Spruce up availability guidance (#594)

Co-authored-by: shainaraskas <[email protected]>

Author: leemthompo

get-started/versioning-availability.md

@@ -18,30 +18,92 @@ It's important to understand this versioning system, for compatibility and [upgr
 
 ## Availability of features
 
-Elastic products and features have different availability states across deployment types:
-
-- **Generally Available**: Feature is production-ready (default if not specified)
-- **Beta**: Feature is nearing general availability but is not yet ready for production usage
-- **Technical preview**: Feature is in early development
-- **Coming**: Feature is announced for a future release
-- **Discontinued**: Feature is being phased out
-- **Unavailable**: Feature is not supported in this deployment type or version
+Elastic products and features have different availability states across deployment types and lifecycle stages.
 
 Features may have different availability states between:
 
-- Elastic Stack versions (for example, 9.0, 9.1)
-- Serverless projects (Security, {{es}}, Observability)
-- Deployment types (and versions)
+- **Deployment type**: The environment where the feature is available (Stack, Serverless, ECE, ECK, etc.)
+- **Lifecycle state**: The development or support status of the feature (GA, Beta, etc.)
+- **Version**: The specific version the lifecycle state applies to
+
+#### Lifecycle states
+
+| State | Description |
+|-------|-------------|
+| **Generally Available (GA)** | Production-ready feature (default if not specified) |
+| **Beta** | Feature is nearing general availability but not yet production-ready |
+| **Technical preview** | Feature is in early development stage |
+| **Coming** | Feature announced for a future release |
+| **Discontinued** | Feature is being phased out |
+| **Unavailable** | Feature is not supported in this deployment type or version |
+
+### Where feature availability may differ
+
+Features may have different states between:
+
+- **[Elastic Stack](the-stack.md)** versions (e.g., 9.0, 9.1)
+- **Deployment types** (and deployment versions)
   - [Elastic Cloud Hosted](/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/cloud-hosted.md)
   - [Elastic Cloud Serverless](/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/serverless.md)
   - [Self-managed deployments](/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed.md)
   - [Elastic Cloud Enterprise (ECE)](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise.md)
     - ECE deployment versions (for example, 4.0.0)
   - [Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK)](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-on-k8s.md)
     - ECK deployment versions (for example, 3.0.0)
+- **Serverless project types**
+  - Security
+  - Elasticsearch
+  - Observability
+
+### Important tips when reading the docs
+
+- Always check feature lifecycle state for your specific deployment type and version
+- Pay attention to Elastic Stack version requirements
+- Note that Serverless features may vary by project type
+
+### Availability badges in the docs
+
+Our documentation uses badges to help you quickly identify where and when features are available for your specific environment.
+
+Badges can appear in two places:
+1. **Page headers**: Shows the overall availability across all deployment types
+2. **Section headers**: Indicates specific availability for content in that section
+
+### How to read the badges
+
+Here are some examples to help you understand how to read the availability badges.
+
+#### Example #1: Stack only feature
+
+```yaml {applies_to}
+stack: ga 9.1
+```
+- **Deployment type**: Elastic Stack
+- **Version**: 9.1
+- **Lifecycle**: Generally Available (GA) — default state
+
+#### Example #2: Serverless-only feature with project differences
+
+```yaml {applies_to}
+serverless:
+  security: beta
+  elasticsearch: ga
+```
+- **Deployment type**: Serverless 
+- **Lifecycle**: 
+  - Beta for Security projects
+  - Generally Available for Elasticsearch projects
+
+#### Example #3: Discontinued feature on one deployment type
 
-When reading the Elastic documentation be sure to:
+```yaml {applies_to}
+deployment:
+  ece: discontinued 4.1.0
+```
+- **Deployment type**: Elastic Cloud Enterprise
+- **Lifecycle**: Discontinued
+- **Version**: 4.1.0
 
-- Check feature availability for your deployment type and version
-- Note stack version requirements
-- Be aware that Serverless features may vary by project type
+:::{tip}
+For contributors and those interested in the technical details, see the [Elastic docs syntax guide](https://elastic.github.io/docs-builder/syntax/applies/) for more information on how these badges are implemented.
+:::