About Documentation Generator

Generate documentation from code comments and function signatures with formatted output. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the API / Config collection.

Use Cases

• Generate initial API documentation from function signatures before writing handcrafted docs
• Create module-level documentation for an underdocumented codebase
• Produce SDK documentation from TypeScript type definitions
• Build README sections from existing docstring content

Tips

• Paste function signatures with JSDoc, Python docstrings, or Go doc comments — the generator uses the annotations to populate parameter descriptions and return type documentation
• Use the 'markdown output' mode for README sections or the 'HTML output' for hosted documentation portals
• Enable 'include examples' to have the generator synthesize usage examples from function signatures — review and edit them before publishing

Fun Facts

• Javadoc, the first widely adopted inline code documentation tool, was released in 1995 with Java 1.0. It popularized the /** ... */ comment convention and the concept of generating documentation directly from source code.
• The documentation-as-code movement (treating docs like software with version control, CI, and review processes) gained momentum after Stripe published its approach in 2014. Tools like Sphinx, MkDocs, and Docusaurus operationalized this philosophy.
• Amazon's 'working backwards' process requires a press release and FAQ to be written before any product or feature is built. This narrative documentation discipline forces clarity on requirements that technical docs don't capture — an influence on modern technical writing practices.

FAQ

What comment formats does the generator recognize?

JSDoc (/** */ with @param, @returns, @example), Python docstrings (Google style, NumPy style, reStructuredText), Go doc comments (// Package ..., // FunctionName ...), and Rust doc comments (///). TypeScript types and function signatures are parsed without any comments.

Should documentation be generated or handwritten?

Generated docs handle the boilerplate (parameter types, return types, existence of functions). Handwritten docs add context, motivation, and examples. Use generation for the structural scaffold, then hand-write the explanatory text. Pure generation produces accurate but often unhelpful docs.

What makes good API documentation?

Stripe's API docs are the gold standard: every endpoint has a one-sentence description, all parameters are documented with types and defaults, there are code examples in multiple languages, and error responses are documented alongside success responses.