How to Keep Docs Current

Keeping docs current means reconciling documentation with what the code actually does. It is not a writing task alone. It is a recurring check for stale claims, missing behavior, drifted examples, changed parameters, altered defaults, and API reference types that no longer match real responses.

Docs drift because code changes are reviewed as code, while the public explanation is often reviewed only when someone complains. A scheduled docs gardening loop makes documentation part of the shipped-change cycle instead of a cleanup project that waits until trust has already been lost.

Why stale docs quietly cost engineering time

Stale docs create hidden support load. A customer follows an old example, a developer calls an endpoint with the wrong shape, or a teammate searches the README and makes a decision from behavior that no longer exists. The failure looks like user error until someone traces it back to the documentation.

API docs are especially fragile. Response fields change, nullable values drift, legacy reference pages overlap with newer docs, and examples keep passing review because they read plausibly. The only reliable process starts from shipped changes and verifies the docs against reality.

What the manual process looks like

Done by hand, docs gardening is a repository ritual:

1. Read what shipped since the docs last moved.
2. Build a list of doc deltas: stale claims, missing behavior, and drifted examples, types, or defaults.
3. Prioritize stale claims first because they mislead readers today.
4. For API reference changes, confirm the real endpoint behavior and type the docs to the actual response.
5. Draft the documentation changes, linking to the canonical source instead of duplicating text.
6. Edit for structure and clarity, then open a draft PR with exactly what was reconciled.
7. Wait for human approval before merging.

The work is repetitive, but it asks for care. A correct update in the wrong section, a duplicated explanation, or a type copied from memory can create the next drift problem.

What an agent can automate

An agent can own the recurring pass while keeping the merge decision with a person:

• Diff shipped changes against docs. The agent reads what changed and classifies each documentation delta as stale, missing, or drifted.
• Type API docs against real behavior. For endpoint reference work, it checks the actual response, corrects type drift, handles nullability explicitly, and reuses canonical response types.
• Draft the reconciling update. It writes the smallest doc change that makes the current claim true, and links rather than duplicates where a single source should exist.
• Edit the prose. It orders sections so dependencies appear before they are used, tightens paragraphs, and keeps headings scannable.
• Open a draft PR. The agent stops at a draft pull request that lists what was reconciled, which sections were stale, and any findings that imply the code itself may be wrong.

The agent should not merge. A docs PR can still need product, engineering, or support judgment.

The guardrails that make it safe

Docs gardening is safe when the workflow treats every claim as something to verify. The agent traces each change back to shipped work, flags code behavior that looks wrong instead of hiding it with prose, and stops when it cannot confirm an endpoint's real behavior.

The draft PR is the control point. Reviewers can see the stale sections, the reconciling edits, the API reference assumptions, the clarity pass, and the self-review notes before approving a merge. The schedule keeps the loop recurring, but human approval decides when documentation changes land.

Set it up in Task Machine

The Docs gardener & API doc writer playbook installs this recurring docs loop as working records in your workspace: the Docs Agent, the Garden docs workflow, the docs freshness goal, the document-api, doc-coauthoring, and edit-article skills, and the schedule that runs the pass. Setup takes a few minutes. You need a Task Machine workspace and permission to install playbooks (workspace owners have it). A connected repository is needed for full operation. Until repository access is ready, use supplied diffs or attachments for a supervised run.

1. Find the playbook

Open Playbooks in your workspace and search for "docs gardener", or browse the Engineering category. The card describes a scheduled workflow that reconciles docs with shipped changes and drafts a PR.

2. Preview what it installs

Preview & install shows the Docs Agent, Garden docs workflow, Docs never stale goal, docs schedule, and the three skills that define the API reference, doc coauthoring, and article-editing standards. Review this before anything is created.

3. Define the docs surface

Start setup asks for the repository, docs paths, known stale areas, and verification command. Use the paths your team actually maintains, and name stale areas bluntly so the first run starts where trust is already weakest.

4. Generate and review

Generate customized playbook customizes the docs workflow around those paths and checks. Review the result before install. Confirm that the workflow diffs first, edits after drafting, opens a draft PR, and waits for approval.

5. Install

Install customized playbook creates the docs gardener. Two follow-ups arrive in your inbox: start Garden docs once and set the docs gardening cadence. The first run reviews shipped changes, drafts updates, self-reviews, opens a draft PR, and waits for approval before merge.

What good looks like

Good docs gardening is visible in the PR:

• Each edit traces to shipped behavior. Reviewers can see why the docs changed and which code or release caused it.
• Stale claims are removed, not buried. The PR should not add a fresh paragraph while leaving an old contradiction nearby.
• API reference matches real responses. Nullability, field types, shared parameters, and examples are checked against the behavior the endpoint actually returns.

Common questions

Should docs updates happen in the same PR as code changes? When the team can do it, yes. The gardener is for recurring reconciliation, missed updates, API drift, and release batches where docs need a dedicated pass.

Can the agent merge the docs PR? No. The playbook drafts the PR and waits for human approval. A doc change can still expose a product decision or code bug that needs owner judgment.

What if the agent finds behavior that looks wrong? It should surface the finding instead of rewriting the docs to hide the problem. The bundle explicitly stops when a doc delta implies the code itself may be wrong.

Does this replace a technical writer? No. It handles the recurring reconciliation pass and draft assembly. Human reviewers still decide accuracy, product framing, and merge readiness.