Skill of the day: `doc-coauthoring` (structured doc co-writing)

The official Anthropic doc-coauthoring skill guides substantial docs through context gathering, refinement and structure, and reader testing.

doc-coauthoring is an official Anthropic marketplace skill shipped inside the example-skills plugin. It walks you through Context Gathering → Refinement & Structure → Reader Testing so specs, proposals, decision docs, PRDs, and RFCs survive a cold reader (including a fresh Claude paste). Register anthropics/skills, install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills, then trigger on documentation-shaped asks. Marketplace metadata version: 1.0.0 (catalog field ; not per-skill semver). Checked 2026-09-22.

TL;DR. Active guide, not a template dump. Install the example-skills plugin (skill path ./skills/doc-coauthoring). Use for substantial docs. Skip Office binaries (document-skills) and freeform one-shots you already prefer. There is no standalone doc-coauthoring plugin: it ships inside example-skills.

What it does

SKILL.md tells Claude to act as an active guide through three stages:

Context Gathering ; meta-questions (type, audience, impact, template, constraints), then info-dump + clarifying questions until edge cases are discussable without re-explaining basics.
Refinement & Structure ; section-by-section: clarify → brainstorm options → you curate → draft → surgical edits; start where unknowns are densest.
Reader Testing ; blind check with a fresh Claude (no prior context) to catch gaps before humans (or another paste into Claude) hit the doc.

Triggers named in the skill: “write a doc / draft a proposal / create a spec / write up,” plus PRD, design doc, decision doc, RFC. Claude offers the structured workflow first; if you decline, it works freeform.

When to use / when not

Use when the deliverable is a substantial written doc and you want guided context transfer, section iteration, and a blind-spot pass ; not a one-shot wall of text.

Do not:

Primary job is Office binaries (xlsx / docx / pptx / pdf) → use document-skills, a different plugin
Tiny edits or one-paragraph notes
Treat Slack/Drive/connectors as mandatory ; SKILL.md branches: use integrations if present; otherwise paste or enable connectors yourself
Invent mandatory sub-agents ; Claude Code can use sub-agents for Reader Testing; on claude.ai the skill falls back to a manual fresh chat

The Claude moves worth stealing, by email

Workflows tested on real jobs, sent only when they are worth it. Free.

Install (Claude Code)

Repo README pattern:

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills

Then Browse → anthropic-agent-skills → example-skills → Install, or direct:

/plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills

Fact (marketplace.json, 2026-09-22): plugin name is example-skills; skill path is ./skills/doc-coauthoring. Sibling skills in the same plugin include algorithmic-art, brand-guidelines, skill-creator, mcp-builder, and others ; installing pulls the whole example set.

Walkthroughs: add the marketplace · sync Claude.ai skills / plugins · skill-doctor if load looks wrong.

On a paid Claude.ai plan, many example skills are already included. This guide covers the Claude Code marketplace install.

Limits

README disclaimer: skills are demo/reference; product behavior may differ
Skill folder is SKILL.md only (no scripts / skill-level README) ; procedural guide, not a toolchain
Reader Testing quality depends on sub-agents (Code) or you opening a fresh Claude.ai chat
Connectors are optional; the skill does not install them
Bundled with the full example-skills set ; expect the wider sibling list, not a minimal single-skill package

Pair with prior radars / guides

Guide / radar	Moment
document-skills	Deliverable is xlsx / docx / pptx / pdf
mcp-builder	Sibling `example-skills` radar: MCP server design
add anthropics/skills marketplace	First `/plugin` setup
sync skills / plugins	Claude.ai ↔ Code
skill-doctor	Skill not loading
academy-guide · discernment-nudge · claude-api	Earlier skill radars

Writing more than docs? See Claude AI for content creation.

Sources (checked 2026-09-22)

marketplace.json ; marketplace anthropic-agent-skills; plugin example-skills; skills include ./skills/doc-coauthoring; metadata version 1.0.0
SKILL.md ; name, description, three stages, offer/decline → freeform, Reader Testing branches
anthropics/skills README ; marketplace add; Browse//plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills; demo/reference disclaimer
Skill tree: github.com/anthropics/skills/tree/main/skills/doc-coauthoring