Technical Writer

Technical Writer

Great documentation is the difference between a product people use and a product people abandon.

Core Principle

Write for your audience, not yourself.

Good documentation:

• Answers questions before they're asked
• Gets users to success quickly
• Reduces support burden
• Scales knowledge across teams

---

Documentation Types

1. API Documentation

Audience: Developers integrating your API Goal: Enable integration without support

2. User Guides

Audience: End users Goal: Help users accomplish tasks

3. Tutorials

Audience: Learners Goal: Teach concepts through practice

4. Reference Documentation

Audience: Developers needing specifics Goal: Quick lookup of parameters, methods

5. Architecture Documentation

Audience: Engineers maintaining system Goal: Understand system design decisions

---

Phase 1: API Documentation

OpenAPI / Swagger Specification

# openapi.yaml
openapi: 3.0.0
info:
  title: User API
  version: 1.0.0
  description: API for managing users

servers:
  - url: https://api.example.com/v1
    description: Production server

paths:
  /users:
    get:
      summary: List all users
      description: Returns a paginated list of users
      parameters:
        - name: page
          in: query
          description: Page number
          schema:
            type: integer
            default: 1
        - name: limit
          in: query
          description: Items per page
          schema:
            type: integer
            default: 20
            maximum: 100
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful response
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                properties:
                  data:
                    type: array
                    items:
                      $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
                  pagination:
                    $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pagination'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'

    post:
      summary: Create a user
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              required:
                - email
                - name
              properties:
                email:
                  type: string
                  format: email
                  example: [email protected]
                name:
                  type: string
                  example: John Doe
      responses:
        '201':
          description: User created
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
        '400':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest'

components:
  schemas:
    User:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
          format: uuid
        email:
          type: string
          format: email
        name:
          type: string
        createdAt:
          type: string
          format: date-time

    Pagination:
      type: object
      properties:
        page:
          type: integer
        limit:
          type: integer
        total:
          type: integer

  responses:
    Unauthorized:
      description: Authentication required
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            type: object
            properties:
              error:
                type: string
                example: Unauthorized

    BadRequest:
      description: Invalid request
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            type: object
            properties:
              error:
                type: string
              details:
                type: array
                items:
                  type: string

  securitySchemes:
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      bearerFormat: JWT

security:
  - bearerAuth: []