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GitHub Docs is the open-source content and platform that powers docs.github.com — GitHub’s official product documentation. The site covers everything from getting started guides to deep dives on the GitHub API, Actions, Codespaces, and more. The platform itself is a Node.js application built on Express and Next.js, and the content is written in Markdown with Liquid templating.

Two repositories, one site

The GitHub Docs project is split across two repositories that sync frequently:

github/docs

Public. Open to external contributions. Accepts edits to Markdown content files in /content and select /data sections (reusables and variables). Infrastructure code, workflows, and site-building logic are not open for external modification.

github/docs-internal

Private. For GitHub employees. Internal contributions — new features, platform changes, early-access content — should go here. Changes flow to github/docs through an automated sync.
Content changes made in either repository are reflected in the other through frequent automated syncs. If you are a GitHub employee working with a customer, you can use github/docs, but most internal work should go to github/docs-internal.

Who can contribute

Anyone outside GitHub can contribute to github/docs. The most common contributions are:
  • Fixing typos and grammatical errors
  • Improving clarity or accuracy of existing articles
  • Adding missing information to an existing topic
  • Updating outdated content
External contributors work with .md files in /content and select files in /data/reusables and /data/variables. Pull requests to infrastructure files, CI workflows, or application source code (/src) will not be accepted.See the contribution guidelines for full details, including style expectations and the review process.

What lives in this repo

The github/docs repository is organized into a few key top-level directories:
DirectoryPurpose
/contentAll English Markdown documentation, organized by product
/dataReusables, variables, learning tracks, GraphQL data, and more
/srcApplication source code (Node.js, Express, Next.js) organized by subject folders
/contributingContributor guides (largely superseded by docs.github.com/en/contributing)

Licensing

The project is dual-licensed:
  • Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 — documentation and content in assets/, content/, and data/
  • MIT License — application source code

Explore further

Quickstart

Set up a local development environment and make your first content edit.

Site architecture

Understand how the repository is structured — content, data, and application source.

Content model

Learn how articles are organized, typed, and connected on docs.github.com.

Pull requests

Follow the contribution workflow to get your changes reviewed and merged.

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