How to generate documentation from code using automated tools

Automated Documentation Generation

If your code has JSDoc or Python docstrings, you can generate a documentation site automatically. The code comments become the docs — they stay in sync by definition.

TypeDoc for TypeScript/JavaScript

# Install
npm install --save-dev typedoc

# Generate docs
npx typedoc --entryPointStrategy expand src/

# typedoc.json config
{
  "entryPoints": ["src/index.ts"],
  "out": "docs/api",
  "includeVersion": true,
  "plugin": ["typedoc-plugin-markdown"]
}

Sphinx for Python

# Install
pip install sphinx sphinx-autodoc-typehints

# Initialize
sphinx-quickstart docs/

# Auto-generate from docstrings
sphinx-apidoc -o docs/source src/
cd docs && make html

GitHub Actions Deployment

- name: Build docs
  run: npx typedoc

- name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    publish_dir: ./docs/api

The key discipline: generated docs supplement handwritten docs, never replace them. API reference can be generated. Tutorials, guides, and explanations cannot. Write both.