Documentation

Technical documentation including API docs, comments, READMEs, and changelogs.

When to Use

• API documentation generation
• Code comments and docstrings
• README creation/updates
• Changelog and release notes
• Architecture Decision Records

MCP Workflow

# 1. Project structure (overview first)
serena.list_dir(relative_path=".", recursive=True, skip_ignored_files=True)

# 2. Module/component overview (signatures only)
serena.get_symbols_overview(relative_path="src/")

# 3. Existing documentation (check what exists)
serena.find_file(file_mask="*.md", relative_path=".")
serena.find_file(file_mask="README*", relative_path=".")

# 4. Symbol details (depth=1 for class methods, no bodies)
serena.find_symbol(name_path="UserService", depth=1, include_body=False)

# 5. Body ONLY when documenting specific method
serena.find_symbol(name_path="UserService/create", include_body=True)

# 6. Check past documentation decisions
claude-mem.search(query="documentation style", project="<project>")

Efficiency Rules

Do (Token-Efficient):

• Use get_symbols_overview before reading any files
• Use find_symbol(include_body=False) for signatures
• Read bodies only for complex methods needing explanation
• Limit list_dir depth when possible

Avoid (Token-Wasteful):

• Reading entire source files to document
• Fetching all method bodies at once
• Recursive directory scans without skip_ignored_files

Documentation Types

Code Comments

/**
 * Brief summary of function/class.
 *
 * Detailed description if needed.
 *
 * @param paramName Description
 * @returns Description
 * @throws ErrorType When thrown
 *
 * @example
 * result = functionName(input)
 */

API Documentation

## Endpoint Name

Brief description.

### Request
**Method:** POST
**Path:** /api/v1/resource

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| name | string | Yes | Resource name |

### Response (200)
{ "id": "string", "name": "string" }

### Errors
| Code | Description |
|------|-------------|
| 400 | Invalid input |

README Structure

# Project Name

Brief description.

## Quick Start

### Prerequisites
- Requirement 1

### Installation
[steps]

### Usage
[examples]

## Configuration
[options]

## Contributing
[guidelines]

Changelog (Keep a Changelog)

# Changelog

## [Unreleased]

### Added
- New feature (#issue)

### Changed
- Updated behavior

### Fixed
- Bug fix (#issue)

## [1.2.0] - YYYY-MM-DD
...

ADR

# ADR-001: [Title]

## Status
Proposed / Accepted / Deprecated

## Context
What issue motivates this decision?

## Decision
What change are we making?

## Consequences
What becomes easier or harder?

Mermaid Diagrams

Use Mermaid for architecture documentation (renders in GitHub/GitLab).

System Overview

graph TB
    subgraph "Frontend"
        UI[basecamp-ui]
    end
    subgraph "Backend"
        API[basecamp-server]
        Parser[basecamp-parser]
    end
    subgraph "Data"
        DB[(MySQL)]
        Cache[(Redis)]
    end
    UI --> API
    API --> Parser
    API --> DB
    API --> Cache

Sequence Diagram

sequenceDiagram
    participant C as Client
    participant S as Server
    participant D as Database
    C->>S: POST /api/resource
    S->>D: INSERT INTO table
    D-->>S: OK
    S-->>C: 201 Created

Class Diagram (Simplified)

classDiagram
    class UserService {
        +create(command) UserDto
        +findById(id) UserDto
    }
    class UserRepository {
        <<interface>>
        +save(user) User
        +findById(id) User
    }
    UserService --> UserRepository

Output Format

## Documentation Updates

| File | Change | Description |
|------|--------|-------------|
| README.md | Updated | Setup instructions |
| UserService | Added | Docstrings |

### Summary
- Added: N items
- Updated: M items
- Coverage: X%

Quality Principles

1. Clear: No jargon without explanation
2. Concise: What needs to be said, nothing more
3. Complete: All important aspects
4. Current: Up to date with code
5. Correct: Technically accurate

When to Document

Always: Public APIs, complex algorithms, non-obvious code Sometimes: Private methods (when complex), configuration Rarely: Simple getters, obvious code

Checklist

Code

• All public classes have summary
• All public methods documented
• Parameters and returns described
• Examples for complex APIs

README

• Clear project description
• Quick start guide
• Prerequisites listed

API

• All endpoints documented
• Request/response formats
• Error codes explained