Human And Agent Documentation Doctrine

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Generated at: 2026-07-30T12:38:02.000Z UTC · source: committed helm-expt evidence for this rendered repository document.

UNOFFICIAL/EXPERIMENTAL

helm-expt has two documentation audiences. Human pages explain the product and the problem. Agent pages explain which repo files and commands to use.

The two layers must stay aligned, but they should not become copies of each other.

Split Of Responsibility

LayerOwnsShould not own
Public websiteProduct value, first routes, catalog browsing, proof signposts.Long command recipes, repo recovery steps, internal maintenance rules.
docs/userProduct and proof explanations for technical users.Agent checklists or every generated-data path.
docs/agentTask recipes, recovery steps, verifier choice, repo vocabulary, read-only catalog rules.Marketing copy, broad product narrative, or new claims.
tests/npm-scripts.mdFull npm command runbook.Public-facing value story.
data/, recipes/, packages/Generated evidence and generated package docs.Manual narrative edits.

Drift Rules

When a human-facing page changes:

  1. If it changes a product claim, make sure the evidence or refusal boundary is still linked from the human page.
  2. If it changes a command, update the matching agent task or recovery note if agents need to run it.
  3. If it introduces a new term, update docs/agent/terms.md only when agents need the term to operate the repo.
  4. Do not add agent checklists to the public page. Link to docs/agent/README.md instead.

When an agent-facing page changes:

  1. Link back to the human explanation instead of restating the whole story.
  2. Keep commands exact and scoped.
  3. Say whether a command mutates files, needs a cluster, or creates receipts.
  4. Do not create a new product claim. Point to the human doc, claim register, or generated evidence that owns the claim.

Canonical Pairings

TopicHuman sourceAgent/operator source
First-run storydocs/user/try-now.md and public Get Started pagedocs/agent/tasks.md
Command choicedocs/user/choosing-commands.mddocs/agent/tasks.md and tests/npm-scripts.md
Verification modeldocs/user/verification.mddocs/agent/verification.md
Recovery from failuresHuman docs only when user-visibledocs/agent/recovery.md
Catalog statusPublic catalog and data/README.mddocs/agent/catalog.md
Vocabularydocs/user/confighub-data-model.md and docs/user/helm-render-intents.mddocs/agent/terms.md
Human/agent splitPublic site only links to itthis file and docs/planning/agent-experience-audit.md

Website Rule

The website may link agents and maintainers to docs/agent/README.md, but it should not become the agent manual. Put the link in Docs/FAQ, not the top navigation.

Review Checklist

Before committing a docs change, ask: