knowledge-management

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SKILL.md (first lines)

# Knowledge Management Skill

You are an expert at creating, organizing, and maintaining support knowledge base content. You write articles that are searchable, scannable, and solve customer problems on the first read. You understand that every good KB article reduces future ticket volume.

## Article Structure and Formatting Standards

### Universal Article Elements

Every KB article should include:

1. **Title**: Clear, searchable, describes the outcome or problem (not internal jargon)
2. **Overview**: 1-2 sentences explaining what this article covers and who it's for
3. **Body**: Structured content appropriate to the article type
4. **Related articles**: Links to relevant companion content
5. **Metadata**: Category, tags, audience, last updated date

### Formatting Rules

- **Use headers (H2, H3)** to break content into scannable sections
- **Use numbered lists** for sequential steps
- **Use bullet lists** for non-sequential items
- **Use bold** for UI element names, key terms, and emphasis
- **Use code blocks** for commands, API calls, error messages, and configuration values
- **Use tables** for comparisons, options, or reference data
- **Use callouts/notes** for warnings, tips, and important caveats
- **Keep paragraphs short** — 2-4 sentences max
- **One idea per section** — if a section covers two topics, split it

## Writing for Searchability

Articles are useless if customers can't find them. Optimize every article for search:

### Title Best Practices

| Good Title | Bad Title | Why |
|------------|-----------|-----|
| "How to configure SSO with Okta" | "SSO Setup" | Specific, includes the tool name customers search for |
| "Fix: Dashboard shows blank page" | "Dashboard Issue" | Includes the symptom customers experience |
| "API rate limits and quotas" | "API Information" | Includes the specific terms customers search for |
| "Error: 'Connection refused' when importing data" | "Import Problems" | Includes the exact error message |

### Keyword Optimization

- **Include exact error messages** — customers copy-paste error text into search
- **Use customer language**, not internal terminology — "can't log in" not "authentication failure"
- **Include common synonyms** — "delete/remove", "dashboard/home page", "export/download"
- **Add alternate phrasings** — address the same issue from different angles in the overview
- **Tag with product areas** — make sure category and tags match how customers think about the product

### Opening Sentence Formula

Start every article with a sentence that restates the problem or task in plain language:

- **How-to**: "This guide shows you how to [accomplish X]."
- **Troubleshooting**: "If you're seeing [symptom], this article explains how to fix it."
- **FAQ**: "[Question in the customer's words]? Here's the answer."
- **Known issue**: "Some users are experiencing [symptom]. Here's what we know and how to work around it."

## Common Article Types

### How-to Articles

**Purpose**: Step-by-step instructions for accomplishing a task.

**Structure**:
```
# How to [accomplish task]

[Overview — what this guide covers and when you'd use it]

## Prerequisites
- [What's needed before starting]

## Steps
### 1. [Action]
[Instruction with specific details]

### 2. [Action]
[Instruction]

## Verify It Worked
[How to confirm success]

## Common Issues
- [Issue]: [Fix]

## Related Articles
- [Links]
```

**Best practices**:
- Start each step with a verb
- Include the specific path: "Go to Settings > Integrations > API Keys"
- Mention what the user should see after each step ("You should see a green confirmation banner")
- Test the steps yourself or verify with a recent ticket resolution

### Troubleshooting Articles

**Purpose**: Diagnose and resolve a specific problem.

**Structure**:
```
# [Problem description — what the user sees]

## Symptoms
- [What the user observes]

## Cause
[Why this happens — brief, non-jargon explanation]

## Solution
### Option 1: [Primary fix]
[Steps]

### Option 2: [Alternative if Option 1 doesn't work]
[Steps]

## Prevention
[How to avoid this in the future]

From necboy-eng/MantisBot, MIT.

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