man-docs

Man Page Documentation for carapace-bin

Guide for writing and maintaining command documentation in man/cmd/ YAML specs within carapace-bin.

Architecture

Command documentation lives in man/cmd/<completer>/ as split YAML specs — one file per subcommand:

man/cmd/
  git/
    git.yaml              # root command
    git.log.yaml           # subcommand
    git.remote.add.yaml   # nested subcommand
  docker/
    docker.yaml
    docker.container.run.yaml

The spec structure (flags, subcommands, descriptions) is generated from the completer. The documentation: section is the enrichment layer — prose that goes beyond the one-line description.

Tools

Update docs for a completer (recommended)

# One-step update: generate spec, split with doc preservation, show diff
carapace <completer> spec | carapace-man update - man/cmd/<completer>

# Or with a pre-generated spec file
carapace-man update /tmp/<completer>-spec.yaml man/cmd/<completer>

# Dry run to preview changes without writing files
carapace-man update --dry-run /tmp/<completer>-spec.yaml man/cmd/<completer>

The update command combines spec-diff and split-to into one step. It:

1. Reports current diff (new/removed subcommands, changed flags, missing docs)
2. Splits the spec into per-subcommand files, preserving existing documentation: entries
3. Creates new files for new subcommands

Split spec into per-subcommand files

# Generate fresh spec from the completer
carapace <completer> spec > /tmp/<completer>-spec.yaml

# Split into per-subcommand files in the target directory
carapace-man split-to /tmp/<completer>-spec.yaml man/cmd/<completer>

split-to overwrites structural fields (name, description, flags, commands) and preserves existing documentation: entries from the target files. New files get no documentation.

Check for drift

# Compare fresh spec against committed man/cmd/<completer>/ files
carapace <completer> spec > /tmp/<completer>-spec.yaml
carapace-man spec-diff /tmp/<completer>-spec.yaml man/cmd/<completer>

Reports: new/removed subcommands, changed flag descriptions, missing documentation, [AI] prefixed entries.

Research source material

Priority order for sourcing documentation:

1. Official upstream docs — the project's own documentation site (e.g. docs.docker.com, docs.brew.sh, cli.github.com/manual). Closest to authoritative; rephrase for consistency but stay faithful to the original meaning and technical accuracy.
2. System man pages — via man-to-md. These are often derived from the upstream source and vetted by distributions.
3. <command> --help — last resort. Help output is often incomplete or auto-generated.

When rephrasing official docs:

• Preserve technical accuracy — enum values, default behaviors, and interaction effects must match the source
• Adjust tone and length to fit the skill's conventions (imperative mood, concise structure)
• Merge multiple paragraphs into a coherent summary where the full detail isn't needed
• Keep close to the original phrasing where it's already clear and concise — don't rewrite for the sake of rewriting

# Convert a system man page to markdown
carapace-man man-to-md docker-container-run
carapace-man man-to-md git-log --section 1

# Falls back to <command> --help if no man page exists
carapace-man man-to-md mycli

Documentation Standards

documentation.command

• ≤300 words as a default guideline — but complex CLIs (e.g. az, aws, gcloud) with many flags, accepted values, defaults, and parameter groups should have full docs faithful to the upstream source. The pager handles long content. Use judgment: don't truncate useful information for complex commands
• First sentence: what the command does (imperative mood: "Create and start a new container")
• Remaining: key behavior, common usage patterns, important caveats
• Source from official upstream docs first, then man pages, then --help. Stay close to official wording for correctness; rephrase for consistency only
• Use UID cross-references where appropriate: [git log](cmd://git/log), [git-config](man://git-config/1)

documentation.flag

• ≤200 words as a default guideline — but complex CLIs (e.g. az, aws, gcloud) should include full flag documentation including accepted values, defaults, parameter groups, and value sources when available. Use judgment: don't truncate useful information for complex flags
• Include flag docs when upstream documentation is available — don't skip just because the short description seems clear enough, especially for complex CLIs
• Typical cases needing flag docs:
  • Complex value types (enum values, patterns, formats)
  • Non-obvious side effects or interactions with other flags
  • Flags where short description is missing or terse
  • Flags with subtle default behavior that differs from user expectation
• Source from official upstream docs first, then man pages, then --help. Stay close to official wording for correctness; rephrase for consistency only
• For simple CLIs, skip flag docs when the short description is already clear and sufficient
• For complex CLIs (e.g. az, aws, gcloud), include flag docs whenever they are available from the upstream source, even if the short description seems sufficient — the extra context (accepted values, defaults, interactions) is valuable at the terminal
• Use the flag name without leading dashes as the key (e.g. restart not --restart)

Examples

Good documentation.command:

documentation:
  command: >-
    Create and start a new container from an image. Configures the
    container's filesystem, network, and resource constraints, then
    executes the specified command. Use `docker create` to create a
    container without starting it.

Good documentation.flag (short description is terse, doc adds context):

flags:
  --sig-proxy: Proxy received signals to the process
documentation:
  flag:
    sig-proxy: >
      When set (default), signals received by `docker run` are forwarded
      to the container process. Disable with `--sig-proxy=false` to
      handle signals only on the client side.

For simple CLIs, flags with clear short descriptions can be left without docs:

flags:
  --detach: Run container in background and print container ID
  --interactive: Keep STDIN open even if not attached
  --tty: Allocate a pseudo-TTY
# Short descriptions are clear — no flag docs needed for this simple CLI

Workflow

For each completer:

1. Update: Run carapace-man update to refresh spec structure while preserving docs
2. Audit: Check the diff output from update (or run spec-diff separately) to see what needs docs
3. Research: For each subcommand needing documentation.command:
   • Check the project's official documentation site first (most authoritative)
   • Run man-to-md <command> for system man pages
   • If neither available, run <command> --help
   • Stay close to official wording; rephrase only for consistency and length
4. Write: Fill in documentation.command entries — accurate, grounded in real docs, full detail for complex CLIs
5. Flag docs: Add documentation.flag entries when upstream documentation is available; for complex CLIs include all available docs, for simple CLIs skip flags where the short description is already clear
6. Validate: Re-read edited files, check word counts, verify no [AI] prefixes remain
7. Preserve: Never modify git, jj, or but docs — these are high-quality and should not be changed

High-Quality Docs (Do Not Modify)

These completers have high-quality documentation from official sources and must not be changed:

• git: sourced from official Git man pages
• jj: auto-generated from Jujutsu CLI help output
• but: auto-generated from GitButler CLI help output

YAML Format

Each file follows the carapace command spec schema:

# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://carapace.sh/schemas/command.json
name: subcommand-name
description: one-line description from completer
flags:
    --flag-a: short description
    --flag-b=: short description with value
documentation:
  command: |
    Extended description of the command.
    Can span multiple lines with markdown.
  flag:
    flag-b: Extended description for flag-b only when needed.

The documentation section is optional. Include it when there's meaningful content beyond the short descriptions — for complex CLIs this means most commands and flags will have documentation.

Cross-References

Use UID-style links in documentation text:

• [git log](cmd://git/log) — link to another subcommand's docs
• [git-config](man://git-config/1) — link to a system man page
• [HTTP GET](http://method/GET) — link to domain docs

Validation Checklist

• documentation.command entries are full and faithful to upstream source for complex CLIs, reasonably concise for simple CLIs
• documentation.flag entries are included when upstream docs are available, especially for complex CLIs
• YAML parses without errors
• No changes to git/, jj/, but/ docs