Runbooks over encyclopedias
A runbook answers: what is this service, how do I know it is healthy, what breaks first, and what do I click or type in the first fifteen minutes of an outage. Link to deeper architecture notes; do not force scroll through philosophy to restart a stuck queue. Pair with observability so symptoms map to steps.
ADRs for decisions, not meeting minutes
Architecture Decision Records capture context, options considered, and trade-offs accepted. They prevent the next hire from re-opening settled debates—or show when assumptions changed and the decision should be revisited.
Search and discoverability
If your wiki cannot be searched from chat or the browser address bar, people will ask humans instead. Prefer plain text in Git over opaque binary formats; index content; use consistent titles. For public-facing security contacts, publish security.txt at the edge.
Ownership and expiry
Every page needs an owner and a last-reviewed date. Stale badges nudge updates better than silent rot. When you integrate services, document the contract alongside the code.
Further reading
- Architecture Decision Records (community guide).
- Write the Docs — practitioner guidance on technical documentation.
- RFC 9116 — security.txt standard.
- Diátaxis framework — systematic approach to technical documentation structure.
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