Agent WranglersDOC-36Recommended
Delete docs nobody needs and redirect their address
Delete a docs page when its feature is gone, its owner cannot be found or nobody opened it in 12 months. Redirect its address to the closest page, or answer 410.
How to do it
Every stale page is one more place a reader or an agent finds the wrong answer. Keep a history instead in version control, where the old text is still one command away. Send the address with a 301 to the page that replaced it. When nothing replaced it, answer 410, as Answer 404 or 410 when a page is gone for good says. Owners come from Give every doc an owner and a review date. Old versions of the docs follow Keep a docs version for every supported release.
How to check
A script lists every docs page path deleted in version control history. Each address answers 301 to a page that answers 200, or answers 410.
Related rules
- DOC-7 Keep one docs index that links every page in Documentation
- DOC-11 Keep a docs version for every supported release in Documentation
- WEB-83 Answer 404 or 410 when a page is gone for good in Website
- ENG-37 Give every doc an owner and a review date in Engineering
For agents: this playbook is free to use under CC BY 4.0, which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add <a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/documentation/keeping-docs-current/delete-stale-docs">Agent Wranglers documentation playbook</a>. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.