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Doc Co-Authoring Workflow

Official

Guides you through writing docs, proposals, and specs in three stages: context gathering, section-by-section refinement, and reader testing with a context-free Claude.

Docs & OfficeBeginner★ 177,650⑂ 21,037AI score 10/10Last updated: Sep 22, 2026

What it does

Claude acts as an active facilitator rather than a ghostwriter.

  • Stage 1 – Context Gathering: asks about doc type, audience, desired impact and templates, invites a free-form info dump, then fires 5–10 numbered clarifying questions to close gaps.
  • Stage 2 – Refinement & Structure: scaffolds the outline as an artifact or markdown file, then per section runs clarifying questions → 5–20 brainstormed options → your keep/remove/combine picks → gap check → draft → surgical str_replace edits.
  • Stage 3 – Reader Testing: hands the doc to a fresh Claude with zero conversation context (sub-agent in Claude Code, or a new chat) and asks 5–10 realistic reader questions to surface ambiguity, hidden assumptions and contradictions.
  • Ends with a final-review checklist: read it yourself, verify facts and links, confirm it lands the intended impact.

Who it's for

  • PMs, engineers and leads who regularly write PRDs, design docs, RFCs or decision docs
  • Teams whose reviews drag because docs only make sense to their authors
  • Anyone with lots of context in their head but no structure on the page

Examples

  1. "Write a decision doc on switching payment providers" — Claude probes rejected alternatives, org politics and timeline pressure before drafting section by section.
  2. "Draft a technical spec for this feature" — starts with the technical approach (most unknowns) and saves the summary for last.
  3. "Check whether this proposal works for someone with no background" — runs ten reader questions past a fresh Claude and reports every misread sentence.

· · · Install guide · · ·

Try it now, no install

Paste this into Claude to use the skill without installing anything.

Read the instructions in this file and follow them to help me:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anthropics/skills/HEAD/skills/doc-coauthoring/SKILL.md

What I want: (describe your task here)

If Claude can't open the link, open it yourself and paste the contents instead.

↓ If it works for you, download the ZIP below and install it. Then it runs on its own — no pasting each time.

Install in the Claude app (no terminal)
  1. Download the ZIP with the button below.
  2. In Claude, open Settings → Capabilities and turn on 'Code execution and file creation'. (one time)
  3. Go to Customize → Skills → + → 'Upload a skill' and upload the ZIP.
↓ Download ZIP
Install in Claude Code

Let Claude do it — paste this into Claude Code

Install the skill I found on Claude Skill Mart.
Copy the skills/doc-coauthoring folder from the GitHub repo anthropics/skills into my ~/.claude/skills/doc-coauthoring/.
When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.

Install with a command instead

git clone https://github.com/anthropics/skills.git && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r skills/skills/doc-coauthoring ~/.claude/skills/

⚠ This is a third-party skill. Check the source repository before installing.

  1. Open your terminal.
  2. Clone the official repo: git clone https://github.com/anthropics/skills.git
  3. Create the skills folder: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
  4. Copy just this skill: cp -r skills/skills/doc-coauthoring ~/.claude/skills/
  5. Restart Claude Code and say something like "let's draft a proposal together" to trigger the workflow.
  6. If the process feels too heavy, say "let's just write freeform" — the skill always offers you an exit.
View source on GitHub ↗