> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://zahradnik.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Proper documentation needs code owners.
- URL: https://zahradnik.io/proper-documentation-needs-code-owners/
- Published: 2026-04-07T09:55:48.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-07T09:55:48.000Z
- Author: Vladimír Záhradník
- Tags: Field notes, Documentation

In my [previous post](https://zahradnik.io/use-git-for-internal-documentation/) I argued that documentation belongs in [Git](https://git-scm.com/?ref=zahradnik.io).

That’s a good start.

But it’s not enough.

---

When someone creates a pull request for documentation,  
who is responsible for reviewing it?

And more importantly:

> who has the final say?

If approvals are just a checkbox, your documentation is already dead.

---

This is where **code owners** come in.

I’m borrowing the term from software engineering, but the idea is simple:

> every part of documentation has a clear owner

Not one person for everything.

Multiple people, each responsible for a specific domain.

---

In a typical SaaS, that might look like:

- API
- integrations (often split further)
- core product areas by feature

Because in reality:

> nobody understands everything in depth

And if someone does, you have another problem:

> [bus factor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus%5Ffactor?ref=zahradnik.io) \= 1

That’s not expertise.

That’s a single point of failure.

---

Proper documentation is not just about writing.

It’s about **ownership**.

Clear responsibility.

Distributed knowledge.

---

How to select and train these people?

That’s a topic for another day.