Make Documentation a Joy Not a Chore

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Give devs the experience they deserve.

No more context switching. No more outdated docs. Just seamless, integrated documentation that grows with your codebase.

; }; ### Install the DotNetDocs CLI ```bash Major Releases theme={"dark"} dotnet tool install DotNetDocs --global ``` ```bash Previews theme={"dark"} dotnet tool install DotNetDocs --global --prerelease ``` ### Add DotNetDocs to your Solution Navigate to your solution folder and create a new documentation project: ```bash theme={"dark"} dotnet docs add ``` By default, this creates a Mintlify documentation project using the latest stable SDK version from NuGet. To use a different documentation type or prerelease SDK: ```bash theme={"dark"} # Use a different documentation type dotnet docs add --type DocFX # Use the latest prerelease SDK version dotnet docs add --prerelease ``` The CLI automatically queries NuGet.org for the latest SDK version. See more options in the [CLI Reference](/guides/cli-reference) docs. This automatically: * locates the solution * creates a new `{SolutionName}.Docs\{SolutionName}.Docs.docsproj` file that centralizes your documentation * adds the new project to your solution The new project is pre-configured with sensible defaults: ```xml Current (1.2.0) theme={"dark"} Mintlify true Folder true false false {solutionName} maple #419AC5 #419AC5 #3CD0E2 ``` ```xml Current (1.2.0) theme={"dark"} DocFX true Folder true false false ``` ```xml Current (1.2.0) theme={"dark"} MkDocs true Folder true false false ``` ```xml Current (1.2.0) theme={"dark"} Jekyll true Folder true false false ``` ```xml Current (1.2.0) theme={"dark"} Hugo true Folder true false false ``` ```xml Current (1.2.0) theme={"dark"} Generic true Folder true false false ``` You can see more of how to configure your .docsproj file in the [.docsproj Reference](/guides/docsproj) docs. Now your documentation lives right next to your code - no more context switching! Edit your doc files in Visual Studio with full IntelliSense support. Your documentation project is now part of your solution and will stay in sync with your codebase. ### Adjust your .docsproj settings Change the documentation type, shut off API Reference generation, turn off conceptual docs, and adjust any other settings as necessary. ### Enable XML Documentation Comment compilation Add this to the projects where you want to extract the XML Documentation comments from your code: ```xml theme={"dark"} true bin\$(Configuration)\$(TargetFramework)\$(AssemblyName).xml ``` ### Exclude unnecessary projects Test projects are excluded by default. If there are other projects you'd like to exclude, update your `.docsproj` with the following property: ```xml theme={"dark"} pattern1;pattern2 ``` ### Generate API Documentation Run the documentation generator: ```bash theme={"dark"} dotnet build ``` DotNetDocs will: * Parse your assembly XML documentation * Extract all public types, methods, properties, and events * Combine it with any conceptual docs you've written * Render files in the format of your choice in the folder you specified Your API documentation now stays in sync with every build - no more stale docs! ### Local Development with Mintlify Preview your docs locally with Mintlify's dev server: ```bash theme={"dark"} npm i mint -g cd {SolutionName}.Docs mint dev ``` Open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000) to see your docs with hot-reload. ### Deploy to Mintlify Connect your GitHub repository to Mintlify for automatic deployments: 1. Push your docs to GitHub 2. Go to [mintlify.com](https://mintlify.com) and connect your repo 3. Mintlify automatically deploys on every push to main ### Deploy to GitHub Pages Add a GitHub Actions workflow (`.github/workflows/docs.yml`): ```yaml theme={"dark"} name: Deploy Docs on: push: branches: [main] jobs: deploy: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v3 with: dotnet-version: '9.0' - name: Generate Docs run: | dotnet tool restore dotnet docs generate - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3 with: github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} publish_dir: ./MyProject.Docs ``` ### CI/CD Integration DotNetDocs integrates with your existing build pipeline: ```bash theme={"dark"} # In your CI/CD pipeline dotnet restore dotnet build --configuration Release ``` Your documentation is now deployed and accessible to your users!