Update Docs

SkillDocs & knowledge

Detect user-facing features in recently merged PRs and open a PR in the docs repo adding the missing documentation.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Update Docs skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by getnao/sylph in .claude/skills/update-docs/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

When the user runs /update-docs, scan recently merged PRs for user-facing changes and open a documentation PR.

MCP connectors

ConnectorPurpose
GitHubRead merged PRs, create docs PRs

Prerequisites

Both repos must be cloned locally:

  • Product repo: the main codebase (configured in CONTEXT.md)
  • Docs repo: the documentation site (configured in CONTEXT.md or asked on first run)

State file: agents/cmo/_state/docs_last_refresh.txt (plain text, single ISO date).


Step 1: Determine the PR window

  1. Read agents/cmo/_state/docs_last_refresh.txt if it exists
  2. If the file exists, use its date as SINCE
  3. If it does NOT exist (first run), use today - 15 days as SINCE
  4. Record TODAY as the date to write back at the end

Step 2: List merged PRs

gh pr list -R <product-repo> \
  --state merged \
  --search "merged:>=<SINCE>" \
  --limit 100 \
  --json number,title,url,mergedAt,body,author,files

Keep the full list - every PR appears in the final summary, even those that don't need docs.


Step 3: Classify each PR

For each PR, decide: user-facing or not?

User-facing (needs docs):

  • New feature in the UI, CLI, API, or configuration
  • New command, flag, setting, integration, or UI element
  • Behavior change that affects how users interact with the product
  • New capability that a user would want to know about
  • Anything that belongs in release notes

NOT user-facing (skip):

  • Refactors, internal cleanups, tests, CI, infra
  • Dependency bumps, lockfile updates
  • Backend-only changes invisible to users
  • Bug fixes that restore already-documented behavior
  • Brand, marketing, or internal tooling changes

When unsure, read the PR body and changed files. If still ambiguous, err on no docs and note it in the summary.


Step 4: Fetch current docs state

Pull latest from the docs repo:

cd <docs-repo> && git checkout main && git pull

Before writing any new doc, search the repo for existing coverage (grep on keywords from the PR title/body). If a relevant page exists, update it instead of creating a new one.


Step 5: Write the docs

For each user-facing PR that needs docs:

  1. Identify the right section and subfolder
  2. Either update an existing page or create a new one
  3. Follow the style of neighboring pages - tone, frontmatter, headings, code blocks
  4. If you create a new page, add it to the navigation/sitemap config
  5. Keep docs factual and concise - no marketing voice, direct tone
  6. Only document what actually shipped - read the PR diff if the description is thin. Never invent behavior.

Step 6: Create a new branch and PR

cd <docs-repo>
git checkout -b docs/refresh-<TODAY>
git add <changed files>
git commit -m "docs: refresh for PRs merged since <SINCE>"
git push -u origin docs/refresh-<TODAY>
gh pr create -R <docs-repo> \
  --title "docs: refresh for PRs merged since <SINCE>" \
  --body "<PR summary - see template below>"

PR summary template

Every PR from Step 2 must appear in the list, in merge order. Use these exact shapes:

- PR merged #123 <PR title> - no docs added
- PR merged #124 <PR title> - added docs - <one-line description of what was documented and where>

No other bullet shapes. No section grouping. Keep it a flat list.

If zero PRs were user-facing, skip PR creation and just update the state file.


Step 7: Log the refresh

Write TODAY (ISO date) to agents/cmo/_state/docs_last_refresh.txt:

echo "<TODAY>" > agents/cmo/_state/docs_last_refresh.txt
git add agents/cmo/_state/docs_last_refresh.txt
git commit -m "chore(cmo): log docs refresh <TODAY>"
git push

The next run picks up from this date.


Step 8: Report back

Return to the user:

  • Docs PR URL (or "no user-facing PRs this run" if none)
  • Number of PRs reviewed / number that got docs
  • The full PR summary list (same content as the PR body)
  • New last-refresh date

Guardrails

  • Never modify source code - docs changes only
  • Link to source PRs in the docs PR description
  • One docs PR per batch - group related changes together
  • Flag ambiguity - if a PR's user impact is unclear, ask before documenting
  • Never invent features - only document what the diff shows

Self-improvement

After the docs PR is reviewed and merged:

  1. If the reviewer requests changes to doc structure, tone, or coverage scope, update the relevant step in this skill file
  2. If a PR classification was wrong (documented something that didn't need docs, or missed something that did), refine the classification guide in Step 3
  3. Update _insights.md with patterns: which PRs consistently need docs, which doc styles get approved without changes
  4. If the PR summary format needs adjustment based on reviewer feedback, update the template in Step 6

Signals

GitHub stars
196
Forks
58
Last commit
May 2026
Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
update-docs-getnao
Source
github.com/getnao/sylph