Revise all the developer docs (and maybe even the normal docs) using AI

[RobinHood]

So I've been creating some docs recently for stuff I've been building, and AI is a freakin' boss when it comes to analysing code bases and writing really clear and comprehensive docs.

I just posted a small repo for an internal tool and it was able to produce some super high quality docs really fast for quick start, usage, architecture, troubleshooting. Combined with some steering to add reasoning about why I had done certain things, the docs turned out so much better than if I was to try and write something from scratch.

It even caught a few things that it put into the docs, where I realised it wasn't quite right or could be improved in the codebase for usability for a new user, so I updated both the codebase and the docs. As an iterative process, its was great.

Coincidentally Anthropic released a neat video demonstrating a much more hardcore version of this!

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[QuackieMackie]

So I've been creating some docs recently for stuff I've been building, and AI is a freakin' boss when it comes to analysing code bases and writing really clear and comprehensive docs.

I just posted a small repo for an internal tool and it was able to produce some super high quality docs really fast for quick start, usage, architecture, troubleshooting. Combined with some steering to add reasoning about why I had done certain things, the docs turned out so much better than if I was to try and write something from scratch.

It even caught a few things that it put into the docs, where I realised it wasn't quite right or could be improved in the codebase for usability for a new user, so I updated both the codebase and the docs. As an iterative process, its was great.

Coincidentally Anthropic released a neat video demonstrating a much more hardcore version of this!

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I completely agree that the developer docs need a rehaul. A lot of the content is over two years out of date, and even the copyright footer still says Developer documentation for XenForo® © 2010–2023 XenForo Ltd. It’s pretty clear the docs haven’t been getting much love.

I also agree that using AI for documentation is extremely helpful, up to a point.
I use Junie all the time to search XenForo's codebase for specific features. It’s great for finding bits I want to make changes to, but you definitely still need to check everything. If AI generates templates for example, double-check that the html tags actually exist. It rarely gets everything correct, but for writing the explanatory text, it’s excellent with a bit of tweaking.

Honestly though, I’d suggest being the change you want to see. The dev docs are open source (sort of), and XenForo encourages community contributions: https://github.com/xenforo-ltd/docs/pulls.