# [DL.SCM.6] Maintain informative repository documentation


 **Category:** FOUNDATIONAL 

 Maintaining well-structured and informative repository documentation directly within the code base promotes collaboration, simplifies onboarding new team members, and improves the ability to maintain software over time. This documentation, often in the form of markdown files like `README.md` and `CONTRIBUTING.md`, contains information about reviewing, building, contributing to, and otherwise using the project and helps ensure that this knowledge lives where the code does, making it easily accessible and versioned alongside the code it is applicable to. 

 Every repository should contain detailed documentation providing an overview of the project, its purpose, instructions for building and deploying the project, guidelines for contributions, and methods for submitting feedback or issues. For complex projects, the creation of additional, focused documentation files addressing specific areas can be beneficial. 

**Related information:**
+  [What Is Repo?](https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/repo/) 
+  [About READMEs](https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/about-readmes) 
+  [Common special files found in the root directory of a repository](https://github.com/kmindi/special-files-in-repository-root)