This page explains strategies for keeping your documentation accurate and valuable over time, from automated checks to content lifecycles.
Automate what you can
Introduce automations where you can, such as:- Track stale content: Run a script to flag important docs that haven’t been updated in the last three months. Are they still accurate?
- Automate documentation updates: Build a workflow to automatically update documentation when code is merged with the agent API.
- Enforce standards with linters: Use Vale or CI checks to automatically catch formatting issues, writing style deviations, or missing metadata on every pull request.
Set up a review process
Documentation might never be perfect, and that’s okay. You should have a threshold of acceptance where documentation is functional and useful. Balance efficiency with quality:- Focus on high-impact docs. Not every page needs regular updates. Make sure the most important pages are reviewed regularly for accuracy and relevance.
- Leverage your community. If your docs are open-source, empower users to flag issues or submit fixes via pull requests. This builds trust and keeps content fresh.
Know when to rewrite
Over time, documentation naturally accumulates caveats and workarounds. When incremental fixes create more confusion than clarity, a full overhaul might be the best option.- Plan for periodic resets. A major cleanup, especially if best practices or the product itself has evolved significantly, saves time for your team and your users.
- Start with a structured audit. Interview support teams, analyze user feedback, and document what is missing, misleading, or redundant before rewriting.
- Complete rewrites in focused sprints. A full overhaul doesn’t have to happen all at once. Prioritize sections with the biggest impact.