facing docs;
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- aspirational language outside roadmap docs;
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- verbose examples where one minimal example is clearer.
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### 2. Document only implemented behavior outside roadmap files
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Unimplemented, planned, aspirational, experimental, or future work may be described only under:
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- `docs/roadmap/`
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No other documentation file, including `README.md`, should describe code, features, modules, stages, commands, config fields, or behaviors that do not currently exist.
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If a feature is partial, non-roadmap docs may describe only the implemented portion and its current boundary.
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### 3. Use canonical homes
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Each type of information should have one canonical location.
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Canonical homes:
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- project purpose and quickstart: `README.md`
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- development principles: `docs/architecture.md`
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- configuration reference: `docs/config.md`
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- CLI reference: `docs/cli.md`
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- operations and recovery: `docs/operations.md`
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- troubleshooting: `docs/troubleshooting.md`
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- implemented internals: `docs/internal/`
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- future work: `docs/roadmap/`
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- contributor workflow: `docs/development.md`
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- copyable examples: `examples/`
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Other files should summarize briefly and link to the canonical source.
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### 4. Keep examples real
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Examples should be valid, maintained, and free of secrets.
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Where practical:
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- example configs should load successfully;
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- example commands should match real CLI syntax;
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- important examples should be covered by tests.
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## Documentation Profiles
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All projects require:
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- `README.md`
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- `docs/architecture.md`
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Additional docs depend on the project.
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### Small library
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Recommended:
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- `docs/development.md`, if contributor conventions are non-obvious
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### Simple CLI
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Required:
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- `docs/cli.md`
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Recommended:
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- `docs/development.md`
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### Config-driven CLI
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Required:
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- `docs/cli.md`
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- `docs/config.md`
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Recommended:
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- `examples/`
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- `docs/development.md`
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### Stateful or operator-facing application
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Required:
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- `docs/cli.md`, if CLI-based
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- `docs/config.md`, if config-driven
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- `docs/operations.md`
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Recommended:
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- `docs/troubleshooting.md`
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- `examples/`
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- `docs/development.md`
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### Modular, staged, service-oriented, or orchestration application
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Required:
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- `docs/cli.md`, if CLI-based
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- `docs/config.md`, if config-driven
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- `docs/operations.md`
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- `docs/internal/`
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- `docs/development.md`
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Recommended:
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- `docs/troubleshooting.md`
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- validated examples under `examples/`
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## Required Documents
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### README.md
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**Audience:** users, administrators, operators
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The README is the outward-facing project orientation page.
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It should include, in order:
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1. concise description;
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2. elevator pitch;
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3. shortest useful command or usage example;
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4. links to targeted docs.
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The README should be short. It is not a manual.
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The “shortest useful command” means the simplest command that performs the project’s core use case. (It does not mean `app --help`.)
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### docs/architecture.md
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**Audience:** developers, LLM coding agents
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`docs/architecture.md` is required for every project.
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It is an inward-facing development policy document. It should describe how the project is intended to be built and changed.
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It should include:
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- project shape;
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- core design principles;
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- package and boundary philosophy;
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- state/persistence philosophy, if applicable;
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- external integration philosophy, if applicable;
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- error-handling and logging principles;
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- testing expectations;
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- documentation expectations;
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- architectural invariants;
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- explicit non-goals, if useful.
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For small projects, this file may be brief. It may simply state that the project is intentionally narrow, monolithic, and dependency-light.
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### docs/config.md
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**Audience:** administrators, operators, advanced users
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Required for applications with configuration files.
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It should include, in order:
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1. config file locations and discovery precedence;
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2. minimal working config;
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3. production-oriented config;
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4. full configuration reference;
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5. secrets handling, if applicable;
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6. links to maintained examples.
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The full configuration reference should be canonical.
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### docs/cli.md
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**Audience:** users, administrators, operators
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Required for CLI applications.
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It should include, in order:
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1. shortest useful command;
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2. command overview;
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3. complete flag reference;
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4. common workflows;
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5. diagnostic or recovery commands, if applicable.
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Explain when commands are useful, not just their syntax.
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### docs/operations.md
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**Audience:** administrators, operators
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Required for applications that maintain state, support resume behavior, run multiple stages, write durable artifacts, use remote storage, or require recovery procedures.
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It should cover:
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- normal workflow;
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- filesystem layout;
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- remote storage layout, if applicable;
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- logs and manifests;
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- resume/retry behavior;
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- cleanup behavior;
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- archive/backup behavior;
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- safe recovery procedures;
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- operational caveats.
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### docs/troubleshooting.md
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**Audience:** administrators, operators
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Recommended once recurring failure modes exist.
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Each entry should include:
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- symptom;
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- likely cause;
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- diagnostic command or inspection step;
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- safe fix;
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- relevant links.
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### docs/development.md
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**Audience:** developers, LLM coding agents
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Required for projects maintained by humans and LLM coding agents.
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It should include:
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- repository layout;
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- build/test commands;
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- coding conventions;
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- dependency policy;
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- how to add config fields;
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- how to add CLI flags;
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- how to add stages/modules/adapters, if applicable;
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- how to update examples;
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- documentation update expectations.
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### docs/internal/
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**Audience:** developers, LLM coding agents
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Required for modular, staged, service-oriented, or orchestration projects.
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This directory describes implemented internal components. It is not the roadmap.
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Use one file per major component where useful.
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Each component doc should include:
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1. purpose;
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2. inputs and outputs;
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3. boundaries;
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4. config fields used;
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5. external adapters used;
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6. state or manifest behavior, if applicable;
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7. skip/resume behavior, if applicable;
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8. failure behavior;
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9. tests to inspect before changing;
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10. architectural invariants.
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### docs/roadmap/
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**Audience:** maintainers, developers, LLM coding agents
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This is the only place for planned, future, aspirational, experimental, or unimplemented work.
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Roadmap docs should clearly distinguish:
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- proposed work;
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- accepted plans;
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- deferred ideas;
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- rejected ideas;
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- implementation prompts or task breakdowns, if useful.
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Roadmap docs should not be confused with current behavior.
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## Examples Directory
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Projects with non-trivial configuration or workflows should include `examples/`.
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Useful examples include:
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- minimal working config;
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- production-oriented config;
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- full annotated config;
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- local development config;
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- remote/object-storage config;
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- minimal session/input file.
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Examples should be valid, maintained, tested when practical, and linked from relevant docs.
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## Security and Privacy
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Docs and examples must not include:
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- real API keys;
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- tokens;
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- passwords;
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- private keys;
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- private environment dumps;
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- sensitive user data;
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- raw private transcripts;
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- private infrastructure details unless intentionally public.
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Document secret-handling mechanisms, not actual secret values.
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## Maintenance Rules
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When docs change, verify the affected behavior.
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Where practical:
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- load example config files in tests;
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- test CLI examples or command parser behavior;
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- validate documented flags against real flags;
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- remove stale references;
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- update links after renames;
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- keep roadmap content out of non-roadmap docs.
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If documentation and code disagree, fix the documentation and/or open a roadmap item; do not leave aspirational behavior in current-behavior docs.
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Documentation is complete only when it matches the current code.
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## Documentation Change Checklist
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Before merging documentation changes, verify:
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- README is concise and orientation-focused.
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- `docs/architecture.md` describes development principles.
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- Future work appears only under `docs/roadmap/`.
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- User-facing docs avoid unnecessary internals.
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- Developer-facing docs preserve boundaries and invariants.
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- Config examples match the schema.
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- CLI examples match real commands and flags.
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- Defaults appear in the canonical config reference.
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- No secrets or private data are included.
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- Links are accurate.
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