# Document kinds

Every document is named for the question it answers. The kind appears as the file-name suffix and in the `type` field. Upkeep describes how the document changes:

- **Stable**: changes only by a new version.
- **Living**: edited while work runs.
- **Generated**: never hand-edited.
- **Disposable**: working material.

| Kind | Stage | Question it answers | Upkeep |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| scope | 1 Intake, 2 Route | What do we do, where is the boundary, how do we know it is done, which route? | Living, versioned |
| assessment | 3 | Where are we today, where should we be, what is the gap? | Stable per version |
| research | 3 | What is known outside our system? | Stable |
| findings | 3 or 4 | What did we find, with what evidence and how sure? | Stable per version |
| recommendation | 3 | Which way do we go, and what must you answer? | Stable; frozen on approval |
| outline | 3 | What is the shape of the document? | Living |
| toc | 3 | Which articles will the topic hold? | Living until built |
| inventory | 3 | What exists, exactly? | Stable per version |
| mapping | 3 | Where does each item go? | Stable per version |
| design, spec, architecture | 3 or 4 | What exactly will be made? | Living until built |
| model | 3 or 4 | How is a domain structured? | Living |
| plan | 4 | In what order, who does what? | Living |
| roadmap | 4 | Which phases, what outcome? | Living |
| runbook | 4 or 5 | What do I do when X happens? | Living |
| scout, log, scratch | 4 | What was scanned, tried, logged? | Disposable |
| execution | 4 | What did each run do? | Living |
| verification | 5 | Did the result meet the definition of done, on what evidence? | Stable per run |
| audit | 5 | How does it compare against a standard? | Stable per run |
| results, overview, dashboard | 5 | Where does the work stand? | Generated |
| retrospective | 5, at the end | What did we expect, what happened, what do we change? | Stable |
| tracker | 4, 5 | What is built versus planned? | Generated |

## What is not a kind

- Draft and working are states, and belong in the header.
- A home page for a knowledge topic is generated by the knowledge-base build.
- Note and report remain allowed only when no kind fits. The first line must then state the question answered. If the word before "note" is itself a kind, that word is the kind.

## Where a decision goes

A decision is made at stage 3 or at a gate in stage 5. It is recorded in the approved recommendation, which is then frozen, with a link to the follow-on work. "Decision" is a term, not a new kind.

Fields for each kind are on [Frontmatter by kind](frontmatter-by-kind.md).