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doc-kit provides a flexible configuration system that allows you to customize every aspect of the documentation generation process. Configuration can be provided through dedicated configuration files or via CLI options.

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Configuration Methods

There are three ways to configure doc-kit, listed in order of precedence (highest to lowest):
  1. Configuration file - Pass a custom config file using --config-file
  2. CLI options - Override specific settings via command-line arguments
  3. Default values - Built-in defaults used when no configuration is provided

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Configuration File Support

Configuration files must be loadable via an import() call. Supported formats include:
  • JavaScript/ESM (.mjs, .js with "type": "module")
  • JSON (.json)
// doc-kit.config.mjs
export default {
  global: {
    version: '20.0.0',
    minify: true,
    repository: 'nodejs/node',
    ref: 'main',
    baseURL: 'https://nodejs.org/docs/',
    input: 'src/',
    output: 'dist/',
    ignore: ['node_modules/', 'test/'],
  },
  
  threads: 4,
  chunkSize: 10,
  
  // Generator-specific configurations
  json: {
    format: 'json',
    minify: false, // Override global setting
  },
};

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Using a Configuration File

Pass your configuration file to doc-kit using the --config-file option: 
doc-kit generate --config-file ./doc-kit.config.mjs

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Configuration Structure

A doc-kit configuration object consists of:
  • global - Settings that apply to all generators unless overridden
  • threads - Number of worker threads to use for parallel processing
  • chunkSize - Number of items to process per worker thread
  • target - Array of generator names to run
  • Generator-specific overrides - Per-generator configuration that inherits from global

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Configuration Merging

When multiple configuration sources are provided, doc-kit merges them using a deep merge strategy:
  1. Start with built-in defaults
  2. Apply configuration file settings
  3. Apply CLI option overrides
This allows you to maintain a base configuration file while overriding specific values via CLI when needed.

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Next Steps

File Format

Learn about the configuration file structure and all available properties

CLI Options

See how CLI options map to configuration properties

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