Docusaurus OpenAPI Doc Generator

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Overview

The docusaurus-plugin-openapi-docs package extends the Docusaurus CLI with commands for generating MDX using the OpenAPI specification as the source. The resulting MDX is fully compatible with plugin-content-docs and can be used to render beautiful reference API docs when combined with the docusaurus-theme-openapi-docs theme.

Key Features:

• Compatible: Works with Swagger 2.0 and OpenAPI 3.x.
• Fast: Convert large OpenAPI specs into MDX docs in seconds. 🔥
• Stylish: Based on the same Infima styling framework that powers the Docusaurus UI.
• Flexible: Supports single, multi and even micro OpenAPI specs.

Compatibility Matrix

Docusaurus OpenAPI Docs	Docusaurus
4.x.x (current)	3.5.0 - 3.8.1
3.0.x (end-of-support)	3.0.1 - 3.4.0
2.2.3 (legacy)	2.4.1 - 2.4.3
1.7.3 (end-of-support)	2.0.1 - 2.2.0

Bootstrapping from Template (new Docusaurus site)

Run the following to bootstrap a Docusaurus v3 site (classic theme) with docusaurus-openapi-docs:

1npx create-docusaurus@3.8.1 my-website --package-manager yarn

When prompted to select a template choose Git repository.

Template Repository URL:

1https://github.com/PaloAltoNetworks/docusaurus-template-openapi-docs.git

When asked how the template repo should be cloned choose "copy".

1cd my-website
2yarn start

If all goes well, you should be greeted by a brand new Docusaurus site that includes API reference docs for the ubiquitous Petstore API!

Installation (existing Docusaurus site)

Both the plugin and theme are currently designed to pair with a specific Docusaurus release. The Docusaurus badge in the README.md and at the top of this page will always reflect the current compatible versions.

Plugin

1yarn add docusaurus-plugin-openapi-docs

Theme

1yarn add docusaurus-theme-openapi-docs

Configuring docusaurus.config.ts (Plugin and theme usage)

Here is an example of properly configuring docusaurus.config.ts for docusaurus-plugin-openapi-docs and docusaurus-theme-openapi-docs usage.

Note: Instructions may differ slightly for sites that haven't migrated to typescript.

1// docusaurus.config.ts
2// note that parts of the complete config were left out for brevity
3import type * as Preset from "@docusaurus/preset-classic";
4import type { Config } from "@docusaurus/types";
5import type * as Plugin from "@docusaurus/types/src/plugin";
6import type * as OpenApiPlugin from "docusaurus-plugin-openapi-docs";
7
8{
9  presets: [
10    [
11      "classic",
12      {
13        docs: {
14          sidebarPath: "./sidebars.ts",
15          docItemComponent: "@theme/ApiItem", // Derived from docusaurus-theme-openapi
16        },
17        theme: {
18          customCss: "./src/css/custom.css",
19        },
20      } satisfies Preset.Options,
21    ],
22  ],
23
24  plugins: [
25    [
26      'docusaurus-plugin-openapi-docs',
27      {
28        id: "api", // plugin id
29        docsPluginId: "classic", // configured for preset-classic
30        config: {
31          petstore: {
32            specPath: "examples/petstore.yaml",
33            outputDir: "docs/petstore",
34            sidebarOptions: {
35              groupPathsBy: "tag",
36            },
37          } satisfies OpenApiPlugin.Options,
38        }
39      },
40    ]
41  ],
42  themes: ["docusaurus-theme-openapi-docs"], // export theme components
43}

Note: You may optionally configure a dedicated @docusaurus/plugin-content-docs instance for use with docusaurus-theme-openapi-docs by setting docItemComponent to @theme/ApiItem.

Plugin Configuration Options

The docusaurus-plugin-openapi-docs plugin can be configured with the following options:

Name	Type	Default	Description
id	string	null	A unique plugin ID.
docsPlugin	string	@docusaurus/plugin-content-docs	The plugin used to render the OpenAPI docs (ignored if the plugin instance referenced by docsPluginId is a preset).
docsPluginId	string	null	The plugin ID associated with the preset or configured docsPlugin instance used to render the OpenAPI docs (e.g. "your-plugin-id", "classic", "default").

config

config can be configured with the following options:

Name	Type	Default	Description
specPath	string	null	Designated URL or path to the source of an OpenAPI specification file or directory of multiple OpenAPI specification files.
outputDir	string	null	Desired output path for generated MDX and sidebar files.
proxy	string	null	Optional: Proxy URL to prepend to base URL when performing API requests from browser.
template	string	null	Optional: Customize MDX content with a desired template.
infoTemplate	string	null	Optional: Customize MDX content for info pages only.
tagTemplate	string	null	Optional: Customize MDX content for tag pages only.
schemaTemplate	string	null	Optional: Customize MDX content for schema pages only.
downloadUrl	string	null	Optional: Designated URL for downloading OpenAPI specification. (requires info section/doc)
hideSendButton	boolean	null	Optional: If set to true, hides the “Send API Request” button in the API demo panel.
showExtensions	boolean	null	Optional: If set to true, renders operation‑level vendor‑extensions in descriptions.
sidebarOptions	object	null	Optional: Set of options for sidebar configuration. See below for a list of supported options.
version	string	null	Optional: Version assigned to a single or micro‑spec API specified in specPath.
label	string	null	Optional: Version label used when generating the version‑selector dropdown menu.
baseUrl	string	null	Optional: Base URL for versioned docs in the version‑selector dropdown.
versions	object	null	Optional: Options for versioning configuration. See below for a list of supported options.
markdownGenerators	object	null	Optional: Customize MDX content via generator functions. See below for a list of supported options.
showSchemas	boolean	null	Optional: If set to true, generates standalone schema pages and adds them to the sidebar.

sidebarOptions

sidebarOptions can be configured with the following options:

Name	Type	Default	Description
groupPathsBy	string	null	Organize and group sidebar slice by specified option. Note: Currently, groupPathsBy only contains support for grouping by tag and tagGroup.
categoryLinkSource	string	null	Defines what source to use for rendering category link pages when grouping paths by tag. The supported options are as follows: tag: Sets the category link config type to generated-index and uses the tag description as the link config description. info: Sets the category link config type to doc and renders the info section as the category link (recommended only for multi/micro-spec scenarios). none: Does not create pages for categories, only groups that can be expanded/collapsed.
sidebarCollapsible	boolean	true	Whether sidebar categories are collapsible by default.
sidebarCollapsed	boolean	true	Whether sidebar categories are collapsed by default.
customProps	object	null	Additional props for customizing a sidebar item.
sidebarGenerators	object	null	Optional: Customize sidebar rendering with callback functions.

You may optionally configure a sidebarOptions. In doing so, an individual sidebar.js slice with the configured options will be generated within the respective outputDir.

versions can be configured with the following options:

Name	Type	Default	Description
specPath	string	null	Designated URL or path to the source of an OpenAPI specification file or a directory of micro OpenAPI specification files.
outputDir	string	null	Desired output path for versioned, generated MDX files.
label	string	null	Optional: Version label used when generating the version selector dropdown menu.
baseUrl	string	null	Optional: Version base URL used when generating the version selector dropdown menu.
downloadUrl	string	null	Optional: Designated URL for downloading the versioned OpenAPI specification.

All versions will automatically inherit sidebarOptions from the parent/base config.

markdownGenerators

markdownGenerators can be configured with the following options:

Name	Type	Default	Description
createApiPageMD	function	null	Optional: Returns a string of the raw markdown body for API pages. Function type: (pageData: ApiPageMetadata) => string
createInfoPageMD	function	null	Optional: Returns a string of the raw markdown body for info pages. Function type: (pageData: InfoPageMetadata) => string
createTagPageMD	function	null	Optional: Returns a string of the raw markdown body for tag pages. Function type: (pageData: TagPageMetadata) => string
createSchemaPageMD	function	null	Optional: Returns a string of the raw markdown body for schema pages. Function type: (pageData: SchemaPageMetadata) => string

sidebarGenerators

sidebarGenerators can be configured with the following options:

Name	Type	Default	Description
createDocItem	function	null	Optional: Returns a SidebarItemDoc object containing metadata for a sidebar item. Function type: (item: ApiPageMetadata | SchemaPageMetadata, context: { sidebarOptions: SidebarOptions; basePath: string }) => SidebarItemDoc

CLI Usage

1Usage: docusaurus <command> [options]
2
3Options:
4  -V, --version                                            output the version number
5  -h, --help                                               display help for command
6
7Commands:
8  build [options] [siteDir]                                Build website.
9  swizzle [options] [themeName] [componentName] [siteDir]  Wraps or ejects the original theme files into website folder for customization.
10  deploy [options] [siteDir]                               Deploy website to GitHub pages.
11  start [options] [siteDir]                                Start the development server.
12  serve [options] [siteDir]                                Serve website locally.
13  clear [siteDir]                                          Remove build artifacts.
14  write-translations [options] [siteDir]                   Extract required translations of your site.
15  write-heading-ids [options] [siteDir] [files...]         Generate heading ids in Markdown content.
16  docs:version <version>                                   Tag a new docs version
17  gen-api-docs [options] <id>                              Generates OpenAPI docs in MDX file format and sidebar.ts (if enabled).
18  gen-api-docs:version [options] <id:version>              Generates versioned OpenAPI docs in MDX file format, versions.js and sidebar.ts (if
19                                                           enabled).
20  clean-api-docs [options] <id>                            Clears the generated OpenAPI docs MDX files and sidebar.ts (if enabled).
21  clean-api-docs:version [options] <id:version>            Clears the versioned, generated OpenAPI docs MDX files, versions.json and sidebar.ts
22                                                           (if enabled)

Generating OpenAPI Docs

To generate all OpenAPI docs, run the following command from the root directory of your project:

1yarn docusaurus gen-api-docs all

This will generate API docs for all of the OpenAPI specification (OAS) files referenced in your docusaurus-plugin-openapi-docs config.

You may also generate OpenAPI docs for a single path or OAS by specifying the unique id:

1yarn docusaurus gen-api-docs <id>

Example:

1yarn docusaurus gen-api-docs petstore

The example above will only generate API docs relative to petstore.

If you have multiple versions of the same API, gen-api-docs only generates the latest. To generate all versions, use the --all-versions flag.

Example:

1yarn docusaurus gen-api-docs all --all-versions

This will generate API docs for all versions of all the OpenAPI specification (OAS) files referenced in your docusaurus-plugin-openapi-docs config.

Cleaning API Docs

To clean/remove all API Docs, run the following command from the root directory of your project:

1yarn docusaurus clean-api-docs all

You may also remove a particular set of API docs by specifying the unique id of your desired spec instance.

1yarn docusaurus clean-api-docs <id>

Example:

1yarn docusaurus clean-api-docs petstore

The example above will remove all API docs relative to burgers.

If you have multiple versions of the same API, clean-api-docs only cleans the latest. To clean all versions, use the --all-versions flag.

Example:

1yarn docusaurus clean-api-docs all --all-versions

This will clean API docs for all versions of all the OpenAPI specification (OAS) files referenced in your docusaurus-plugin-openapi-docs config.

Versioning OpenAPI docs

To generate all versioned OpenAPI docs, run the following command from the root directory of your project:

1yarn docusaurus gen-api-docs:version <id>:all

Example:

1yarn docusaurus gen-api-docs:version petstore:all

This will generate API docs for all of the OpenAPI specification (OAS) files referenced in your versions config and will also generate a versions.json file.

Substitute all with a specific version ID to generate or clean a specific version. Generating for all or a single version ID will automatically update the versions.json file.

Developer Quick Start

Looking to make a contribution? Make sure to check out our contributing guide.

After forking the main repository, run the following:

1git clone https://github.com/<your account>/docusaurus-openapi-docs.git
2cd docusaurus-openapi-docs
3yarn
4yarn build-packages
5yarn watch:demo

Credits

Special thanks to @bourdakos1 (Nick Bourdakos), the author of docusaurus-openapi, which this project is heavily based on.

For more insight into why we decided to completely fork see #47

Contributors

Support

See SUPPORT.md for our support agreement and guidelines.

If you believe you found a bug or have an idea you'd like to suggest you may report an issue or start a discussion.