Documentation

Complete guide to getting started with Doclific

Installation

Quick Install
Install Doclific with a single command

Prerequisites: Doclific requires node and npm to be installed on your system. The AI integration feature automatically adds skills to ~/.cursor and ~/.claude directories, which requires Node.js and npm to function properly.

Make sure you have Node.js and npm installed before proceeding:

node --version
npm --version
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/muellerluke/doclific/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

This will download the latest release for your platform, install the binary to/usr/local/bin(or ~/.local/bin if you don't have write permissions), and set up the frontend build files.

Note: Make sure ~/.local/bin(or /usr/local/bin) is in your PATH if it's not already.

Windows Installation
Windows users need to use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

Prerequisites for Windows:

  1. Install and set up WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) if you haven't already. You can install it by running wsl --install in PowerShell as Administrator.
  2. Install wslu in your WSL distribution:
    sudo apt install wslu
  3. Enable interoperability between Windows and WSL. This is typically enabled by default, but you can verify or enable it by running:
    wsl --set-default-version 2
    And ensure interoperability is enabled in your WSL distribution's config.

Once WSL is set up with wslu installed and interoperability enabled, you can run the standard installation command from within your WSL terminal.

Commands

Configuration

Config File Location
Doclific stores configuration in ~/.config/doclific/config.json

You can manage it using the get and set commands, or edit the file directly.

AI Integration
Automatic AI assistant integration for documentation creation and editing

Doclific automatically integrates with AI assistants by adding documentation skills to your Cursor and Claude AI configurations. This enables AI-powered documentation creation and editing directly through your preferred AI assistant.

How it works: When you install Doclific, it automatically adds the necessary skills and instructions to:

  • ~/.cursor - For Cursor AI integration
  • ~/.claude - For Claude AI integration

Requirements: This feature requires Node.js and npm to be installed on your system. The installation script will verify these dependencies are available.

Once installed, you can use your AI assistant (Cursor or Claude) to help create and edit documentation using Doclific's features, including ERD diagrams, whiteboards, and code snippets.

Key Features

ERD Diagramming
Create Entity Relationship Diagrams to visualize your database schema

Doclific includes powerful ERD diagramming capabilities. You can create detailed Entity Relationship Diagrams directly within your documentation. With AI integration, your Cursor or Claude assistant can help generate ERDs based on your codebase structure, making it easy to visualize database relationships and schema designs.

Whiteboarding
Document architecture and system designs with interactive whiteboards

Use the built-in whiteboarding feature to create visual architecture diagrams, system designs, and flowcharts. Perfect for documenting complex systems, planning new features, and visualizing how different components interact in your codebase.

Usage

Quick Start Guide

  1. Initialize a project:

    cd /path/to/your/project
    doclific init

  2. Start the server:

    doclific

  3. Open the web interface: The browser will open automatically, or navigate to http://localhost:6767

  4. Create documentation: Use the Notion-like editor to create and edit your documentation. Use the slash menu (/) to add blocks, ERD diagrams, whiteboards, and more to visualize your architecture.

  5. Use AI assistance: Doclific automatically integrates with Cursor and Claude AI assistants. The skills are added to ~/.cursor and ~/.claudeduring installation, enabling AI-powered documentation creation and editing through your preferred AI assistant.

Project Structure

Documentation Folder Structure
After running doclific init, your project will have:
your-project/
└── doclific/
    └── [documentation folders]/
        ├── config.json
        └── content.mdx

Each documentation folder contains:

  • config.json: Metadata (title, icon)
  • content.mdx: The documentation content in MDX format

Demo

Ready to get started?

Install Doclific and start documenting your codebase today

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