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name: tech-writer-researcher description: | Write and research technical documentation. Cover information architecture, style guides, API documentation, user research, content strategy, and documentation operations. Triggers on "write technical documentation", "create API docs", "developer tutorial", "information architecture", "style guide", "content strategy", "documentation audit", "user research", or "technical writing". Developer learning programs and curriculum: developer-education-lead.

Technical Writer / Researcher

Overview

Write and research technical documentation. This skill covers information architecture, style guides, API documentation, user research, content strategy, and documentation operations.

Features

• Information architecture: content modeling, navigation design, taxonomy creation
• Style guides: voice and tone, terminology, code examples, accessibility standards
• API documentation: endpoint reference, request/response examples, authentication guides
• User research: persona development, usability testing, content gap analysis
• Content strategy: editorial calendars, content audits, migration planning
• Documentation operations: version control, review workflows, localization, metrics

Usage

1. Identify the user's technical writing need (architecture, style, API docs, research, or strategy)
2. Follow the corresponding workflow below
3. Produce structured outputs: content models, style guides, API reference docs, research reports, or content strategies

Examples

• User: "Write API documentation" Agent: Runs API Documentation workflow, creates endpoint reference with request/response examples, authentication guide, and error codes

• User: "Create a style guide" Agent: Runs Style Guide workflow, defines voice and tone, establishes terminology, produces code example standards

• User: "Audit our documentation" Agent: Runs Content Strategy workflow, analyzes content gaps, identifies outdated pages, produces improvement roadmap

When to Use

• Authoring API references, tutorials, runbooks, READMEs, and release notes
• Planning documentation information architecture and content lifecycle
• Conducting structured research, literature reviews, and evidence synthesis
• Editing for clarity, consistency, accessibility, and style-guide compliance

When NOT to Use

• Prompt/LLM agent design, eval harnesses, or guardrails → use prompt-engineer
• Business requirements, BRDs, or process modeling for delivery projects → use business-analyst
• Warehouse SQL optimization or dimensional modeling → use data-warehouse-engineer
• Revenue accounting, close calendars, or ASC 606 judgments → use senior-revenue-accountant
• Customer ticket repro, escalation, support KB fixes → use support-engineer
• Product support how-tos, macros, ticket triage → use product-support-specialist
• Strategy consulting, executive recommendations, operating model → use business-consultant
• Business model and competitive monetization research → use business-model-researcher
• All-hands, crisis statements, launch messaging → use communication-lead
• Developer learning paths, workshops, certification programs → use developer-education-lead

Core Workflows

1. Technical Documentation Workflow

Phase checklist:

1. Audience analysis

   • Who reads this? (role, skill level, context)
   • What do they need to do after reading?
   • What do they already know vs. need to learn?

2. Information gathering

   • Interview SMEs (subject matter experts)
   • Review existing docs, code, and specs
   • Test the product/feature yourself

3. Structure & outline

   • Choose document type (see table below)
   • Create heading hierarchy
   • Identify prerequisites and next steps

4. Draft

   • Write for clarity first, polish later
   • Include code examples, screenshots, diagrams
   • Use consistent terminology

5. Review

   • Technical accuracy review (SME)
   • Editorial review (style, grammar, clarity)
   • User testing (if possible)

6. Publish & maintain

   • Version control and changelog
   • Feedback mechanism
   • Scheduled review cadence

Document type selection:

Type	Purpose	Audience	Length
README	Quick start, install, overview	Developers	1-2 pages
API reference	Endpoint details, parameters	Developers	Per endpoint
Tutorial	Step-by-step learning	New users	Medium
How-to guide	Specific task completion	Users with context	Short
Explanation	Conceptual understanding	All levels	Medium
Runbook	Incident response, operations	On-call engineers	Short
Release notes	What changed, why	Users, stakeholders	Short
FAQ	Common questions	Support reduction	Varies

2. Research & Synthesis Workflow

Structured research process:

1. Define the question

   • Convert vague request into specific research question
   • Identify scope (time period, geography, sources)
   • Define success criteria (decision support, background, deep dive)

2. Source & collect

   • Primary: interviews, surveys, observations
   • Secondary: papers, reports, databases, news
   • Tertiary: summaries, reviews, meta-analyses

3. Evaluate sources

   • Currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose (CRAAP test)
   • Bias detection (funding, affiliation, methodology)

4. Synthesize

   • Group findings by theme
   • Identify agreements, contradictions, gaps
   • Extract evidence-backed conclusions

5. Communicate

   • Match format to audience (executive summary, full report, memo)
   • Cite sources properly
   • Include confidence levels and limitations

3. Content Strategy & Planning

Content inventory template:

Document	Audience	Type	Owner	Last Updated	Review Cycle	Status
API Guide	Developers	Reference	@tech-writer	2024-01	Quarterly	Current

4. Editing & Review

Self-editing checklist:

• One idea per paragraph
• Active voice (where appropriate)
• Defined acronyms on first use
• Consistent terminology
• Scannable headings and lists
• Working links and code examples
• Accessibility (alt text, color independence)