Code Documentation Generator

Transform code into comprehensive documentation automatically.

**Project Type:** [REACT APP / NODE.JS API / PYTHON LIBRARY / TYPESCRIPT SDK / RUST CRATE]
**Documentation Formats Needed:** [MARKDOWN / HTML / PDF / SWAGGER/OpenAPI / STORYBOOK]

**Documentation Components to Generate:**

**1. Function/Method Docstrings (JSDoc/Docstring Format):**
- @param descriptions with type information and default values
- @returns description of return value with type
- @throws documented exception cases
- @example usage snippet showing common patterns
- Brief one-line summary followed by detailed description
- Tags for deprecated functions, internal-only markers

**2. API Reference Documentation:**
- Endpoint listing with HTTP method, path, and description
- Request parameters: query params, path params, request body schema
- Response schemas with all possible status codes and response bodies
- Authentication requirements per endpoint
- Rate limiting information
- Example requests/responses in cURL, JavaScript (fetch), Python (requests)
- Error response format documentation

**3. Architecture Overview:**
- Text-based architecture diagram showing components and data flow
- Technology stack justification for each layer
- Module/package dependency graph description
- Entry points and execution flow from app start to request handling
- External service integrations with connection diagrams
- Configuration file structure and environment variable reference

**4. Data Flow Descriptions:**
- User journey documentation (click-by-click flow through the application)
- API request lifecycle (from HTTP request to database query to response)
- Event-driven flows (message queue processing, webhook handling)
- State transitions (component state machines, Redux/Zustand store flows)

**5. Configuration Guide:**
- Environment variable reference table (name, type, default, description, required/optional)
- Config file structure with commented examples
- Per-environment configuration differences (dev/staging/prod)
- Secrets management approach and rotation procedures
- Feature flag configuration and rollout strategy

**6. Deployment Instructions:**
- Prerequisites (Node version, database, external services)
- Step-by-step deployment for each environment
- Docker compose setup with all service dependencies
- CI/CD pipeline configuration files with explanations
- Health check endpoints and monitoring setup
- Rollback procedures and disaster recovery plan

**7. Troubleshooting Section:**
- Common error messages with root cause analysis and fix steps
- Log level configuration guide for debugging
- Performance troubleshooting checklist (slow queries, memory leaks, bundle size)
- Known issues with workarounds tracked in a table
- Debug mode activation guide per environment

**8. Developer Onboarding Checklist:**
- New developer setup script or commands (one-command setup preferred)
- Project structure overview with purpose of each directory
- Coding standards and conventions reference
- Git workflow (branching strategy, PR template, commit message format)
- Testing guidelines (where to write tests, naming conventions, coverage expectations)
- Code review checklist for contributors
- How to run: dev server, build, test suite, linting in one reference section

How to Customize It

Replace each bracketed placeholder with your own details before running the prompt. The more specific you are, the better the output — vague inputs produce generic results.

• [REACT APP / NODE.JS API / PYTHON LIBRARY / TYPESCRIPT SDK / RUST CRATE]Swap in your react app or node.js api or python library or typescript sdk or rust crate.
• [MARKDOWN / HTML / PDF / SWAGGER/OpenAPI / STORYBOOK]Swap in your markdown or html or pdf or swagger or openapi or storybook.

When to Use It

• Documenting an undocumented codebase you're handing off or open-sourcing.
• Generating API reference docs (OpenAPI, JSDoc, docstrings) from implementation code as a first pass for human editing.
• Writing the onboarding guide for new team members from the code plus your folder structure.

Tips for Better Results

• 1Documentation generated from code inherits the code's perspective; add a paragraph of "why this exists" context to the prompt or the docs will describe mechanics without purpose.
• 2Ask for runnable examples in every public-API doc — examples are the only documentation most developers read.
• 3Generated docs go stale exactly as fast as handwritten ones. Document the regeneration process itself so updates are cheap.