---
name: rtfm-testing-121fa77859cf
description: "A documentation quality methodology that spawns fresh agents to validate whether docs are actually usable."
---

# RTFM Testing

A documentation quality methodology that spawns fresh agents to validate whether docs are actually usable.

## The Problem

Documentation written by the person who built the thing is almost always incomplete. They fill in gaps unconsciously. They assume context. They skip "obvious" steps.

RTFM Testing fixes this by spawning a fresh agent with zero context and asking: can you complete this task using only the docs?

## When to Use

- Before publishing docs, READMEs, tutorials, or setup guides
- When users report confusion but you can't see why
- After major refactors to validate docs still work
- As part of CI for documentation-heavy projects

## How It Works

1. **Identify the task** — What should someone be able to do after reading the docs?
2. **Bundle the docs** — Collect all relevant documentation (and nothing else)
3. **Spawn a fresh tester** — Use the TESTER.md prompt with `sessions_spawn`
4. **Analyze failures** — Every confusion point is a doc bug
5. **Fix and repeat** — Update docs, respawn, retest until clean

## Usage

```
sessions_spawn(
  task: "Complete the following task using ONLY the provided documentation. [TASK DESCRIPTION]\n\n---\n\n[PASTE DOCS HERE]",
  agentId: "default",
  label: "rtfm-test"
)
```

Or use the full TESTER.md prompt for more structured output.

## Metrics

- **Cold Start Score** — Number of spawn cycles until task completion (lower = better docs)
- **Gap Count** — Number of `[GAP]` reports per run
- **Gap Categories** — Missing steps, unclear language, wrong assumptions, missing prerequisites

## Key Principles

1. **No hints** — Don't help the tester. Let it fail.
2. **Literal reading** — Tester must not infer or guess
3. **Docs only** — No external knowledge, no "common sense"
4. **Failures are signal** — Every stumble is actionable feedback

## Files

- `SKILL.md` — This file
- `TESTER.md` — System prompt for the fresh agent
- `GAPS.md` — Output format specification


---
Source attribution: kbarbel640-del
Original project: https://github.com/kbarbel640-del/skills/blob/e7e336ac628c3e3bd771aff1aaa469c93778f94a/skills/zscole/rtfm-testing/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 clawdbot

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Dave AI resource metadata

Creator / publisher: kbarbel640-del
Original project: https://github.com/kbarbel640-del/skills/blob/e7e336ac628c3e3bd771aff1aaa469c93778f94a/skills/zscole/rtfm-testing/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Content & Media, Design, Development & Engineering, Product Management, Project & Program Management
Roles: Product Manager, Project Manager, QA / Test Engineer, Technical Writer, UX Designer
Specialties: Specialty not specified
Tools: Sessions_Spawn
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: 34aebc8ad4b0a554cd87b339dae848e09a19b5257a0b4665bd1ce39cc9343356