Document inheritance, override, and verification behavior #7

Maturity context

• Project maturity: developing (51/100)
• Dimension: documentation_onboarding
• Priority: medium

Evidence

• README.md says project-specific files override defaults but gives no precedence table
• Both root SECURITY.md and .github/SECURITY.md exist
• No contributor instructions explain how to preview inherited forms in a consumer repository

Scope

• Add a table showing recognized paths, inheritance behavior, and repository-level override precedence for every default file.
• Explain why duplicate-path files exist and identify the canonical source.
• Provide a shortest-path local and GitHub preview checklist for changing forms, templates, and the organization profile.
• Document known GitHub limitations such as repository-local labels and security-feature availability.

Acceptance criteria

• A contributor can identify the canonical source and consuming path for every tracked default.
• The guide includes a verified preview procedure for issue forms, PR templates, and PROFILE/README.md.
• The guide explicitly covers label portability and project-specific overrides.
• All commands and links in the guide pass the repository validation workflow.

Help wanted

Well-suited to a documentation contributor who can verify GitHub community-health inheritance behavior.

Generated from the repository maturity assessment dated 2026-07-11. Do not include credentials, customer data, or local-only files in public discussion.