Your docs don't rot because you're lazy

Every stale doc has the same origin story. The code changed. The docs didn't. And the reason isn't laziness. It's distance.

When docs live far from your code, updating them is a separate task with its own friction. You have to remember they exist, switch context, find the page, make the edit. Every step is a chance to just not bother.

Shrink the distance. Keep docs in the repo, and update them in the same pull request that changes the behavior.

This is where generated docs pay off twice. Since your API docs come from your cURL commands or OpenAPI spec, "updating the docs" becomes "regenerating the docs." Mechanical. Fast. Actually doable in the same PR.

One habit that beats all good intentions: add a line to your PR checklist that says "Docs regenerated and reviewed?" That single checkbox does more for doc quality than anything else.

And when docs and code change together, reviewers catch mismatches before they reach a user.