Read & Discuss: Docs as Tests by Manny Silva

Happy New Year, Documentarians! 🥂 There is no better way to jumpstart your professional development this year than by adding a powerful new framework to your technical writing toolkit. To kick off our first meetup of the year, we are diving into Docs as Tests by Manny Silva.

As our products evolve faster than ever, keeping documentation accurate can feel like a losing battle. This session is designed to help us stop chasing changes and start automating quality. Whether you are a lone writer or part of a large engineering team, this is a chance to learn how to bridge the gap between code and content.

About the book:

"Docs as Tests by Manny Silva offers a pioneering strategy to keep your documentation in sync with rapid product changes through automated validation. Leveraging principles from software engineering, Silva introduces methods to apply content testing to technical documentation.

This book provides practical advice on creating resilient documentation, ensuring accuracy, and enhancing user experience amidst evolving products.

Aimed at technical writers, engineers, and product managers, Docs as Tests bridges the gap between documentation and product development, making it an essential resource for maintaining up-to-date and reliable documentation."

Where to buy Docs as Tests:

• Boffin Publishing
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• [Bookshops.org](https://bookshop.org/p/books/docs-as-tests-a-strategy-for-resilient-technical-documentation-manny-silva/1cae6e100535a78e?ean=9780994169365&next=t) -- Buy from this platform and get it shipped to your favorite indie bookstore in Austin, like Book People, Reverie Books, Black Pearl Books, BookWoman, etc.

Short on time? You are still welcome! We know life gets busy. If you didn't get a chance to read the book, we still want you there! You can get up to speed quickly or get hands-on with the concepts using these resources:

• Watch the talk: Catch Manny Silva’s Write the Docs 2025 presentation. It’s a fantastic overview of the core concepts in 38 minutes.
• Try the tool: If you want to learn by doing, check out the Doc Detective, the open-source tool developed by Manny that enables the Docs as Tests framework.

The Discussion: We won't just be discussing the reading... we want to make this actionable! We will explore:

• How to practically apply the Docs as Tests framework in our current workflows.
• Our own experiences with Doc Detective and other validation tools.
• Strategies for getting engineering buy-in for documentation testing.

Come ready to share your challenges, your ideas, and your goals for the year ahead!

Where is this happening? Cherrywood Coffeehouse! Cherrywood has their own parking lot, indoor and outdoor seating, and a wide selection of non-alcoholic bevvies, beer, wine, and food.

Cherrywood Coffeehouse
1400 E 38th 1/2 St
Austin, TX 78722

How can you find us when you get there? We’ll have a Write the Docs sign on our table to help you spot us.

What is this group? We are the Austin chapter of Write the Docs, a global community of people who care about documentation. Check out our story on the group’s main page here on Meetup, learn about our code of conduct, and join our LinkedIn group to stay in touch between events.

Have questions? Feel free to ask them in the comment section!