documentation-budget

# Documentation Budget > **Style:** Mode-B-lite. Pre-write classifier for AI-consumed artifacts. Operationalizes FR-23. Reference this skill from doc-producing skills; do not duplicate it. ## Purpose Make documentation proportional to risk, complexity, and future AI value. An AI-consumed artifact is created only when it reduces future context cost more than it adds. Duplicate rationale, narrative padding, and unnecessary persistent docs are paid in tokens on every future load and spawn stale conflicting copies. This is the documentation-axis complement to FR-21 (`lightweight-lane`, which scales process ceremony): FR-21 decides how much *process* a change carries; FR-23 decides how much *persistent documentation* it leaves behind. ## When to invoke Before creating, expanding, or revising any of: - `docs/specs/<slug>/spec.md`, `decisions.md`, `tasks.md`, `verification-gate.md` - `docs/tmp/handoff.md` (active session continuity) - `docs/tmp/handoff/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<slug>-{implement,deploy}.md` (formal role-relay) - `docs/changes/<date>-<slug>.md` (Lightweight change-note) - `docs/backlog/**`, `docs/problem-catalog/**` - `docs/<app>/product.md`, `docs/<app>/business-logic.md`, `docs/<app>/business-logic-index.md` - project-internal skills under `docs/skills/**` - any persistent AI-consumed doc not in the carve-out below ## Do not invoke when - Writing operator chat only (Mode A). - Writing or editing source comments — use `comment-policy` (FR-22). - Editing human-facing file...