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Naming Standard

File naming

  • Markdown files use kebab-case: lowercase words separated by hyphens (e.g., writing-and-documentation-standard.md, company-venture-product-model.md).
  • Exceptions: files that are conventionally uppercase by community or tooling convention keep that convention — README.md, AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, GEMINI.md, CHANGELOG.md, CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, SECURITY.md, NOTICE.md, LICENSE (if one is ever added).
  • ADR files are the one deliberate exception to plain kebab-case prefixing: they use ADR-NNNN-kebab-case-title.md (see below).

document_id conventions

Every substantive document carries a document_id in the form DD-<CATEGORY>-<NNN>:

  • DD- — fixed prefix for Devonshire Digital.
  • <CATEGORY> — a short uppercase category code identifying which part of the repository the document belongs to, e.g., COMPANY, GOV, ARCH, STD, ADR, AI. Venture-specific documents use a venture-scoped category where appropriate (e.g., a Shelfery-specific standard might use SHELFERY-STD).
  • <NNN> — a zero-padded sequence number, at least 3 digits, unique within its category (e.g., 001, 002, ... 010).

IDs are assigned once and never reused, even if the document is later deprecated or superseded. A retired document keeps its original ID; the next new document in that category gets the next unused number.

ADR numbering

Architecture Decision Records use the form ADR-NNNN, with a zero-padded 4-digit sequence number (e.g., ADR-0001, ADR-0007). ADR numbers:

  • Are assigned in the order the ADR is created, not the order it is approved.
  • Are never renumbered or reused, even if an ADR is later superseded or judged to have been a mistake — the historical record of decision-making order matters more than a clean sequence.
  • Appear both in the filename (docs/decisions/ADR-0007-implementation-repository-boundary-remains-open.md) and in the document's document_id front-matter field (DD-ADR-0007).

Venture, product, and component slugs

  • Slugs are lowercase kebab-case short identifiers used in file paths, directory names, and registry entries (e.g., shelfery, digital-products).
  • A slug should be stable once assigned. Changing a slug breaks file paths, links, and registry references throughout the repository, so a slug is only changed as a deliberate, documented action (typically via an ADR if the venture or product is already established), not as a casual rename.
  • Slugs describe the thing generically enough to survive a brand change. For example, digital-products is a working internal slug that can persist even after a public brand name is chosen for that venture — the slug does not need to match the eventual public brand name (see docs/company/brand-architecture.md).
  • Component identifiers follow the same kebab-case convention and are scoped to the product or venture that owns them.

Directory naming

Top-level and second-level directories use lowercase, with hyphens where a directory name is multi-word (e.g., ventures/digital-products/). Avoid abbreviations that aren't already established elsewhere in the repository's terminology.

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