Step 4: Documentation

Give future developers a clear entry point, ordered recovery procedure and record of captured artifacts.

Flow

flowchart TD
  Start(["API-materials report approved"]) --> Inventory["Review existing documentation<br/>and verified recovery evidence"]
  Inventory --> Plan["Propose focused outputs<br/>and any consolidation"]
  Plan --> Approval{"Approve the editing plan?"}
  Approval -->|Revise| Plan
  Approval -->|Stop| End(["Keep prior work"])
  Approval -->|Yes| Write["Update the index, setup and<br/>artifact metadata where useful"]
  Write --> Check["Verify links, paths,<br/>commands and preserved context"]
  Check --> Report["Present the phase report<br/>for approval"]
  Report --> Next(["Save approved progress;<br/>continue to local preparation"])

Keep useful documentation

Retain useful setup, domain, API and historical material, including licenses and legal notices. Review focused repairs, consolidation or removals before editing.

Instructions, imports, rules and operational records remain protected. A conflicting output path needs an agreed alternative.

Give each output a clear purpose

Default output	Purpose
README.md	Snapshot, recovery route, requirements, limits and links.
docs/setup.md	Ordered preparation, data restore, run/demo and stop commands.
docs/archive-metadata.md	Artifact identities, checksums, provenance, storage and verification.
Optional docs/historical-notes.md	Useful history needing a separate home.

Keep suitable existing locations. The archive index follows recovery needs independently of manifest or readme-style.

Link procedures and artifact tables rather than copying them into the index. Use evidenced commands and actual API-material paths; retain missing inputs and unverified checks.

What happens next

Static review checks navigation, paths and command order against recovery evidence. It does not execute the app or claim a published backup.

Approve the report to continue to Step 5: Prepare locally. Earlier reports stay unchanged. This phase does not commit.