Document Sync

Find stale documentation that needs updating when code changes.

Quick Start

"What docs need updating after my changes?"

"Find documentation that references the functions I modified"

"Are there any stale docs referencing getUserData?"

When to Use

Use this workflow:

Before committing code changes
During code review
As part of your release process
When updating APIs or public interfaces

How It Works

Noodlbox creates bidirectional links between code and documentation:

Edge Type	Direction	Meaning
`DOCUMENTED_BY`	Code → Doc	This code is documented here
`REFERENCES`	Doc → Code	This doc mentions this code

Links are created when documentation contains:

Inline code references: `functionName`
Code blocks with function calls
Prose mentioning symbol names

Document Sync Workflow

Detect Changed Symbols

First, find what code has changed:

"What's the impact of my unstaged changes?"

Uses: noodlbox_detect_impact tool

This returns changed_symbols with UIDs for each modified symbol.

Extract Symbol UIDs

From the impact detection response, collect the uid field from each changed symbol.

Example response:

{
  "changed_symbols": [
    { "name": "getUserData", "uid": "sym_abc123", ... },
    { "name": "UserService", "uid": "sym_def456", ... }
  ]
}

Search for Linked Documentation

Find docs that reference the changed symbols:

"Find documentation that references sym_abc123 and sym_def456"

Uses: noodlbox_search_documents tool with:

mode: "linked"
symbol_uids: ["sym_abc123", "sym_def456"]

This returns documentation files that:

Are documented by these symbols
Reference these symbols in their content

Review and Update

For each flagged document:

Check if the code change affects the documentation
Update examples, descriptions, or signatures as needed
Remove references to deleted code
Add documentation for new functionality

Document Types to Check

Doc Type	What to Look For
API docs	Changed signatures, new parameters
README	Updated examples, changed behavior
Tutorials	Outdated code snippets
Architecture docs	Changed relationships, new components
Changelogs	Needs new entry

Example: Pre-Commit Doc Check

Scenario: You've updated the authentication flow and want to check docs before committing.

Run Impact Detection

"Check the impact of my unstaged changes"

Results:

{
  "changed_symbols": [
    { "name": "authenticateUser", "uid": "sym_auth1" },
    { "name": "validateToken", "uid": "sym_tok1" },
    { "name": "refreshSession", "uid": "sym_sess1" }
  ]
}

Search Linked Docs

"Find docs linked to sym_auth1, sym_tok1, sym_sess1"

Results:

docs/authentication.md - references authenticateUser
README.md - contains auth example

Review Each Document

docs/authentication.md:

Section "How to Authenticate" uses old function signature
Update to reflect new parameter

README.md:

Quick start example still valid
No changes needed

Commit with Doc Updates

Stage both code and documentation changes together.

Automating Doc Sync

In Code Review

Add doc sync check to your PR checklist:

## PR Checklist
- [ ] Ran impact detection
- [ ] Checked affected_documents
- [ ] Updated stale documentation

In CI/CD

Run doc sync check as part of your pipeline:

# Example: Flag PRs with potentially stale docs
- name: Check doc sync
  run: |
    # Run impact detection comparing PR to base
    # If affected_documents is non-empty, add PR comment

Querying Documentation Relationships

Find All Docs for a Symbol

MATCH (sym:Symbol {name: "getUserData"})-[:DOCUMENTED_BY]->(doc:Document)
RETURN doc.file_path, doc.title

Find All Symbols in a Doc

MATCH (doc:Document {file_path: "README.md"})-[:REFERENCES]->(sym:Symbol)
RETURN sym.name, sym.kind, sym.file_path

Find Potentially Stale Docs

MATCH (sym:Symbol)-[:DOCUMENTED_BY]->(doc:Document)
WHERE sym.updated_at > doc.updated_at
RETURN doc.file_path, sym.name as stale_reference

Tools Reference

Purpose	Tool
Detect changes	`noodlbox_detect_impact`
Find linked docs	`noodlbox_search_documents` with `mode: "linked"`
Query relationships	`noodlbox_raw_cypher_query`

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