Skills

Write Technical Manual

Writes a long technical manual on one pinned version, with each claim traced to a source.

Install

npx skills add rohitg00/ai-engineering-from-scratch --skill write-manual -g -a claude-code -y
Category
Writing
Updated
6d ago
License
MIT
Context cost
Mediumabout 3,000 tokens
Runs scripts
No, instructions only

What it does

Writes a long technical manual that explains one subject at one pinned version, from its purpose to each request and response. Every listing comes from an offline capture, every claim traces to a ranked source, and an audit must report TOTAL 0. Use it for "write a manual", "write a 101 manual for <subject>", "manual.json", "add a manual section", "build a capture kit", "audit the manual", or "pin a spec version and document it".

Write a manual

A manual explains one subject, such as a protocol, a file format, or a runtime, at one exact version. A lesson teaches a concept and moves on. A manual stays with one system until the reader can predict what it does in a case the manual never showed.

This skill gives the full method. It covers research, ranked sources, and a register of conflicts between sources. It also covers an offline capture kit, a fixed section shape, prose limits, and an audit that must report TOTAL 0. It works in any repository. Inside the AI Engineering from Scratch repo, the tooling already exists, and manuals/a2a-101/ is the worked example.

When to use

  • The reader must predict the behavior of one system, at one version, in cases you did not show.
  • The subject has a specification, a schema, or a source tree that you can pin to a commit.
  • You can run the subject, or a faithful stand-in, offline and record its requests and responses.
  • The result is 60 to 100 pages with figures, and other people will maintain it.

When not to use

  • You teach a general concept, such as attention or retrieval. Write a lesson instead.
  • The subject has no version to pin, or changes every week.
  • You cannot run the subject and cannot record its output. A manual without captures is an essay.
  • You want a short how-to. A manual of fewer than about 15 sections does not need this shape.

Size of a 101 manual

ItemTarget
pages60 to 100
parts6 to 8, plus one reference part
sectionsabout 25
figures30 to 40
outcomes in manual.jsonat least 3
takeaways per sectionexactly 1 block, with at least 2 items

The worked example has 7 parts, 28 sections, 7 reference sections, and 31 figures.

Method

Read the whole SKILL.md on GitHub

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