Diátaxis is a systematic approach to technical documentation authoring that identifies four distinct user needs and four corresponding documentation forms: tutorials, how-to guides, technical reference, and explanation. It organizes documentation around these needs, addressing content, style, and architecture challenges. The framework is lightweight, easy to grasp, and imposes no implementation constraints, providing an active quality principle for maintainers.

Diátaxis has been adopted successfully in hundreds of documentation projects. Greg Frileux of Vonage notes it enabled building high-quality internal documentation that users and contributors love. Megan Sullivan at Gatsby used the four quadrants to prioritize user goals during an open-source documentation reorganization, making resources easier to discover. Adam Schwartz at Cloudflare calls Diátaxis their north star for information architecture, resulting in clearer documentation for readers and contributors alike.

The best way to start is by applying Diátaxis after reading a brief primer, with deeper theory available for those seeking more understanding.