Writing
Technical Documentation Prompt
The most common documentation mistake is putting a tutorial, a how-to guide, and a reference table on the same page and wondering why readers are confused. Each documentation type serves a different reader need, and mixing them serves none well. This generator, based on the Diataxis model that the best documentation teams follow, gives you the correct outline for whichever type you are writing. Enter your feature or product name, choose how-to guide, tutorial, reference, or concept, and it lays out the sections that type requires plus a reminder of its core purpose. Technical writers and engineers use it to stop mixing modes, to match the structure to what the reader is actually trying to do, and to keep reference dry and accurate while tutorials stay patient with beginners. A how-to guide assumes competence and gets the reader to a result fast; a tutorial teaches a beginner through a guided lesson that guarantees success; reference lists facts accurately and completely; concept docs explain the why behind an idea. Pick one type, follow its outline, and resist the pull to add a little of everything.
How to use
- Choose your options above
- Click Generate
- Copy your result
Detailed instructions
- Enter the feature or product.
- Choose the document type.
- Follow the outline for that type only.
- Keep each document doing one job.
Use Cases
- •Outlining a how-to guide, tutorial, reference, or concept doc
- •Avoiding the mix of tutorial and reference in one page
- •Matching document structure to reader intent
- •Onboarding engineers to documentation standards
- •Planning a documentation set around the Diataxis types
Tips
- →Never mix tutorial, how-to, and reference on one page.
- →Write how-to steps as imperative, one action each.
- →Keep reference dry, complete, and consistent.
- →Explain the why in concept docs, not the steps.
FAQ
What are the four documentation types?
Tutorials teach a beginner through a guided, safe-to-fail lesson. How-to guides help a competent user complete a specific real-world task quickly. Reference describes the machinery accurately and completely. Concept docs explain ideas, models, and the reasoning behind design decisions. Each serves a different reader mode.
How is a tutorial different from a how-to guide?
A tutorial is learning-oriented: it takes a beginner's hand, uses a teaching example rather than the reader's real problem, and guarantees they succeed. A how-to is goal-oriented: it assumes competence and gets the reader to their own result as fast as possible. Same numbered steps, very different tone, assumptions, and scope.
Why not put everything on one page?
Because readers come with different needs. Someone learning wants patient explanation; someone doing a task wants speed; someone looking up a parameter wants a dry, complete reference table. One page trying to serve all three fails all three. Separating types keeps each page short, scannable, and focused.
When should I write a concept doc instead of a how-to?
When the reader's problem is understanding, not doing. If they keep using a feature incorrectly because they misunderstand the model behind it, a concept doc explaining the why will help more than another how-to. Concept docs and how-tos often pair well: link from the task to the concept for readers who want the deeper picture.
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