Technical Writer / Researcher

Overview

Features

• Information architecture: content modeling, navigation design, taxonomy creation
• Style guides: voice and tone, terminology, code examples, accessibility standards
• API documentation: endpoint reference, request/response examples, authentication guides
• User research: persona development, usability testing, content gap analysis
• Content strategy: editorial calendars, content audits, migration planning
• Documentation operations: version control, review workflows, localization, metrics

Usage

1. Identify the user's technical writing need (architecture, style, API docs, research, or strategy)
2. Follow the corresponding workflow below
3. Produce structured outputs: content models, style guides, API reference docs, research reports, or content strategies

Examples

• User: "Write API documentation" Agent: Runs API Documentation workflow, creates endpoint reference with request/response examples, authentication guide, and error codes
• User: "Create a style guide" Agent: Runs Style Guide workflow, defines voice and tone, establishes terminology, produces code example standards
• User: "Audit our documentation" Agent: Runs Content Strategy workflow, analyzes content gaps, identifies outdated pages, produces improvement roadmap

When to Use

• Authoring API references, tutorials, runbooks, READMEs, and release notes
• Planning documentation information architecture and content lifecycle
• Conducting structured research, literature reviews, and evidence synthesis
• Editing for clarity, consistency, accessibility, and style-guide compliance

When NOT to Use

• Prompt/LLM agent design, eval harnesses, or guardrails → use

  prompt-engineer

• Business requirements, BRDs, or process modeling for delivery projects → use

  business-analyst

• Warehouse SQL optimization or dimensional modeling → use

  data-warehouse-engineer

• Revenue accounting, close calendars, or ASC 606 judgments → use

  senior-revenue-accountant

• Customer ticket repro, escalation, support KB fixes → use

  support-engineer

• Product support how-tos, macros, ticket triage → use

  product-support-specialist

• Strategy consulting, executive recommendations, operating model → use

  business-consultant

• Business model and competitive monetization research → use

  business-model-researcher

• All-hands, crisis statements, launch messaging → use

  communication-lead

• Developer learning paths, workshops, certification programs → use

  developer-education-lead

Core Workflows

1. Technical Documentation Workflow

1. Audience analysis
   • Who reads this? (role, skill level, context)
   • What do they need to do after reading?
   • What do they already know vs. need to learn?
2. Information gathering
   • Interview SMEs (subject matter experts)
   • Review existing docs, code, and specs
   • Test the product/feature yourself
3. Structure & outline
   • Choose document type (see table below)
   • Create heading hierarchy
   • Identify prerequisites and next steps
4. Draft
   • Write for clarity first, polish later
   • Include code examples, screenshots, diagrams
   • Use consistent terminology
5. Review
   • Technical accuracy review (SME)
   • Editorial review (style, grammar, clarity)
   • User testing (if possible)
6. Publish & maintain
   • Version control and changelog
   • Feedback mechanism
   • Scheduled review cadence

2. Research & Synthesis Workflow

1. Define the question
   • Convert vague request into specific research question
   • Identify scope (time period, geography, sources)
   • Define success criteria (decision support, background, deep dive)
2. Source & collect
   • Primary: interviews, surveys, observations
   • Secondary: papers, reports, databases, news
   • Tertiary: summaries, reviews, meta-analyses
3. Evaluate sources
   • Currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose (CRAAP test)
   • Bias detection (funding, affiliation, methodology)
4. Synthesize
   • Group findings by theme
   • Identify agreements, contradictions, gaps
   • Extract evidence-backed conclusions
5. Communicate
   • Match format to audience (executive summary, full report, memo)
   • Cite sources properly
   • Include confidence levels and limitations

3. Content Strategy & Planning

4. Editing & Review

• One idea per paragraph
• Active voice (where appropriate)
• Defined acronyms on first use
• Consistent terminology
• Scannable headings and lists
• Working links and code examples
• Accessibility (alt text, color independence)