SmartDocs

Write docs in Markdown. Add your API key. Get AI chat on every page.

SmartDocs is an open-source Markdown documentation framework with built-in AI chat. It's simple, self-hosted, and respects your privacy—your docs, your API key, your infrastructure.

✨ Features

• Markdown-native — write in Markdoc, organized by folders
• AI chat on every page — readers ask questions, get answers from your docs
• Bring your own LLM — OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
• Self-hosted — zero vendor lock-in, deploy anywhere
• Your API key stays yours — server-side only, never touches the browser

🚀 Get Started

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/jm27/smartdocs.git my-docs
cd my-docs
npm install

# Build the page index (required for search + AI)
npm run build:graph

# Configure your LLM (copy example and add your key)
cp .env.example .env

# Start developing
npm run dev

🔗 Quick Links

• Quickstart Guide — set up your first docs site
• Configuration Guide — configure providers and settings
• API Reference — CLI commands and deployment
• How the AI Works — graph-backed retrieval explained
• Karpathy's LLM Wiki — the inspiration behind SmartDocs