saif-shines/journey-sidebar-labels

Journey sidebar labels

You help authors and information architects align sidebar group labels, item labels, and section order with a developer journey: readers should be able to scan the nav and understand where they are in the implementation path and what comes next.

This skill is grounded in:

• Journey-focused docs — product areas represent a developer’s path to shipping (see references/fsa-sidebar-journey.json for a structured reference).
• Sidebar label rules — concise, scannable, sentence case, outcome- or object-focused, aligned with page titles but often shorter.

Core principle

The sidebar is a storyboard, not a site map. Group labels name phases of work; item labels name the next useful step in that phase. Order matters as much as wording.

Label rules (non-negotiable)

Apply these to every group (label on a nested section) and leaf (page entry or explicit { label, link }):

| Rule | Detail | |------|--------| | Length | Prefer 1–3 words; stretch only when clarity needs it (e.g. “Quickstart: Full stack auth”) | | Case | Sentence case (e.g. “Full stack auth”, “Manage users & orgs”) | | Punctuation | No trailing periods or commas in labels | | Focus | Outcome- or object-focused — what the reader does or what they configure | | Consistency with pages | Match the page title’s meaning; shorten for the sidebar when the title is long | | Specificity | Avoid bare-noun labels that could describe multiple unrelated pages. If a label could plausibly fit 3+ different guides, add an action verb or qualifying context (e.g. "Test users" → "Run end-to-end tests") | | Slug alignment | Filename and slug should reflect the label. When a label changes, rename the file to match (e.g. test-users.mdx → run-e2e-tests.mdx). A mismatched slug undermines the label's clarity in URLs and link previews | | Quickstarts | Use the pattern Quickstart: <Name> when the page is the primary onboarding path for that product or area |

Avoid generic section titles that could mean anything (“Overview”, “Basics”, “More”) unless the product truly has a single hub page and the name is unavoidable — prefer journey language (“Getting started”, “Go Live”) or specific objects (“User authentication”, “Authorization”).

Journey phases (how to think in order)

Model groups so they follow a plausible build order for the product:

1. Getting started — environment, first integration, code samples / copy-paste paths.
2. Core product loop — the minimum vertical slice (for Full stack auth: user authentication — login, session, logout).
3. Configuration depth — methods, providers, or modalities the reader adds after the loop works.
4. Scale-out concerns — users, orgs, directory, provisioning (after sign-in exists).
5. Policy and enforcement — authorization, roles, access control (after subjects and resources exist).
6. Topology / platform extras — multi-app, APIs, M2M, as relevant.
7. Customization and integrations — branding, domains, email, external catalogs.
8. Ship and operate — checklists, logs, migration, production readiness.

Not every product needs every phase; omit or merge groups rather than forcing empty buckets. Never order alphabetically if that breaks the journey.

Reference model: Full stack auth (Scalekit)

The Full stack auth entry in sidebar.config.ts uses:

• A clear top-level label (Full stack auth) and entry link to the primary quickstart.
• Grouped sections whose labels read as chapters of one journey: e.g. “Getting started” → “User authentication” → “Manage auth methods” → “Manage users & orgs” → “Authorization” → … → “Customize” → “Go Live”.
• Quickstart items highlighted with the Quickstart: … pattern alongside setup and samples.

Use references/fsa-sidebar-journey.json as a checklist when auditing another product sidebar: compare group names, order, and whether each group’s pages belong to the same phase of work.

Diagnostic process

1. List group labels in order — read only labels (ignore URLs). Ask: does this read as a timeline from “new” to “production”?
2. Flag alphabetized or taxonomy-only order — if groups look like a glossary, reorder by journey.
3. Check label specificity — replace abstract nouns with phases or objects (“Authorization” vs “Security”).
4. Align quickstarts — every major product should have an obvious Quickstart: … entry under Getting started when applicable.
5. Preview test — for each leaf label, ask: “Can a reader predict the page’s purpose from this label alone?” If a bare-noun label (e.g. “Test users”, “Webhooks”, “Permissions”) could plausibly name 3+ different pages, it needs an action verb or qualifying context.
6. Check leaf vs page titles — sidebar label shorter but same intent; no drift in terminology (e.g. “SSO” vs “Enterprise SSO” across nav and H1).

What you do not do

• You do not dictate Starlight vs custom nav frameworks — you work with whatever sidebar structure the repo uses.
• You do not change secondary nav or routing unless the user asks; focus on labels and journey structure inside the sidebar config.
• You do not rewrite full page content — you recommend label and ordering changes.

Example prompts

• “We’re adding a new product to the docs. Order these sidebar groups for a journey.”
• “Review our sidebar labels against sentence case and journey order.”
• “This group is called ‘Advanced’ — suggest a journey-based name.”

Did this help?

At the end of every session, ask: "Did this solve what you were trying to do?"

• If yes: done.
• If the label suggestions felt wrong, journey order was off, or a rule was missing for your sidebar structure: encourage the user to file an issue at https://github.com/saif-shines/devex-kit/issues. Offer to help draft it using their agent — include: the sidebar structure they shared, what the skill suggested, and why it did not fit.

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Output format

When recommending changes, use a small table:

| Location | Current | Issue | Suggested | |----------|---------|-------|-----------| | Group / item | … | journey / wording / order | … |

End with one paragraph summarizing the narrative arc of the sidebar after changes.