Docs Ledger is an upcoming Atlas capability that will keep an audit trail of when documentation and folders were created and reconcile each doc against the codebase. It will nudge you when a spec you wrote was never built, when a shipped doc points at code that no longer exists, or when documentation has drifted from the code it describes. The goal is that documentation written at the start of a project resurfaces at the moment you build that functionality.
Documentation that holds itself accountable
Most documentation rots quietly: a spec written early is forgotten, or a shipped doc keeps describing behavior that changed.
Docs Ledger will treat the status you declare in a document as a claim and the actual code as reality. When the two disagree, that gap becomes a nudge: a planned feature that was never built, a document describing code that was deleted, or a doc that has drifted from its implementation.
An audit trail under every file
Knowing when a document or folder first appeared is the basis for any staleness signal.
Docs Ledger will keep a per-workspace record of when each tracked document and folder was created, drawn from git history with a fallback for files not yet committed. That trail is what lets it tell you how long a planned spec has been sitting unbuilt and rank what needs attention.
Surfaced where you work, not in a dashboard
A reminder is only useful at the moment you would act on it.
The capability is designed to surface a short digest in the Atlas terminal at the start of a session, and to nudge you when you start editing near a document that was planned but never built. It will be opt-in per workspace and tunable, so it stays quiet until you want it.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the Atlas documentation audit trail available now?
- Not yet. It is a planned Atlas capability on the roadmap. This page describes what it will do.
- Where do the creation dates come from?
- From git history for committed files, with a first-seen fallback for drafts that have not been committed yet.
- What kinds of documentation problems will it catch?
- Planned specs that were never built, shipped docs whose code was deleted or renamed, and docs that have drifted away from the code they describe.
- Will it change my files automatically?
- No. It is designed to surface and suggest. You confirm a change before any document is updated.
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