inkform-docs

Open-source documentation framework for Next.js.

Beautiful docs, native API reference from OpenAPI, blog, and changelog — from a folder of Markdown.

npx @inkform/cli@latest init my-docs

Get started · Themes · Features · Develop · Contributing

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What is inkform-docs?

inkform-docs is a self-hosted documentation framework. You write MDX, configure navigation in a single docs.json file, and deploy a normal Next.js app. No CMS, no database, no vendor lock-in.

The engine (@inkform/framework) handles rendering, search, OpenAPI parsing, and optional AI/MCP integrations. Themes are thin Next.js apps that restyle the engine with CSS tokens. The CLI scaffolds a ready-to-deploy project in one command.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Your content (MDX + docs.json + openapi.json)          │
└──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                           │
┌──────────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────┐
│  @inkform/framework — MDX, OpenAPI, search, MCP, AI     │
└──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                           │
┌──────────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────┐
│  Theme (Canopy / Shadcn / Galley) — tokens + layout     │
└──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                           │
                    Next.js 16 app → deploy anywhere

Get started

Prerequisites: Node.js 22+ and npm.

npx @inkform/cli@latest init my-docs
cd my-docs
npm install
npm run dev        # → http://localhost:3000

The CLI prompts for a project folder and a theme, then writes a standalone Next.js project. Edit content/docs/ to add pages, update content/docs/docs.json for navigation, and run npm run build when you're ready to deploy.

CLI options:

npx @inkform/cli@latest init my-docs --theme galley          # skip theme prompt
npx @inkform/cli@latest init my-docs --openapi ./spec.yaml   # wire up API reference
npx @inkform/cli@latest init my-docs -y                        # accept defaults

The binary is also available as inkform-docs when installed globally.

To embed the engine in an existing Next.js app or build a custom theme from scratch, see packages/framework and packages/framework/ARCHITECTURE.md.

On Astro? @inkform/astro serves the same content folder from any Astro 7 site, under a path like /docs, with no Next.js and no React in the browser:

// astro.config.ts
import inkform from '@inkform/astro';
export default defineConfig({ integrations: [inkform({ base: '/docs' })] });

Features

Markdown in, polished docs out	Write MDX, commit it, deploy. Your repo is the source of truth — no CMS or build service required.
Native OpenAPI API reference	Point docs.json at a spec and get searchable, paginated, per-operation pages with a real Try It console. Rendered with the framework's own React components — zero Scalar/Vue dependency.
MCP server	Ship /api/mcp and every page becomes callable by Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client: search, get_doc, list_operations, get_operation. Self-hosted, no billing.
AI ask-box	BYO model (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google) and API key. Answers are grounded in your actual content with cited sources.
/llms.txt out of the box	The llms.txt convention — a curated index and full-corpus export for LLMs and agentic tools.
Full-text search	Pagefind indexes your built HTML at deploy time. Fast, client-side, no server required.
Diagrams	```mermaid fences become zoomable, pannable diagrams themed to your site — with a fullscreen view, minimap, and SVG download. Mermaid only loads on pages that have one.
Blog & changelog	Drop files in content/blog/ or content/changelog/ — routes and nav links appear automatically.
Own your deployment	A normal Next.js app. Ship to Vercel, AWS Amplify, a container, or a subpath on an existing site.
Genuinely open	MIT licensed. No telemetry, no required account, no lock-in.

Themes

Three production themes share one proven app structure. They differ only in design tokens, fonts, and brand assets — so switching themes is mostly a CSS file change.

Theme	Style	Best for
Canopy (default)	Dark, vivid green accent, collapsible sidebar	Developer docs, API-first products
Shadcn	Zinc monochrome, shadcn/ui aesthetic	Teams already on the shadcn design language
Galley	Warm paper + ink, editorial red accent	Inkform's own design system — editorial, brand-forward sites

Legacy themes (Aurora, Fern, Cedar, Mono, Base, and an older Galley) are preserved in archive/templates/ for reference but are not scaffoldable via the CLI.

Want to contribute a new theme? See Contributing a theme — great designs can be added to the CLI's theme picker.

Monorepo

This repository is an npm workspaces monorepo. Published packages ship to npm; everything else is private and used for development and demos.

This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗