Documentation Research Template

Use this template before writing or expanding any Engine/Docs/*.md page. Copy the sections into working notes or into the new doc while drafting, then remove transient notes before finalizing if they do not help readers.

Topic

• Doc path: Docs/<Topic>.md
• Status: researching
• Audience: engine user / game integrator / engine maintainer / AI maintainer
• Scope: what this doc owns
• Out of scope: what belongs to another engine doc or to the embedding project’s docs

Source paths inspected

List exact paths, not vague areas:

• Source/...
• BuildTools/...
• Resources/...
• ThirdParty/... if directly relevant

Tests inspected

List tests that encode behavior:

• Source/Tests/Test_*.cpp

If no direct test exists, say so explicitly and prefer conservative wording.

Build or preset references

• BuildTools/cmake/stages/...
• BuildTools/cmake/helpers/...
• Embedding project CMakePresets.json only when the doc intentionally uses that project as an example.

Current behavior summary

Write a short source-grounded summary:

• What the system does.
• What owns configuration.
• What is generated vs hand-authored.
• Which runtime side owns it: common, client, server, mapper, tool, platform frontend.

Reader tasks to support

List concrete tasks this doc should help with:

• Find the entry point for a subsystem.
• Change behavior safely.
• Validate the change.
• Route game-specific work back to the embedding project.

Caveats and boundaries

• Mention incomplete or platform-specific behavior.
• Avoid promising stable public API unless the code/docs actually establish it.
• Do not copy game-specific content rules into engine docs.

Links to update

• Docs/README.md
• DocumentationBacklog.md
• ../README.md, if the topic is a major entry point
• Source-tree README, if the topic is source navigation
• Related focused docs

Verification checklist

• Every linked local Markdown file exists.
• Every cited source path exists.
• git diff --check passes.
• Markdown link check passes over README.md, AGENTS.md, Docs/**/*.md, Source/README.md, Source/Tests/README.md, and BuildTools/README.md.
• git diff --cached --name-only is empty unless staging was requested.
• The doc distinguishes engine ownership from embedding-project ownership.