What is documenting-chores?

The Documenting Chores skill automates the creation of lightweight technical documentation for software maintenance, dependency updates, and code refactoring. It provides a structured framework to track minor fixes and configuration changes, helping development teams maintain a clear audit trail and reduce technical debt without the overhead of full-scale requirement documents.

When should I use documenting-chores?

documenting-chores is useful in the following scenarios: • Documenting dependency updates and version bumps to ensure security and compatibility tracking. • Recording planned code refactoring and restructuring efforts to improve long-term codebase maintainability. • Tracking minor configuration changes and CI/CD adjustments for better infrastructure transparency. • Capturing README updates and documentation fixes to keep project guides and internal wikis current. • Managing dead code removal and file cleanup tasks to systematically reduce technical debt.

name	documenting-chores
description	Creates lightweight documentation for chore tasks and maintenance work. Use when the user needs to document a chore, maintenance task, dependency update, refactoring, or minor fix that doesn't require full feature requirements.

Documenting Chores

Create lightweight chore task documents that capture maintenance work, dependency updates, refactoring, and minor fixes without the overhead of full feature requirements.

When to Use This Skill

Documenting dependency updates or version bumps
Recording planned refactoring work
Tracking documentation fixes or README updates
Capturing configuration changes
Cleaning up dead code or unused files
Any maintenance task that doesn't warrant full feature requirements

Quick Start

Check for existing chores in requirements/chores/ to determine the next Chore ID
Ask for GitHub issue URL if not provided (optional but recommended for traceability)
Identify the chore category (see references/categories.md)
Create chore document using the template
Save to requirements/chores/CHORE-XXX-description.md

File Location

All chore documents go in: requirements/chores/

Naming format: CHORE-XXX-{2-4-word-description}.md

Examples:

CHORE-001-update-dependencies.md
CHORE-002-fix-readme-typos.md
CHORE-003-cleanup-unused-imports.md

Chore ID Assignment

To assign the next Chore ID:

Check existing files in requirements/chores/
Find the highest CHORE-XXX number
Increment by 1 for the new chore
If no chores exist, start with CHORE-001

Template

See assets/chore-document.md for the full template.

Structure Overview

# Chore: [Brief Title]
- Chore ID, GitHub Issue (optional), Category
- Description (1-2 sentences)
- Affected Files
- Acceptance Criteria
- Completion (status, date, PR link)
- Notes (optional)

Category	Use For
`dependencies`	Package updates, version bumps, security patches
`documentation`	README updates, comment fixes, doc corrections
`refactoring`	Code cleanup, restructuring, naming improvements
`configuration`	Config file updates, tooling changes, CI/CD modifications
`cleanup`	Removing dead code, unused files, deprecated features

Verification Checklist

Before finalizing, verify:

Chore ID is unique (not already used)
Category matches the type of work
Description clearly explains the work
Affected files list is complete
Acceptance criteria are testable
GitHub issue is linked (if one exists)

Relationship to Other Skills

Task Type	Recommended Approach
New feature with requirements	Use `documenting-features` skill
Chore/maintenance task	Use this skill (`documenting-chores`)
Quick fix (no tracking needed)	Direct implementation

After documenting a chore, use the executing-chores skill to implement it with proper branch management and PR creation.

documenting-chores

When & Why to Use This Skill

Use Cases