"How to leverage documentation effectively in Cursor through prompting, external sources, and internal context
​
Why documentation matters

Documentation provides current, accurate context. Without it, models use outdated or incomplete training data. Documentation helps models understand things like:

- Current APIs and parameters
- Best practices
- Organization conventions
- Domain terminology

And much more. Read on to learn how to use documentation right in Cursor without having to context switch."

https://docs.cursor.com/guides/advanced/working-with-documentation

#AI #GenerativeAI #Cursor #TechnicalWriting #Documentation #SoftwareDevelopment #APIDocumentation #SoftwareDocumentation

Haunted manuals lightning talk

I gave a lightning #WriteTheDocs in Portland, and in this post I share the recording and my slide deck.

https://rinsemiddlebliss.com/posts/2025-05-16-haunted-manuals/

#TechnicalWriting

'No docs, no bugs': https://simonwillison.net/2025/May/22/no-docs-no-bugs/

The idea that test records will suffice as documentation *could* work for some users. Some potential customers, especially those working for governments and high-risk environments (for example, nuclear power plants) would probably reject the use of test records as documentation.

To me, this thinking sounds economical but is in fact not geared to the end user, unless the end user is exactly the same kind of people who perform tests. In my experience, testers are seldom the same as end users, even when it comes to very technical docs.

#TechnicalWriting #TechComm #docs

I've tried getting writing related work (specifically technical writing) for years and it's ultimately not exactly been as successful as I'd like. (One reason I run my blog, as a writing outlet/show my skills.) Reading about writers getting hired while using AI isn't encouraging.

#writing #technicalwriting

"Your voice must be heard. Inside of your work, you need key stakeholders and teams to know what it is that you do and the value you bring to product development. Your docs are vital infrastructure, but folks won’t realize that until it’s too late. Unless, of course, you become an ambassador of your craft and start making yourself heard and present everywhere. One of the first things I did when I joined a startup was sending an email to the team telling them what I did. It became my first post.

Outside of work, this task is equally important, because tech writing has a depth issue. You must develop a sense of pride in technical communication as a vital discipline. Don’t shy away from intellectual engagement and contribute to the field by sharing your own thoughts, theories, and errors. Some career ladders label that as “thought leadership”. It’s really about showing up and owning the conversation around what we do and why it matters, moving beyond praxis to noesis."

https://passo.uno/how-to-grow-senior-tech-writer/

#TechnicalWriting #TechnicalWriter #TechnicalCommunication #LifeLongLearning #SoftwareDocumentation #DocsAsInfrastructure

🚨 BREAKING NEWS: #Embeddings, that ancient artifact from the dusty corners of ML, are apparently the unsung heroes of technical writing! 🤯 Who knew that connecting texts like a glorified game of connect-the-dots could revolutionize your mundane documentation? 💡 Thank you, Captain Obvious, for this revelation! 😂
https://technicalwriting.dev/ml/embeddings/overview.html #TechnicalWriting #MLRevolution #ConnectTheDots #DocumentationInsights #HackerNews #ngated

8 Light writer Taylor Keazirian argues in favor of maintaining a set of "living" documents as part of software development project efforts. Common misconceptions about software documentation are addressed and refuted with insights on what a minimal technical set of documents for a software project should look like.

"Mastering Technical Documentation"

https://8thlight.com/insights/mastering-technical-documentation

#programming #technicalwriting #softwaredevelopment #documentation

"Welcome to the State of Docs Report 2025, bringing together insights from documentation experts from across the industry.

This comprehensive report explores how teams track their docs’ success, the future of the industry, the ongoing impact of AI on documentation, and much more.
(...)
We received responses from 444 hands-on documentation experts — including technical writers, managers, engineers, support teams, designers, marketers, and developer advocates. This variety shows just how many teams are involved and invested in documentation today.

We also conducted interviews with a number of technical writers, engineers, and documentation leaders from across the tech industry to get their insights into specific areas — you can read quotes from them throughout the report.

TAKEAWAYS:

- 54% believe their docs generate at least as many leads as their marketing sites

- 42% think AI will let us build docs that intelligently adapt to user needs

- 46% of large companies have decentralized or hybrid docs teams"

https://www.stateofdocs.com/2025/

#TechnicalWriting #TechnicalCommunication #Documentation #SoftwareDocumentation #SoftwareDevelopment #AI #Marketing

Build a blog in Three Minutes with Three Commands

http://readbeanicecream.surge.sh/2025/05/02/build-your-blog-in-three-commands/

#technology #tech #technicalwriting #opensource #foss #linux #mkdocs #mkdocs_material #surge #web #websites #net #internet

I swear the document I'm editing keeps getting longer. #TechnicalWriting

Now that I have been writing tooling to programmatically work with our docs, I have become an evangelist for improving docs through code.

Reviewed a proposal for some docs maintenance tasks yesterday, and my immediate thoughts (and comments!) were about how we could write tooling to automate the tasks.

Maintenance is always the first thing to get skipped when feature work gets busy. Automating maintenance tasks means they happen even when teams don’t have time to do them.

#TechnicalWriting

Back on the topic of auditing code examples in our documentation, part 5 of my 8-part series dives deep into the data model we used to store metadata and the code examples.

I look at the types of queries this model enables, performance implications, and future iteration. Data modeling is one of my favorite exercises, and I'm happy with the outcome for this project!

#TechnicalWriting #DeveloperDocs

https://dacharycarey.com/2025/04/27/audit-model-code-example-metadata/

“When I say that tech writers should own the prompt that generates documentation, I mean two things: that they should design and maintain the prompts, and that they should spearhead docs automation initiatives themselves, as I suggested in my tech writing predictions for 2025. It’s not just about using LLMs at work or tolerating their existence: writers must lead the way and own the conversations with AIs around docs.

What Aikidocs aims at showing is that you can work with an LLM as you would with a tech savvy intern: you provide a style guide, concrete guidance, and source materials to get acceptable output on the other side of the black box. All the content created in those carefully fenced pens will follow your content strategy more than if you let opinionated tools do it for you.

It’s not vibe coding: it’s LLM surfing.”

https://passo.uno/build-tech-writing-tools-llms/

#TechnicalWriting #SoftwareDocumentation #AI #GenerativeAI #LLMs

I had a lovely meetup coffee to start the day with fellow technical writers. Thank you to Swapnil for organising it.

#write_the_docs #TechnicalWriting #WTD #Melbourne

Prominent pic in an article on koala culling with the caption "A kangaroo climbs a tree." As a tech writer, I understand how this happens. Still makes me cringe.

#technicalWriting #technicalWriting #cringe

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/why-australia-is-shooting-koalas-out-of-trees-from-helicopters/ar-AA1DbKdE

Ever wondered how beforeEach works in unit test frameworks? Check out our new lifecycle diagram!

https://qunitjs.com/lifecycle/

People generally guess right when it comes to ordering, so why a diagram?

We want to show that the order is guaranteed, and showcase what's possible when you depend on it.

Thanks to FND, Jan, and NullVoxPopuli for improving and promoting this work! H/T @FND @simulo @nullvoxpopuli

#qunit #WriteTheDocs #TechnicalWriting #SoftwareDocumentation #documentation #TDD

"Most guides to docs like code, even the ones for non-devs, assume you have some developer knowledge: maybe you're already using version control, or you've encountered build pipelines before, or you're working alongside developers.

This guide is for the people who read that paragraph and wished it came with a glossary. This is docs like code for people who don't know what git is and have never installed VS Code.

This post explains terminology and concepts, to help you get a mental model of what's going on. If you prefer to dive in and pick up concepts as you go, skip straight to the tips in How to learn, and come back to the conceptual info as needed."

https://deborahwrites.com/blog/docs-like-code-basic-intro/

#TechnicalWriting #SoftwareDocumentation #SoftwareDevelopment #Programming #DocsAsCode #Git #Markdown #TechnicalCommunication #MkDocs #VSCode

"When evaluating documentation’s role, consider these broader strategic questions:

- Strategic positioning: How does documentation support the company’s core strategic approach?

- Competitive advantage: Can documentation create or enhance the company’s unique market position? What type of documentation does the competition offer?

- Value proposition: How does documentation contribute to the product’s overall value for customers?

- Knowledge management: How does documentation support internal knowledge retention and transfer?

- Customer lifecycle: How can documentation improve customer acquisition, retention, and satisfaction?"

https://www.thegooddocsproject.dev/blog/making-business-base-know-company-goals

#TechnicalWriting #Documentation #SoftwareDocumentation #TechnicalCommunication

"When evaluating documentation’s role, consider these broader strategic questions:

- Strategic positioning: How does documentation support the company’s core strategic approach?

- Competitive advantage: Can documentation create or enhance the company’s unique market position? What type of documentation does the competition offer?

- Value proposition: How does documentation contribute to the product’s overall value for customers?

- Knowledge management: How does documentation support internal knowledge retention and transfer?

- Customer lifecycle: How can documentation improve customer acquisition, retention, and satisfaction?"

https://www.thegooddocsproject.dev/blog/making-business-base-know-company-goals

#TechnicalWriting #Documentation #SoftwareDocumentation #TechnicalCommunication

🧊 DeadSwitch Technical Dispatch // Fortify the Flow: Proxy Frontlines & The Truth in Certificates #NGINX #ReverseProxy #CyberSecurity #SSL #X509 #LinuxAdmin #OpSec #WebSecurity #HTTPS #LetsEncrypt #DigitalCertificates #DeadSwitch #TomITCafe #EncryptEverything #TLS13 #BackendSecurity #ProxyPower #Infosec #FullStackSecurity #TechnicalWriting

http://tomsitcafe.com/2025/04/18/%f0%9f%a7%8a-deadswitch-technical-dispatch-fortify-the-flow-proxy-frontlines-the-truth-in-certificates/