name: guide-maintenance description: > Maintain the OpenVMM Guide and its code-sync mapping. Load when: (1) adding, removing, or moving Guide pages, (2) adding new device crates or CLI args that need doc coverage, (3) updating the doc-code-sync mapping table, or (4) auditing Guide freshness against code changes.
Guide Maintenance Skill
Procedures for keeping the OpenVMM Guide (Guide/src/) in sync with the
codebase. The doc-code-sync mapping table is maintained in this skill file;
.github/instructions/doc-code-sync.instructions.md contains the instructions
and heuristics that are automatically loaded during Copilot code review on
*.rs and Cargo.toml files.
Adding a New Guide Page
1. Choose the right location
| Content type | Path pattern |
|---|---|
| Emulated device reference | reference/emulated/<DeviceCategory>/<device>.md |
| VMBus device reference | reference/devices/vmbus/<device>.md |
| Virtio device reference | reference/devices/virtio/<device>.md |
| Device backend reference | reference/backends/<category>.md |
| Architecture deep-dive | reference/architecture/openvmm/ or reference/architecture/openhcl/ |
| CLI / management | reference/openvmm/management/ |
| Developer tool | dev_guide/dev_tools/<tool>.md |
| Test framework | dev_guide/tests/ |
2. Create the page
- Follow the style in
.github/instructions/guide-docs.instructions.md - Include a brief overview, key concepts, and links to relevant rustdoc
- Reference crate names in backticks
- Use relative paths from repo root when pointing at code
3. Update SUMMARY.md
Add the page to Guide/src/SUMMARY.md in the correct section. Pages with
content get a path; placeholder topics for future work get an empty link ().
- [Page Title](./reference/path/to/page.md)
4. Update the doc-code-sync mapping
This is the critical step. Add a row to the mapping table in this file:
| `path/to/code/crate/` | `reference/path/to/page.md` |
Also add a bullet to the "What to Flag" section if the new page covers a category of change (e.g., "New frobulator variant added → update frobulator.md").
Removing or Moving a Guide Page
- Update or remove the entry in
Guide/src/SUMMARY.md - Remove or update the corresponding row in the doc-code-sync mapping table
- Check for cross-references from other Guide pages (grep for the old path)
- If moving: ensure the SUMMARY.md link and the mapping table both point to the new location
Adding a New Device Crate
When a new crate is added under vm/devices/:
-
Does it need a Guide page? If it's a user-visible device or backend, yes. Internal plumbing crates (e.g.,
*_resources,*_protocol) usually don't need their own page but should be mentioned in the parent device page. -
Create the page following the "Adding a New Guide Page" procedure above.
-
Update the mapping table with the crate path → Guide page.
-
Update the "What to Flag" list if the new crate introduces a new category of reviewable change.
Adding or Changing CLI Arguments
When openvmm/openvmm_entry/src/cli_args.rs changes:
- Update
Guide/src/reference/openvmm/management/cli.md - The CLI page has a disclaimer that it may be out of date — keep it honest, but still update the page when making changes
- New arguments should include: flag syntax, description, default value, and any interactions with other flags
Auditing Guide Freshness
To check whether the Guide is in sync with the code:
- Scan the mapping table in this file
- For each row, check whether the Guide page content still matches the code:
- Crate names still correct?
- Struct/enum names still exist?
- Behavioral descriptions still accurate?
- Links to rustdoc still resolve?
- Check
Guide/src/SUMMARY.mdfor placeholder links()— these are topics that need content. Prioritize ones whose code areas have been actively developed.
Quick audit commands
# Find Guide pages that reference a crate name
grep -r "crate_name" Guide/src/
# Find placeholder topics (empty links) in SUMMARY.md
grep '()\s*$' Guide/src/SUMMARY.md
# Find code crates with no Guide mapping
# Compare vm/devices/*/Cargo.toml crate names against the mapping table
Mapping Table Format
Each row in the mapping table follows:
| `code/path/` | `guide/path.md` |
- Code paths use repo-root-relative paths with trailing
/for directories - Guide paths are relative to
Guide/src/ - Multiple Guide pages for one code path: comma-separated
- Use glob-style
*in code paths for crate families (e.g.,nvme*/)