jsdocs

Use this skill to write well-formed JSDoc for Effect public APIs.

Workflow

When updating public API JSDoc:

1. Inspect the declaration, implementation, nearby tests, and nearby JSDoc before editing.
2. Decide whether the task is a single API fix or a module refinement pass.
3. Rewrite comments into the required documentation shape while preserving correct facts and examples.
4. For module refinements, complex APIs, or APIs with related alternatives, run the @see and Gotchas audits.
5. Run the narrowest relevant validation.

Required documentation shape

Use a normal multiline JSDoc comment in TypeScript source:

/**
 * Short description as one paragraph.
 *
 * **When to use**
 *
 * Optional practical usage guidance.
 *
 * **Details**
 *
 * Optional details for complex APIs, options, overloads, or behavior.
 *
 * **Gotchas**
 *
 * Optional edge cases, footguns, or surprising behavior.
 *
 * **Example** (Short title)
 *
 * Optional prose explaining the example.
 *
 * ```ts
 * const result = example()
 * ```
 *
 * @category constructors
 * @since 1.0.0
 */

Prose Rules

• Use sober, practical prose.
• Write all public JSDoc prose in English.
• Do not use jargon when a plain word works.
• Do not be clever.
• Do not add filler sections.
• The short description is required and must be exactly one paragraph.
• Make the short description stand on its own. Do not rely on When to use

to make the API understandable.

• For functions and methods, prefer present-tense, action-first prose such as

Creates, Returns, Checks, Provides, Represents, Converts, Decodes, or Formats.

• For technical value exports, use consistent noun forms such as Schema for,

Layer that, Service that, Context reference that, or Constructors and matchers for.

• Avoid leading A or An for canonical technical nouns when the surrounding

module uses a standard noun family, for example prefer Schema for ... over A schema for ....

• Do not describe implementation mechanics when a public concept is clearer.

For example, prefer Constructors and matchers for ... over wording that only says an API uses Data.taggedEnum.

• Avoid generic purity or non-mutation remarks unless they document a real

surprise, caveat, or meaningful contrast with a mutating-looking API.

• Optional sections must appear in this order:

1. When to use 2. Details 3. Gotchas

• Include an optional section only when it has useful, non-empty content.
• Prefer prose over bullet lists for single-item Details, When to use, or Gotchas sections. Use bullets only when there are two or more parallel facts, options, cases, or caveats.
• When to use describes the positive use case for the documented API. Do not use it as a routing section for sibling APIs. If neighboring APIs need to be mentioned, put that boundary in @see tag text instead.
• When to use is important when the API has close alternatives, trade-offs, or @see tags. If @see tags are present, inspect the referenced APIs and add When to use when it clarifies the documented API's own use case.
• When to use must start with one of these practical guidance forms: Use to, Use when, Use as, or Use with. Avoid bullet lists and vague openers such as Use this... or Useful for....
• Prefer reader-centered When to use wording, especially Use when you ...,

when the sentence describes a user's goal. Avoid third-person noun-phrase subjects such as the input is ..., a service needs ..., or values should ... when they would become awkward in generated prompts.

• A good When to use sentence should still read naturally if reused as

a user intent prompt, for example after I need ... or I have ....

• Keep short and When to use distinct: the short description says what

the API is or does; When to use says when to choose it.

• Add internal @see tags only for semantically useful related public APIs.
• Write @see tag text as normal prose after the link; no special separator is required. Prefer forms like @see {@link otherApi} for ... when a short explanation helps.
• Use exactly one blank line between the short description, sections, examples, and tags.
• Do not use Markdown headings such as # Heading or ad hoc bold headings such as Notes; only the standard headings are allowed.
• Examples must use Example (Title), optional prose, and exactly one non-empty ts code fence.
• Example titles must be unique after trimming and lowercasing.
• Example titles should be short use-case phrases, not generic labels.
• Prefer gerund or action-noun titles that read naturally after for, for

example Parsing JSON, Creating a scoped runtime, or Comparing structs.

• Avoid imperative titles such as Parse JSON, vague labels such as Syntax

or Basic usage, and title-cased fragments such as String Ordering.

• Preserve canonical technical capitalization inside the phrase, such as

Option, Effect, Schema, DateTime, HashMap, Base64, and JSON.

• For multiple examples on the same API, make each title describe the distinct

use case shown by that example.

• Prefer examples with stable, deterministic output. Avoid assertions or

console.log comments that depend on stack traces, object inspection, Error formatting, concurrency order, timing, randomness, or environment-specific formatting. Examples may assume Node.js console formatting. Direct Set / Map output is acceptable when insertion order is deterministic and the expected output uses Node's format; otherwise demonstrate a stable property instead.

• Do not use @example.
• Do not put TypeScript code fences outside Example (Title) sections.
• Inline {@link Symbol} targets must resolve to TypeScript symbols; do not link to URLs with {@link}.
• Avoid overlinking in prose. Use {@link Symbol} only when navigation to

that symbol helps the reader choose or understand the API. For the API being documented, the module's central type, nearby obvious names, or repeated mentions, prefer plain code formatting such as Cause, Effect, or Context.

• Do not document module-level comments; module JSDoc is ignored by this rule.
• @internal means the item is ignored; do not rewrite it as public docs.
• Default exports are ignored by this rule and do not need JSDoc.
• Do not add unsupported constructs such as enums or empty exports in checked files.
• For low-level public values, prefer accurate categories such as symbols,

type IDs, or prototypes over compensating with verbose descriptions.

Tag rules

When multiple tags are present, keep them in this order:

1. @deprecated
2. @default
3. @see
4. @category
5. @since

Tag requirements by declaration kind:

• Root declarations require @category and stable-semver @since, and must

not use @default.

• Namespaces and declarations inside namespaces require stable-semver @since,

may use @category, and must not use @default.

• Member JSDoc is optional. When present, it follows the same prose and layout

rules, may use optional stable-semver @since, may use non-empty @default, and must not use @category.

• Any declaration may use @deprecated with a non-empty message and repeated

non-empty @see tags for semantically useful related public APIs.

Updating existing JSDoc

When fixing or updating existing docs:

1. Preserve correct facts and examples.
2. Rewrite the layout into the standard template.
3. Move usage guidance into When to use, behavior details into Details, and real caveats into Gotchas.
4. Convert @example tags and loose ts fences into Example (Title) sections.
5. Preserve valid @see, @deprecated, @default, @category, and @since tags.
6. Remove @see tags that do not point to semantically useful related public APIs.
7. Replace redundant inline {@link ...} tags with plain code formatting when

the link target is already obvious from the current declaration or module.

1. Remove sections that would be empty.

Module refinement

When asked to refine an existing module:

1. First scan the module for local documentation patterns, repeated API families, and category conventions.
2. Keep the change focused on documentation quality unless the user also asked for rule or source changes.
3. Prefer improving existing comments over rewriting every comment into a new voice.
4. Preserve examples unless they are wrong, stale, nondeterministic, or fail

the required documentation shape.

1. Apply the @see and Gotchas audits across the module before finishing.

See audit

When refining an existing public API module, always do a dedicated @see pass:

1. Inspect existing @see tags and referenced APIs before keeping, changing, or removing them.
2. Look for close alternatives in the same module or API family when the documented API is one of several ways to do similar work.
3. Keep or add @see only when the linked API is semantically useful to understand the documented API.
4. Good @see targets include sibling APIs, alternatives, inverse operations, lower-level or higher-level variants, complementary operations, and closely returned, consumed, or configured types/values.
5. Do not use @see for implementation dependencies, broad concepts, external background links, APIs that merely share a word or name, helper APIs used only inside examples, undocumented/private members, or APIs that are only generally compatible.
6. When @see tags are kept or added, include When to use guidance if the documented API's own use case is not obvious from the short description. Keep comparisons with sibling APIs in the @see tag text.

Gotchas audit

When refining an existing public API module, always do a dedicated Gotchas pass:

1. Scan existing prose for caveat language: warnings, exceptions, limitations, preconditions, special cases, or behavior that is easy to misuse.
2. Inspect the implementation and nearby tests for behavior that is not obvious from the type signature or short description.
3. Move real caveats from Details into Gotchas when they describe edge cases, footguns, preconditions, surprising behavior, or important failure modes.
4. Add Gotchas only when the caveat is concrete and useful to a reader choosing or using the API.
5. If no gotchas are added during a refinement pass, state that a gotchas audit was performed and why no caveats were worth documenting.

Validation

Run the narrowest validation that matches the change:

• For JSDoc or example changes in a package with generated docs, run pnpm docgen from that package directory.
• Run pnpm lint because the linter includes the custom rule that checks public API JSDoc.
• Do not run broad validation for prose-only skill edits.