Getting Started

Codocation is an IntelliJ Platform plugin: you install it into your IDE, and your documentation becomes a project you write, preview, and publish without leaving the editor.

Install the plugin

  1. Open Settings → Plugins and switch to the "Marketplace" tab.
  2. Search for "Codocation" and click "Install".
  3. Restart the IDE when prompted.

The plugin works in IntelliJ IDEA and other IntelliJ-platform IDEs.

Create documentation

There are two ways to start, depending on where your docs should live.

A new project

Use this when the documentation is a project of its own.

  1. Go to File → New → Project… and pick "Codocation" in the generator list.
  2. Choose the documentation type: "Docs" for a structured documentation site, or "Blog" for chronological posts.
  3. Fill in the project name and location, the documentation title, and the site id: a short identifier made of lowercase letters, digits, and dashes. It names the navigation file and distinguishes sites if you later add more than one.
  4. Create the project. It opens with the documentation scaffolded and ready to edit.

An existing project

Use this when the docs should live next to your code.

  1. Open the "Codocation" tool window.
  2. Click "Create Documentation".
  3. Fill in the same fields (title, site id, and type) and confirm.

The files are created in your project root, and the tool window switches to the new navigation tree.

What gets created

  • codocation.yml - the project configuration: your sites, build output, PDF, and deploy settings.
  • content/<site id>.tree.yml - the navigation tree. You rarely edit it by hand: the "Codocation" tool window edits it visually.
  • content/pages/ - your pages. A docs site starts with index.md (the home page) and getting-started.md; a blog starts with a listing page and a first post.
  • AGENTS.md and README.md - optional, if you keep the corresponding checkboxes selected.

Write and preview

Click a page in the "Codocation" tool window to open it in the editor. The preview renders the page as it will look on the published site and updates as you type.

Pages are plain Markdown with a small frontmatter block. title is the page name shown in the navigation and the browser tab:

---
title: My First Page
---

Regular **Markdown** from here on.

To add, reorder, group, or hide pages, work in the navigation tree: drag pages to rearrange them, or use the tree's toolbar and context menu.

Next steps