meow:docs-init

Generate initial project documentation from codebase analysis.

What This Skill Does

meow:docs-init creates a project's docs/ directory from scratch by scouting the codebase and generating documentation that reflects what actually exists. It fills the gap between meow:bootstrap (creates code) and meow:document-release (updates existing docs after shipping).

Core Capabilities

• Codebase-driven — scouts first, generates from findings (no hallucinated architecture)
• Adaptive output — generates only relevant docs based on what's detected (no deployment guide for libs)
• Size-aware — flags files >800 lines, suggests splitting
• Delegates generation — spawns docs-manager subagent for actual file creation
• Scope-appropriate — small projects get README + summary only; large projects get full doc suite

When to Use This

Use meow:docs-init when...

• Project has no docs/ directory
• docs/ exists but is empty or stubs
• After meow:bootstrap creates a new project
• Onboarding to an undocumented codebase

Don't use meow:docs-init when...

• Docs already exist and need updating → use meow:document-release
• You need doc reference guides → use meow:documentation

Usage

# Initialize docs for current project
/meow:docs-init

# After bootstrapping a new project
/meow:bootstrap my-app
/meow:docs-init

Generated Files

File	When generated	Audience
README.md	Always (≤300 lines)	External — setup, usage
docs/project-overview.md	Always	Internal — why it exists, design decisions
docs/codebase-summary.md	Always	Internal — directory map, entry points
docs/code-standards.md	Always	Team — conventions, patterns
docs/system-architecture.md	Always	Team — component diagram, data flow
docs/deployment-guide.md	If CI/CD or Docker detected	DevOps
docs/design-guidelines.md	If frontend/UI code detected	Design/Frontend

Skill Details

Phase: Post-bootstrap or standalone Used by: documenter agent

Gotchas

• Hallucinating architecture: always scouts first — generates only from confirmed findings
• Over-documenting small projects: <10 files = README + codebase-summary only
• Stale on first run: tell user to run meow:document-release after each ship

Related

• meow:bootstrap — Creates project code (run docs-init after)
• meow:document-release — Updates docs after shipping
• meow:documentation — Reference toolkit for doc patterns