Documentation Drift Detector

Documentation Drift Detector

The agent detects documentation drift by mapping code directories to their docs, comparing git modification histories, extracting Python function signatures via AST, validating every markdown link and anchor, and scoring freshness on a weighted 0-100 scale. All four CLI tools use the Python standard library only.

Core Capabilities

• Full drift analysis — map docs to code, compare git histories, detect renamed files, version drift, broken references, and structural gaps; classify each issue by category, severity, and fix type.
• API doc validation — AST-based extraction of Python signatures/classes compared against markdown API docs (undocumented items, phantom docs, parameter mismatches, deprecations).
• Staleness scoring — weighted 0-100 freshness score across five dimensions with CI threshold gates and README-focused mode.
• Link integrity audit — validate local files, anchors, cross-document anchors, images, case-sensitivity, and duplicate anchors; optional external URL checks.
• Drift classification — structural, factual, referential, temporal, semantic categories, each tagged [AUTO]/[SEMI]/[MANUAL] for fix routing.
• CI/CD integration — non-zero exit codes, JSON output, GitHub Actions and pre-commit recipes for ongoing monitoring.

When to Use

• Docs have fallen out of sync with code — run full drift analysis.
• Preparing a release — gate on aggregate staleness score.
• Running CI doc gates — fail PRs on high/critical drift or broken links.
• Auditing API doc accuracy against Python source.
• Checking README health and link integrity after refactors.

Clarify First

Before running detection, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:

• Which check — full drift analysis, staleness score, API doc validation, or link audit (selects drift_analyzer.py vs doc_staleness_scorer.py vs api_doc_validator.py vs link_checker.py)
• Repo & doc/source paths — the repository and which code and docs directories to compare (the input the tools scan)
• Threshold & gate — minimum severity or staleness threshold for CI failure (sets --min-severity/--threshold and the exit-code gate)

Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the artifact.

Tools