Documentation debt is automation debt

Automation that only lives in a developer laptop is a liability. Bridgemesh treats README files as part of the deliverable: purpose, inputs, failure modes, rollback, and owner rotation. We reject glossy screenshots unless they teach a sequence someone can reproduce.

In Capstone Automation Studio, teams swap README drafts weekly. Reviewers ask rude-but-useful questions: what happens if this API key expires mid-month? Who answers the LINE alert on Saturday? Where is the quarantine folder?

The rubric is boring on purpose. Boring documentation survives job changes and vendor churn better than clever prose.

We also discuss when NOT to automate—sometimes a documented manual step with a calendar reminder beats a flaky bot. That honesty keeps marketing promises grounded.