Diátaxis (Daniele Procida): four documentation types — tutorials, how-to, reference, explanation
Created 2026-05-22
Claim: The Diátaxis framework, created by Daniele Procida and published at https://diataxis.fr, divides documentation into four user needs:
- Tutorials — learning-oriented (guided steps to learn by doing)
- How-to guides — task-oriented (recipes for specific goals)
- Reference — information-oriented (descriptions of the machinery)
- Explanation — understanding-oriented (background and why)
Adopted as the information-architecture backbone of Gatsby and Cloudflare developer documentation.
Quote (diataxis.fr): "Documentation should be organised around the structures of users' needs."
Source: https://diataxis.fr
Confidence: Verified.
For Candid use: Diátaxis maps cleanly onto a marketing site: case studies are tutorials, service pages are how-tos, glossary / pricing / specs are reference, opinion pieces are explanation. Using Diátaxis as the IA of the agency site is recommendation #5 from the brief 3 writer.
Referenced by (5)
- reference Andy Matuschak: evergreen notes — atomic, concept-oriented, densely linked, accreting over time relates-to
- reference Stripe docs as a first-class product — Markdoc framework, documentation in performance reviews relates-to
- reference Research brief: The knowledge-base-backed website (piece 3 of 15) relates-to
- reference Reference: 8 named exemplars of research-first/docs-as-product methodology — Stripe, Twilio, Anthropic, Gwern, Matuschak, Appleton, BAM, Construction Physics relates-to
- rule RULE: Foundation research before article, article before marketing page. Never write the marketing page first. depends-on