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Welcome to WhatDoc

Connect your GitHub. Get beautiful, AI-generated documentation instantly. Every developer knows the pain: you build something great, but writing the docs feels like a second full-time job. So you don’t. Your README stays a one-liner, your API has no reference, and your users bounce. WhatDoc fixes this. Connect your GitHub, import a repo, pick a template, and get production-ready documentation in under 60 seconds.

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What is WhatDoc?

WhatDoc is an AI-powered documentation generator that automatically creates production-ready docs from your codebase. It analyzes your repository, understands your code structure, and generates comprehensive documentation tailored to your project type.
WhatDoc uses advanced AI models (Gemini, OpenAI, Claude) to understand your code and generate contextual documentation — not just generic templates.

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Key Features

Smart Code Ingestion

Shallow-clones your repo, walks the directory tree, filters noise (lockfiles, dist, tests), and compresses source via a regex-based minifier before sending to the LLM.

14+ Professional Templates

Choose from Twilio, Django, MDN, AeroLaTeX, Fintech, DevTools, and more. Every template is responsive, dark-mode ready, and gorgeous.

Custom Subdomains

Every project gets its own yourproject.whatdoc.xyz subdomain — instant shareable docs.

BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)

Plug in your Gemini, OpenAI, or Claude API key for unthrottled, limit-free generation. Stored in local storage, never touches our servers.

GitHub OAuth

Connect your GitHub, import repos (public or private), and generate docs in one flow.

Live Editor

Edit your generated documentation in a rich markdown editor. Changes save instantly.

One-Click Deploy

Generate → customize → deploy. Your docs go live at a permanent URL in seconds.

Command Palette

Power-user keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl + Space) for fast navigation between projects.

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How It Works

WhatDoc uses a multi-stage pipeline to go from raw repo to polished docs:
1

Shallow Clone

Uses simple-git with --depth 1 to clone your repository to /tmp. Fast, ephemeral, and nothing persists on disk.
// server/services/engine.js:214-215
const git = simpleGit();
await git.clone(repoUrl, tempPath, ['--depth', '1']);
2

Code Ingestion

Walks the directory tree, filters noise files (lockfiles, dist/, tests, existing READMEs), and applies the Regex Guillotine minifier:
  • Strips block comments (/* ... */)
  • Collapses consecutive // comment runs
  • Truncates base64 blobs and long string literals
  • Respects .gitignore patterns
// server/services/engine.js:99-121
function minifyFileContent(raw) {
  let s = raw;
  s = s.replace(/\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\//g, '');
  s = s.replace(/(?:^[ \t]*\/\/.*\n){3,}/gm, '// [comments collapsed]\n');
  // ... more filtering
  return s;
}
3

AI Generation

Sends the concatenated codebase to your chosen LLM (Gemini/OpenAI/Claude). The system prompt instructs the AI to detect your repo type (REST API vs frontend vs CLI) and adapt the doc structure accordingly.
Free tier is capped at ~200k tokens with smart file-boundary cutoff. BYOK users get the full context window.
4

Cleanup & Render

Cloned files are nuked from /tmp, generated markdown is saved to MongoDB, and rendered with your chosen React template.

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Supported Project Types

WhatDoc automatically detects and adapts to your codebase:
Project TypeWhat Gets Generated
REST APIEndpoint reference, authentication, request/response examples
FrontendComponent documentation, props, hooks, state management
CLI ToolCommand reference, flags, usage examples
LibraryAPI reference, installation, usage patterns
Full-stackArchitecture overview, API routes, frontend components
WhatDoc filters out test files, minified bundles, source maps, and existing documentation to focus on source code only.

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Template Showcase

Choose from 14+ professionally designed templates:
API-first dark layout with sidebar nav — perfect for REST APIs and developer tools.

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Tech Stack

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Backend

  • Express 5 - HTTP server
  • MongoDB + Mongoose - Database & ODM
  • Gemini/OpenAI/Claude - AI-powered doc generation
  • simple-git - Ephemeral repo cloning
  • ignore - .gitignore-aware file filtering
  • JWT + bcrypt - Authentication
  • Zod - Schema validation

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Frontend

  • React 19 - UI framework
  • Vite - Build tool & dev server
  • TailwindCSS - Utility-first styling
  • React Router - Client-side routing
  • React Markdown - Markdown rendering
  • React Syntax Highlighter - Code blocks

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Who It’s For

Open Source Maintainers

Stop copy-pasting README boilerplate. Generate comprehensive docs that attract contributors.

Startups

Ship polished API documentation without hiring a technical writer.

Solo Developers

Focus on building. Let AI handle the documentation.

Teams

Standardize documentation across all your microservices.

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What’s Next?

Quick Start Guide

Ready to generate your first docs? Follow our quickstart guide to go from zero to deployed in 5 minutes.
Built by @herin7
If WhatDoc helped you, consider giving it a ⭐ on GitHub

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