documentation

The documentation label classifies a document as explanatory content: it describes how a system, process, or vocabulary works. It is not prescriptive — readers may act on it, but the document itself does not create binding requirements.

When to apply

  • Runbooks, onboarding guides, "how we use X" walkthroughs.
  • Overviews of a team's domain or vocabulary.
  • Tutorials, walkthroughs, examples.

When not to apply

  • A document that creates requirements (use technical-requirement instead).
  • A signed contract, approved specification, or governance document — those are authorial artifacts, not descriptive content.
  • A slide deck intended for a specific meeting — those are presentations; label them accordingly.

Interaction with Tags

Workflow state is expressed via Tags, not Labels. A document labelled documentation can simultaneously carry workflow tags (draft, in-review, published) applied by a tagging authority — the two axes are orthogonal.

documentation — Sparqdown Docs