Technical writing, docs-as-code, DITA, and AI-assisted documentation by Olivier Carrère.https://redaction-technique.org/enhttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/indesign-vs-docs-as-code/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/indesign-vs-docs-as-code/A 370-cell calendar that shifts every year. A lead's name in three places. An IBAN in an invisible text box. These are not unusual InDesign problems — they are what InDesign files become when they accumulate facts with no single home. Two projects show what the alternative looks like — and where InDesign's own global tools stop short.Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:00:00 GMTdocs-as-codelatexgitautomationsingle-source-of-truthhttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/transforming-corpus-ai-living-knowledge/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/transforming-corpus-ai-living-knowledge/From a massive archive of 7,000 pages to daily insights, quote retrieval, and AI-powered thematic digests-this project turns static content into a living flow of clarity, focus, and well-being.Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTAIKnowledgeCurationDiscoveryhttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/transforming-meditation-classes-ai-discovery/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/transforming-meditation-classes-ai-discovery/1,800 lecture transcripts — 1.8 million words once trapped in Word 97 files — converted to Markdown, scored and tagged by AI, and turned into a searchable discovery platform that also generates print-ready LaTeX anthologies.Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTAILaTeXDiscoveryContenthttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/less-is-more-layering/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/less-is-more-layering/How Kahneman’s idea of 'less is more' connects with minimalist documentation — and how layering keeps clarity from becoming oversimplification.Tue, 21 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTMinimalismDocumentationUX WritingKahnemanLayeringhttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/systems-1-2-affordance-minimalism-technical-writing/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/systems-1-2-affordance-minimalism-technical-writing/What can Kahneman’s Systems 1 and 2 teach us about technical writing? This post explores how minimalism and DITA structure align with cognitive systems to make documentation more intuitive and human-centered.Sat, 04 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTCognitive PsychologyTechnical WritingDITAMinimalismhttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/scalable-maintainable-technical-docs-with-yaml/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/scalable-maintainable-technical-docs-with-yaml/A growing engine-oil catalog — brands, viscosities, prices — becomes a maintenance nightmare as a Markdown table and a verbose tangle as DITA XML. One YAML file holds each fact once and generates every table, doc page, and app view from it.Sat, 27 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTYAMLOpenAPISchemaStructured DataTechnical WritingContent ReuseValidationhttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/experimental-astro-api-docs/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/experimental-astro-api-docs/Learn how one YAML file can serve as a single source of truth for APIs, powering docs, HTML documentation, and even mobile apps.Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTAstroAPIOpenAPIYAMLDocumentationhttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/ai-translation-legacy-technical-docs/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/ai-translation-legacy-technical-docs/Professionally translating hundreds of legacy French Markdown files would have cost a fortune. Instead, a DeepL-then-GPT-4o pipeline with Git diffs as a safety net: keep the good translations file by file, discard the rest, rebuild.Mon, 22 Sep 2025 01:00:00 GMTAITranslationTechnical WritingMarkdownDeepLGPT-4ohttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/manage-content-in-files-not-databases/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/manage-content-in-files-not-databases/Databases are not always the best place for your content. By storing it in plain files, you gain speed, security, Git-based workflows, and a simpler, more reliable publishing stack.Thu, 18 Sep 2025 10:12:00 GMTStatic SitesUnix PhilosophyDocs-as-CodeContent ManagementGithttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/strong-information-typing-without-xml-overhead/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/strong-information-typing-without-xml-overhead/You don’t need the complexity of DITA XML to benefit from its discipline. With Markdown and modern docs-as-code workflows, technical writers can apply strong information typing-tasks, concepts, and references-using lightweight, open tools.Wed, 17 Sep 2025 11:39:00 GMTDITAMarkdownInformation TypingContent ModelDocs-as-Codehttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/turn-word-files-seo-optimized-web-pages-ai/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/turn-word-files-seo-optimized-web-pages-ai/How we transformed unstructured Word 97/2000 files into a decade-long web publication of conferences-using Markdown, Python, and GPT-powered automation for just $30.Mon, 01 Sep 2025 11:39:00 GMTDITAMarkdownInformation TypingAIPythonDigital ArchivesAutomationSEOhttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/dita-xml-to-markdown-lightweight-information-typing/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/dita-xml-to-markdown-lightweight-information-typing/DITA brought structure through XML, but its complexity often felt heavy. Markdown offers a lightweight alternative where technical writers can still apply DITA’s information typing principles-using open, freely available tools and without the XML overhead.Fri, 01 Aug 2025 11:39:00 GMTDITAMarkdownInformation Typinghttps://redaction-technique.org/blog/web-journey-html-to-git-markdown/https://redaction-technique.org/blog/web-journey-html-to-git-markdown/Tracing over two decades of web publishing, from raw HTML and Dreamweaver to CMSes, structured content, static site generators, and modern Git-based Markdown workflows. Lessons for solo and team content developers on maintainability, collaboration, and performance.Thu, 10 Jul 2025 10:00:00 GMTHTMLWordPressDITAMarkdownSphinxStatic SitesDocs-as-CodeGitContent Management