Documentation System Migration PR Specification

Goal

Create a single PR that makes the ICN docs corpus meaningfully more legible, more structured, and safer for both humans and agents.

This PR should not attempt to perfect every document.
It should establish the system that makes future perfection tractable.


Required outcomes

1. Canonical control system added

The repo should include a formal development/documentation control-system doc.

2. Registry introduced or normalized

The repo should have:

  • a human-readable registry
  • machine-readable registry continuity

3. Truth classes applied

At least the top-level and high-value docs should have explicit truth classes.

4. Canonical docs identified

The entry docs should be obvious and explicitly marked.

5. Historical docs separated

Historical material should stop impersonating active canon.

6. Templates added

The repo should gain issue/PR/doc templates aligned with the new system.


What belongs in this PR

  • docs-system spec
  • doc registry
  • truth-class header pattern
  • directory cleanup
  • supersession markers
  • updated index
  • issue template
  • PR template
  • ADR/RFC/spec/status templates
  • agent prompt templates

What does NOT belong in this PR

  • rewriting all architecture docs
  • settling every design debate
  • changing code semantics
  • deleting large amounts of historical material
  • speculative content expansion

Required PR sections

Summary

What changed and why.

Structural changes

What directories/files were added, moved, archived, or marked.

Registry/report

How many docs were classified, moved, archived, or flagged.

Verification

How indexing, paths, and canonical references were checked.

Open questions

What still requires human review.


Acceptance criteria

The PR is good if:

  • new contributors can find the right docs quickly
  • agents can orient without loading the entire repo
  • plans/specs/history are visibly distinct
  • canonical docs are obvious
  • archive drift is reduced
  • no major knowledge loss occurred