Principlev1
Store configuration documentation as version-controlled
Store configuration documentation as version-controlled files that serve as both the implementation and the documentation, making drift structurally impossible.
Why This Is a Principle
Derives from Human memory under stress and cognitive load is unreliable (memory unreliability under stress), Knowledge that exists only in tacit form degrades without (tacit degradation), and When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good (when documentation becomes separate from reality, it fails as a measure). Infrastructure-as-Code pattern eliminates documentation-reality divergence.