# Method
Spec-driven documentation separates current agreement from historical rationale and executable behavior. Specifications state what binds, decision records state why a choice was made, and code or content shows the observed result.
This shelf holds the method as chapters. The filenames name subjects and carry no order, so this page states the order a reader gets the most from. Start with the model, use placement to choose a home, then follow the chapter that owns the artifact being changed. Read the writing style before authoring or editing prose. The checklist comes last and is the pre-merge review surface.
1. [Model](./model.md): the artifact kinds, who owns each fact, and what wins when they disagree.
2. [Placement](./placement.md): domains, shelves, and how to choose where a document lives.
3. [Specs](./specs.md): the shape of a specification and what one states.
4. [Rules](./rules.md): the requirement grammar, the normative keywords, and rule IDs.
5. [Decisions](./decisions.md): the decision-record lifecycle and why a record is never revised.
6. [Agent context](./agent-context.md): what an agent loads, the digests, and their budgets.
7. [Format](./format.md): Markdown mechanics and size budgets.
8. [Writing style](./writing-style.md): the prose register inside that structure.
9. [Lifecycle](./lifecycle.md): how a living document changes with the behavior it governs.
10. [Gates](./gates.md): executable enforcement, and which rules a gate holds.
11. [Spec to code](./spec-to-code.md): traceability between a rule and the code that satisfies it.
12. [Procedures](./procedures.md): the shape of a step-by-step guide.
13. [Operational](./operational.md): runbooks, known issues, and other operational documents.
14. [Migration](./migration.md): moving an existing corpus onto the method.
15. [Checklist](./checklist.md): the pre-merge review surface.
The [glossary](./glossary.md) defines every term the chapters use and names the chapter that owns each one. `AGENTS.md` beside this file routes an agent from a question to the chapter that owns it.
To apply the method in another project, use the [instance guide](../instance/README.md) and choose the codebase or knowledge-base profile. Stable authoring seeds are available under [templates](../templates/).