kernel-docs

The Kernel documentation is about the Ubuntu Linux kernel, mainly focused on its development processes, tools, schedules, and more.

Documentation

This project is built with Sphinx Stack and hosted on Read the Docs.

View the documentation site at: https://canonical-kernel-docs.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/

Quick start

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/canonical/kernel-docs.git
   cd kernel-docs/docs
   

2. Build docs:

   make html
   

3. Build, serve, and auto-reload docs at http://127.0.0.1:8000:

   make run
   

For remote or VM development, set:

export SPHINX_HOST=0.0.0.0

Common commands

Run these commands from the docs/ directory before submitting changes.

make html         # Build docs
make run          # Build, watch, and serve
make serve        # Serve existing build
make clean-doc    # Remove built docs output
make spelling     # Spell check
make linkcheck    # Validate links
make lint-md      # Markdown/MyST lint checks
make vale         # Style checks
make woke         # Inclusive language checks
make pa11y        # Accessibility checks

Contribute

New documentation, fixes, and updates are greatly appreciated. Be sure to read our contribution guidelines first.

Using Copilot instructions

This repository includes guidance for GitHub Copilot in .github/copilot-instructions.md.

Copilot should follow these repository instructions when suggesting edits, reviews, and documentation checks.

Copilot in VS Code

1. Open this repository in VS Code.
2. Use Copilot Chat and ask it to follow .github/copilot-instructions.md.
3. For documentation work, target files under docs/.

Example prompt:

Follow .github/copilot-instructions.md and review docs/how-to/contribute.md.

Copilot CLI

The Copilot instructions file is a policy/reference file and is not executed.

If your CLI workflow does not auto-load repository instructions, reference .github/copilot-instructions.md explicitly in your prompt.

Example:

gh copilot suggest "Follow .github/copilot-instructions.md and suggest improvements for docs/how-to/contribute.md"

Use Copilot Skills

Documentation-review skill

For comprehensive documentation reviews:

• Skill file: .github/skills/documentation-review/SKILL.md
• Coverage: build validation, structure discovery, Diataxis classification, structure audit, accuracy verification, style review, and consolidated report.

Prompt example:

Follow .github/copilot-instructions.md. Run the documentation-review skill from SKILL.md on docs/how-to/contribute.md only.

AI-friendly-rewrite skill

For making documentation AI-inference-friendly:

• Skill file: .github/skills/docs-ai-friendly-rewrite/SKILL.md
• Coverage: 5-stage pipeline (audit, glossary update, rewrite, consistency check, validate) to improve how LLMs can reason about and infer from documentation.

Prompt example:

Follow .github/copilot-instructions.md and AGENTS.md. Run the docs-ai-friendly-rewrite skill from .github/skills/docs-ai-friendly-rewrite/SKILL.md on [docs to audit/rewrite].

AI-friendly documentation pipeline

This repository includes an advanced pipeline for making documentation AI-inference-friendly. See AGENTS.md for detailed workflow instructions.

Pipeline overview

The 5-stage pipeline helps documentation become more reasoning-friendly for LLMs:

1. Audit - Analyze docs for inference-blocking patterns
2. Update glossary - Merge findings into internal working glossary
3. Rewrite - Improve documentation structure and clarity
4. Consistency check - Ensure cross-doc consistency
5. Validate - Run quality checks and inference-question tests

Key files and directories

• AGENTS.md - Shared convention read by coding agents; documents the complete pipeline, persistent state, and PR conventions
• .github/ai-friendly-audit/ - Working directory containing audit findings, internal glossary, consistency reports, and validation questions
• prompts/ - Standalone prompt files for each pipeline stage, usable in any chat LLM:
  • audit-docs.md - Audit criteria and procedure
  • rewrite-docs.md - Rewrite guidelines
  • consistency-check-docs.md - Cross-doc consistency checks