Configuration

Autodocs is configured via autodocs.config.json in your project root. Run npx autodocs init to create it with defaults.

Example

{
  "output": "docs",
  "include": ["src/**"],
  "exclude": ["**/test*", "**/node_modules/**", "**/dist/**"],
  "theme": "black",
  "title": "My Project",
  "sections": ["guide", "api"],
  "github": {
    "user": "your-username",
    "repo": "your-repo"
  },
  "instructions": "Focus on the public API, skip internal utilities"
}

Options

Themes

Autodocs supports all 11 Fumadocs built-in themes:

black · neutral · vitepress · dusk · catppuccin · ocean · purple · solar · emerald · ruby · aspen

Set the theme field in your config to any of these values. The theme controls the color palette of the generated documentation site. Invalid theme values will throw an error at config load time.

The theme CSS is imported as fumadocs-ui/css/<theme>.css when the docs app is scaffolded for dev or build.

Include and exclude patterns

The include and exclude fields use glob syntax powered by picomatch. The AI will only read and document source files that match include and don't match exclude.

Patterns are validated at config load time — invalid globs throw an error with a descriptive message.

Common patterns:

{
  "include": ["src/**", "lib/**"],
  "exclude": ["**/*.test.*", "**/__tests__/**", "**/node_modules/**"]
}

During file walking, directories named . (dotfiles), node_modules, target, and dist are always skipped, regardless of exclude patterns.

Sections

The sections field pre-creates subdirectories in the output directory before the AI begins generating. This lets the AI write directly into organized sections without needing to create directories first:

{
  "sections": ["guide", "api", "examples"]
}

These directories are created at the start of each generate run. The default value is ["guide", "api"].

GitHub integration

When github is set, the docs site displays a GitHub link in the header:

{
  "github": {
    "user": "your-username",
    "repo": "your-repo",
    "branch": "main"
  }
}

The branch field defaults to "main" if omitted. The GitHub URL is generated as https://github.com/{user}/{repo}.

Custom AI instructions

The instructions field lets you give extra guidance to the AI when generating documentation. This text is included in the generation prompt:

{
  "instructions": "Write docs in a tutorial style. Include runnable examples for every public function."
}

Custom skill prompt

You can fully override the system prompt sent to the AI CLI by placing a file at .autodocs/skill.md. When this file exists, it is used instead of the built-in skill prompt (skill/SKILL.md shipped with the package). This gives you complete control over how the AI approaches documentation generation.

Environment variables

Default config

When you run npx autodocs init without an existing config file, this is what gets created:

{
  "output": "docs",
  "include": ["src/**"],
  "exclude": [
    "**/test*",
    "**/bench*",
    "**/target/**",
    "**/node_modules/**",
    "**/dist/**"
  ],
  "theme": "black",
  "sections": ["guide", "api"]
}