Doc Review Skill

Systematically review documentation for staleness, accuracy, and relevance.

The Job

•Scan all documentation files
•Check for staleness indicators
•Verify referenced code/files still exist
•Identify outdated content
•Generate cleanup report
•Optionally apply fixes

When to Use

Scheduled

•After each milestone completion
•Monthly maintenance cycle
•Before major releases

On Demand

•When documentation feels outdated
•After significant refactoring
•When onboarding reveals confusion

Review Process

Step 1: Inventory Documentation

Scan for documentation files:

bash

find . -name "*.md" -not -path "./.git/*" -not -path "./.vendor/*" -not -path "./.worktrees/*"

Common locations:

•README.md (root and subdirs)
•docs/ directory
•AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md
•.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md
•knowledge/ directory
•scripts/aha-loop/templates/

Step 2: Check Staleness Indicators

For each document, check:

Indicator	Check Method	Threshold
Last modified	`git log -1`	> 30 days
Referenced files	grep + verify	Missing = stale
Code examples	Syntax check	Errors = stale
Version numbers	Compare to actual	Mismatch = stale
Links	HTTP check	Broken = stale

Step 3: Verify Code References

For each code reference in docs:

markdown

## Code Reference Check

File: [doc-path]
Reference: `src/main.rs:45-60`
Status: [Exists | Missing | Changed]

If Changed:
- Original: [what doc says]
- Current: [what code shows]
- Action: [Update doc | Flag for review]

Step 4: Check External Links

bash

# Extract URLs
grep -oP 'https?://[^\s)]+' file.md

# Check each URL
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" URL

Step 5: Generate Report

Create docs-review-report.md:

markdown

# Documentation Review Report

**Date:** [YYYY-MM-DD]
**Reviewed:** [N] files
**Issues Found:** [N]

## Summary

| Category | Count |
|----------|-------|
| Stale (>30 days) | [N] |
| Missing References | [N] |
| Broken Links | [N] |
| Outdated Examples | [N] |

## Issues by File

### [file1.md]
- [ ] Line 45: Reference to `src/old.rs` - file no longer exists
- [ ] Line 78: Code example uses deprecated API

### [file2.md]
- [ ] Line 12: Version "1.0.0" should be "2.0.0"
- [ ] Line 56: Broken link to external docs

## Recommended Actions

1. **Delete:** [files that should be removed]
2. **Update:** [files that need content updates]
3. **Review:** [files that need human review]

## Auto-fixable

The following can be auto-fixed:
- [ ] Update version numbers
- [ ] Remove dead links
- [ ] Update file paths

Run `./scripts/aha-loop/doc-cleaner.sh --fix` to apply.

Staleness Criteria

Definitely Stale

•References files that don't exist
•Contains code that doesn't compile
•Links to 404 pages
•Describes features that were removed

Probably Stale

•Not modified in 60+ days
•Uses old API patterns
•References old version numbers
•No recent git commits mention the file

Needs Human Review

•Contains outdated but complex content
•Describes deprecated but still-supported features
•Historical documentation (changelogs, decisions)

Auto-Fix Rules

Safe to Auto-Fix

•Update file paths (if clear mapping exists)
•Remove broken external links
•Update version numbers in dependency lists
•Fix obvious typos in code references

Requires Human Review

•Content changes beyond mechanical updates
•Removing entire sections
•Changing technical instructions
•Modifying architecture decisions

Integration

With Doc Cleaner Script

bash

# Generate report only
./scripts/aha-loop/doc-cleaner.sh --report

# Apply safe fixes
./scripts/aha-loop/doc-cleaner.sh --fix

# Interactive mode
./scripts/aha-loop/doc-cleaner.sh --interactive

With Observability

Log review activities:

markdown

## 2026-01-29 16:00:00 | Task: Maintenance | Phase: Doc Review

### Documentation Review
Scanned 45 files, found 7 issues.

### Key Findings
- AGENTS.md references outdated skill paths
- README example code uses deprecated API

### Actions Taken
- Auto-fixed 3 version number issues
- Flagged 4 items for human review

Checklist

Before completing review:

Example Review

Input

File: docs/api.md last modified 90 days ago

markdown

# API Documentation

## Authentication

See `src/auth/mod.rs` for implementation.

Use version 0.5.0 of the auth library:
```toml
auth-lib = "0.5.0"

More info: https://example.com/old-docs

code


### Review Findings

1. **Stale**: Last modified 90 days ago
2. **Missing Reference**: `src/auth/mod.rs` doesn't exist (moved to `src/api/auth.rs`)
3. **Outdated Version**: Current version is 1.2.0, not 0.5.0
4. **Broken Link**: https://example.com/old-docs returns 404

### Report Entry

```markdown
### docs/api.md

**Staleness:** 90 days since last update
**Issues:**
- [ ] Line 5: `src/auth/mod.rs` → `src/api/auth.rs`
- [ ] Line 8: Version 0.5.0 → 1.2.0
- [ ] Line 12: Broken link (404)

**Recommendation:** Update file paths and versions, remove broken link

Prevention

To reduce future staleness:

•Update docs with code - When changing code, update related docs
•Add doc checks to CI - Fail on broken references
•Schedule regular reviews - Monthly or per-milestone
•Use relative links - Easier to maintain than absolute
•Date-stamp examples - "As of v1.2.0"