document

/archcore:document

Record the present state: a technical decision, existing code, or a supplied

research material. The first word of the arguments selects the mode; a gate

inside the mode's track selects the document type. Write affinity: knowledge

types; a filed research and the decision cascade's plan belong to vision.

The standard cascade can add a cpat (experience).

Command tense: /archcore:plan declares a future canon delta, /archcore:document

records the present state — including work that shipped without a plan — and

/archcore:review reconciles a past declared delta. Δ vocabulary:

skills/_shared/delta-routing.md.

Load skills/_shared/gate-contract.md and skills/_shared/elicitation-contract.md before executing any gate.

Modes

| Mode | Track and entry | Types the entry gate selects |

|---|---|---|

| decision | skills/_shared/tracks/decision.md, decision.classify | adr, rfc; rule through the standard cascade; an existing rfc draft on the topic → decision.resolve, which records an adr on an accepted verdict |

| code | skills/_shared/tracks/describe.md, describe.read | spec, doc, guide, scenario |

| research | skills/_shared/tracks/research.md, research.frame | research, rnd by the closing test; one external material → evidence |

A document type name is not a mode. When the subject text names a type (skills/_shared/gate-contract.md,

Entry terms) that the mode's track produces, the selecting gate treats that type as settled and asks no

type question: document decision rfc for gRPC reaches the RFC branch. A leading

word that is not a mode is topic text and goes through classification (Step 3).

No mode produces a journey; an intended user path belongs to /archcore:plan.

When to use

• "We decided to go with microservices" — settled decision
• "Record the decision to use PostgreSQL"
• "Document why we chose JWT over sessions"
• "Make this our team standard for error handling"
• "Draft an RFC for switching from REST to gRPC"
• "Should we switch to Kubernetes?" — open proposal
• "We accepted the proposal — resolve the RFC" — proposal resolution
• "Document the auth module"
• "Capture how the payment system works"
• "Create reference docs for the config system" — reference material
• "Write a guide for the release process" — how-to instructions
• document code scenario for checkout — a user flow with examples over an existing spec
• document research <report> — file a ready investigation
• document research <material> — file one external material as evidence

Not document:

• Planning a feature, an initiative, or an intended user journey → /archcore:plan
• Checking documents against code, reviewing branch changes, or docs health → /archcore:review
• First-time setup → /archcore:init

Routing table

| Signal | Route |

|---|---|

| No arguments | → git investigation of the branch changes, then one classifying question (Step 3, Unclear) |

| The first word is a mode — decision, code, research | → mode entry, no routing (Step 2) |

| Decision signals: "we decided", "record this decision", "document why we chose X", "make it our standard", "draft an RFC", a "should we switch to Y" proposal. A bare "compare X vs Y" with no proposed target belongs to /archcore:plan's research track; a proposal to add a new capability with no named technical target ("should we add caching?") is feature framing → /archcore:plan, sdd track | → decision track — skills/_shared/tracks/decision.md, entry at decision.classify |

| Resolution signals: "resolve the RFC", "we accepted the proposal", "reject the RFC" — an rfc draft exists on the topic | → decision track — skills/_shared/tracks/decision.md, entry at decision.resolve |

| Code-doc signals: "document the auth module", "capture how the payment system works", reference material (registry, glossary, lookup), how-to instructions, a user flow with examples over an existing spec | → describe track — skills/_shared/tracks/describe.md, entry at describe.read |

| Research-material signals: a supplied investigation report, benchmark, transcript, or vendor document to file as is | → research track — skills/_shared/tracks/research.md, entry at research.frame |

| Unclear | → git investigation, then one classifying question (Step 3) |

Execution

Step 1: Ground

Apply skills/_shared/research-compatibility.md under its condition 1 — a

request or type naming research or evidence, the research track, or a

grounding result of either type. If this skill has no shell tool and no probe

result was supplied, report needs-vocabulary-probe with the helper path and

stop before the first MCP call that names either type.

Before delegating research or evidence work, pass the current vocabulary probe

result and absolute plugin root to the assistant. If the assistant returns

needs-vocabulary-probe, run the helper and resume the same task.

Apply skills/_shared/actor-subject-compatibility.md under its own condition 1 —

a request whose subject names scenario or journey, or a grounding result of

either type. When that probe returns yes, add scenario and journey to the

type filter below. On older engines, keep the legacy filter; a code request

whose subject names scenario then reports the required version and exits

without a write.

When the probe returns yes, add research and evidence to the type filter

below. On older engines, keep the legacy filter.

Search .archcore/ on the request topic across all three categories — vision,

knowledge, experience. Do not exclude a category from reads. Pass a type filter

matched to this command's moment (adr, rfc, spec, doc, guide, rule,

plus rnd as decision evidence, and research and evidence when the probe returned yes) instead of relying on the global type ranking. When a found document carries

implements or related relations, pull the linked documents one hop across

categories. Duplicate handling lives in the tracks' check-existing gates — do

not resolve duplicates here.

If .archcore/ does not exist, announce initialization in one line and call

mcp__archcore__init_project without asking a question. If .archcore/ exists

but contains no documents, proceed on outer-context grounding and report that

zero documents were found.

Global sources. If a mcp__archcore__list_documents /

mcp__archcore__search_documents result has global: true / read_only: true /

source_kind: "global", load skills/_shared/globals.md. Also load it when a

search_documents response's coverage names a source other than "local" —

even when results is empty: the empty page is exactly where that file's retry

ladder applies. Never modify a global document and never target one with

add_relation. Absent any global match, proceed as usual.

Step 2: Mode entry

If the first word is a mode, execute the mapped entry without routing:

• decision → decision track. An rfc draft on the topic plus resolution

wording enters decision.resolve; any other request enters

decision.classify, which selects adr, rfc, or the standard outcome. A

type name in the subject (adr, rfc, rule) satisfies that gate's

skip_when.

• code → describe track at describe.read. describe.draft selects spec,

doc, guide, or scenario; a type name in the subject settles its type

question. describe.read records features/*.feature files as evidence when

present; a scenario with no covering spec routes to the earliest gate that

produces the spec per skills/_shared/gate-contract.md.

• research → research track at research.frame; the supplied report satisfies frame inputs without an interview (investigation versus one external material: skills/_shared/gate-contract.md, Entry terms), and the closing test selects the type — a

report that ends in a recommendation is an rnd, a report that covers a scope

is a research. One external material with no investigation enters

research.gather as standalone evidence, records the request in the evidence

draft's Clarifications, and exits after gather. Follow the compatibility

contract's no-write exit when the type is unsupported.

Then go to Step 4.

Step 3: Classify

Classify the target as resolution, decision, code-doc, research material, or unclear:

• Resolution — the request names a verdict on an existing open proposal

(resolution signals above) and an rfc draft on the topic exists → decision

track at decision.resolve. Check this before Decision: wording that also

reads as a settled-decision signal ("we accepted the proposal") routes here

whenever a matching rfc draft exists.

• Decision — the request records a settled choice or an open proposal

(decision signals above) → decision track at decision.classify.

• Code-doc — the request describes existing code, reference material, a

procedure, or a user flow over an existing spec (code-doc signals above) →

describe track at describe.read.

• Research material — the request supplies a ready report or one external

material to file (research-material signals above) → research track at

research.frame.

• Unclear — inspect git state and the working tree first: recent commits and

changed files are evidence of what the user has been working on. If the

evidence still supports both readings, ask one classifying question — "Is this

a decision to record or existing code to document?" — with the recommendation

drawn from the git evidence.

Step 4: Execute the track

Run the selected track gate by gate per skills/_shared/gate-contract.md. The

track owns check-existing, per-gate elicitation, composition, and relation

wiring.

Question budget: per skills/_shared/elicitation-contract.md — auto mode draws

from the shared per-invocation ceiling; a mode entry raises to the track's

per-gate maxima.

Result

Report the produced documents grouped by category:

• knowledge — adr, rfc, spec, doc, guide, rule, evidence, scenario
• vision — research (scope-covering report), rnd (recommendation-closed report, or compatibility fallback), plan (architecture cascade)
• experience — cpat (standard cascade opt-in)

List each document's path and relation edges. Name tracks and steps in plain

words; do not print a gate address of the form <track>.<stage>. Close with one

recommended next action naming only /archcore:plan, /archcore:review, or a

repeat /archcore:document invocation with its mode.