auto-doc-index
Auto-generate document index tables (ADR, RFC, Pitfall, etc.) from file frontmatter. In real-world testing, hand-maintained indexes had a 62% error rate — titles truncated, statuses fabricated, dates invented. This skill eliminates that silent drift. Use when creating doc directories, adding ADRs/RFCs, or setting up documentation governance.
Install via CLI (Recommended)
clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/erergb/auto-doc-indexAuto Doc Index — Derived Indexes from Frontmatter
Replaces hand-maintained index tables in README.md with auto-generated
tables derived from structured frontmatter in individual doc files.
Why This Matters — Real Evidence
In a real project with 13 ADR files, comparing hand-maintained index vs auto-generated index revealed 8 discrepancies (62% error rate):
| Issue Type | Example | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Title truncated | "activate none" vs actual "activate none by default" | 2 |
| Status fabricated | Index said "Decided" but file said "Accepted" | 3 |
| Date invented | Index showed "2026-01-28" but file had no Date field | 1 |
| Metadata lost | "(revised 2026-01-28)" stripped from status | 1 |
| Case "normalized" | decided silently changed to Decided | 4 |
These aren't hypothetical risks — they were already present and invisible in a well-maintained project. Hand-editing creates a false sense of correctness while the index silently diverges from its source files.
When to Use
- Setting up a new documentation directory (ADR, RFC, Pitfall, Design Doc, etc.)
- Adding a new document to an existing indexed directory
- Onboarding a project that has hand-maintained doc indexes showing signs of drift
- Resolving recurring merge conflicts in shared
README.mdindex tables - Migrating from hand-maintained indexes to auto-generated ones
Boundaries
- This skill generates index tables only — it does not create or modify the content of individual documents.
- The generator script replaces content only between
<!-- INDEX:START -->and<!-- INDEX:END -->markers. All other README.md content is preserved verbatim. - Do NOT use this for indexes that require editorial curation (e.g., "recommended reading order"). Auto-generation is for factual, exhaustive catalogs.
- Do NOT introduce YAML frontmatter parsing libraries — the regex-based approach is intentional to keep the script zero-dependency.
- This skill targets file-system-based documentation. It does not apply to wiki-style or database-backed doc systems.
Problem
A hand-maintained index in README.md is shared mutable state — every
new document requires editing the same file, same table, often the same diff
hunk. In multi-agent or multi-contributor workflows this creates:
- Silent data loss: titles get shortened, statuses get "corrected"
- Merge conflicts: semantically independent changes collide in the same hunk
- Stale indexes: contributors forget to update, nobody notices
- Normalization illusion: edits look "cleaner" but diverge from source
Solution
Each document is self-describing via frontmatter. A generator script scans
the directory, parses frontmatter, and injects the index table between
<!-- INDEX:START --> / <!-- INDEX:END --> markers in README.md.
Write ops become N:N (each file independent). Index becomes a stateless pure function.
Setup Steps
Metadata
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Find the right skillPaste this into your clawhub.json to enable this plugin.
{
"plugins": {
"official-erergb-auto-doc-index": {
"enabled": true,
"auto_update": true
}
}
}