Generate Docs lets you ask Dosu to draft a Document based on the work your team currently does. You give Dosu a topic and instructions. Then, Dosu researches your connected Sources, and you get a structured, review-ready draft inside a Library.
What it is#
Generate Docs turns code, conversations, issues, and pull requests into a written Document. Instead of starting from a blank page, you describe what you want documented and pick which Sources Dosu should read. Dosu researches those Sources, drafts the Document with citations, and saves it in a location where your team can edit, approve, and publish it.
Why it matters#
Most of what a growing engineering organization knows is scattered: in a repo, in a Slack thread, in a closed pull request, in someone's head. Generate Docs pulls that together into a Document that lives in a Library and stays close to the work it describes. That cuts the time spent on first drafts, gives new hires a real starting point rather than team knowledge, and gives coding agents something current to read through the MCP Server. The same flow works for a single repo or for many repos and teams.
How to trigger it#
- Open Documents and choose Generate Document.
- Enter a name for the Document.
- Write instructions describing what you want documented. Be specific about the topic and scope.
- Select the Sources Dosu should research for this Document.
- Choose Generate. Generation usually takes a few minutes.
When it finishes, the draft opens so you can read, edit, and decide what to do next.
You can also generate a Document from a chat with Dosu in Ask Dosu. Describe what you need, and Dosu can draft a Document from your Sources rather than only answering inline.
How Templates shape the draft#
A Template is a reusable structure (title, description, and body) that gives a generated Document a consistent shape. You do not manually pick a Template during generation. Dosu researches your Sources first, builds a content-rich description of what the Document will cover, and matches that description against the Templates published in the Library. The matching Template then guides both the research and the writing.
A few behaviors to know:
- If a Template's body starts with structured fields, Dosu treats those as required fields the generated Document must fill in.
- If no Template matches, Dosu falls back to standard research and outline generation, and models the new Document on the structure and style of existing Documents in the Library.
- Library style guidelines are read and applied automatically, so generated Documents follow your team's conventions. Your explicit instructions take priority, then style guidelines, then patterns learned from existing Documents.
Dosu records which Template produced each Document, so you can find Documents by Template and regenerate them with the same setup later. Manage Templates from the Templates view on the Documents page.
Auto Publish#
Where a generated Document lands depends on the Library's Auto Publish setting.
- With Auto Publish off, the Document is saved as a draft and held for Review. Your team approves, edits, or declines it on the Review page before it publishes.
- With Auto Publish on, eligible Documents publish automatically when created, without waiting in Review.
Auto Publish is configured per Library, so different projects can hold drafts or publish automatically based on how much oversight each one needs. Open or create a Library from Libraries to adjust it.
Publishing matters beyond visibility. A published Document is the version Dosu keeps current as your code changes. Drafts are not monitored, so publish a Document once it is ready if you want Dosu to maintain it. See Knowledge Reviews for how that upkeep works.
Notes#
- Generated Documents include citations back to the Sources Dosu used, so reviewers can check the reasoning.
- Generation quality depends on which Sources you select. If a draft is thin or lacks citations, narrow the topic in your instructions or add the right Sources.
- Generated Documents can be published to a Library and, where supported, out to a connected tool such as a GitHub repository (as a pull request). Confirm available publish targets in the app for your setup.