Awesome API Documentation Tools

A curated list of awesome API documentation tools and resources to help you build, maintain, and share better API documentation.

Contents

• Complete Platforms
• Open Source Tools
• Documentation Generators
• Specification Tools
• Language-Specific Tools
• Visual Documentation Tools
• Documentation Hosting
• API Testing with Doc Features
• IDE Extensions & Plugins
• Markdown Tools
• Static Site Generators for Docs
• API Design Tools
• API Monitoring Tools
• Mock Servers
• API Gateways with Doc Features
• Documentation Templates
• AI-Powered Documentation Tools
• Resources
• Contributing

Complete Platforms

1. Apidog - An integrated platform for API design, debugging, testing, documentation, and mocking. Offers collaborative features specifically tailored for API development teams.

   

2. Postman - API platform for building and using APIs with features for request building, automated testing, and documentation generation.
3. SwaggerHub - Collaborative platform for API design and documentation built around the OpenAPI Specification.
4. Stoplight - A design-first API platform with visual modeling, documentation, and testing tools.
5. Insomnia - Open-source API client with design, testing, and documentation capabilities.
6. ReadMe - Personalized and interactive API documentation platform with analytics.
7. Apiary - API design and documentation platform with mock server capabilities.
8. RapidAPI - API marketplace with documentation features for API providers.
9. Mockoon - API mocking and documentation tool for developers.
10. Hoppscotch - Open source API development ecosystem with documentation features.

Open Source Tools

1. Swagger UI - Interactive API documentation generator that visualizes OpenAPI specifications.
2. ReDoc - OpenAPI/Swagger documentation generator creating responsive, three-panel documentation.
3. Slate - Beautiful static API documentation based on Markdown.
4. DapperDox - Documentation generator for OpenAPI specifications.
5. Docbox - REST API documentation system built with React.
6. LucyBot - Generate API documentation websites from OpenAPI specifications.
7. widdershins - OpenAPI/Swagger/AsyncAPI definition to Markdown/Slate/HTML documentation.
8. Spectaql - Documentation generator for GraphQL APIs.
9. DevDocs - Open-source API documentation browser.
10. APITree - An open-source tool for visualizing and documenting APIs.

Documentation Generators

1. Redocly - Tools for creating, managing, and publishing API documentation built on OpenAPI.
2. OpenAPI Generator - Generate documentation and client libraries from OpenAPI specifications.
3. ApiDoc - Documentation generator from API annotations in source code.
4. Spring REST Docs - Documentation generator for RESTful services that combines hand-written and auto-generated documentation.
5. JSDoc - API documentation generator for JavaScript.
6. Swagger Codegen - Generate documentation and client libraries from Swagger definitions.
7. Docusaurus - React-based static site generator optimized for documentation websites.
8. Javadoc - Documentation generator for Java APIs.
9. TypeDoc - Documentation generator for TypeScript projects.
10. NSwag - Swagger/OpenAPI toolchain for .NET with documentation generation capabilities.
11. drf-yasg - Automated generation of Swagger/OpenAPI documentation for Django REST Framework APIs.
12. GraphDoc - Static page generator for GraphQL schema documentation.
13. Doctave - Documentation site generator with a focus on API documentation.
14. Raml2Html - RAML to HTML documentation generator.
15. Doxygen - Documentation generator for multiple programming languages.

Specification Tools

1. OpenAPI (Swagger) Specification - The standard for describing RESTful APIs.
2. API Blueprint - A documentation-oriented API description language.
3. RAML - RESTful API Modeling Language for designing RESTful APIs.
4. JSON Schema - Vocabulary that allows validation of JSON documents.
5. GraphQL - Query language and runtime for APIs that provides a complete description of the data available.
6. WSDL - XML-based interface description language for SOAP services.
7. gRPC - High-performance RPC framework with built-in documentation via Protocol Buffers.
8. AsyncAPI - Specification for event-driven APIs.
9. HAL - Hypermedia Application Language for building hypermedia-driven APIs.
10. OpenRPC - Specification for JSON-RPC 2.0 APIs.

Language-Specific Tools

1. Godoc - Documentation generator for Go projects.
2. Rustdoc - Documentation generator for Rust projects.
3. PHPDoc - Documentation generator for PHP projects.
4. pydoc - Documentation generator for Python.
5. Sphinx - Python documentation generator with API doc support.
6. Yard - Documentation generator for Ruby.
7. Sandcastle - Documentation compiler for .NET projects.
8. ESDoc - API documentation generator for JavaScript.
9. Swiftdoc - Documentation generator for Swift.
10. Jazzy - Documentation generator for Swift and Objective-C.

Visual Documentation Tools

1. Mermaid - Diagramming and charting tool for documentation.
2. Swagger Inspector - API testing tool with documentation generation features.
3. API Flow - Visual API designer with documentation export capabilities.
4. LucidChart - Diagramming tool useful for API architecture documentation.
5. Postman Visualizer - Visualization tool for API responses within Postman.
6. Flexible REST API Visualizer - Visualization tool for REST APIs.
7. Swagger UI Themes - Themes for Swagger UI documentation.
8. Speccy - OpenAPI specification linter with visualization features.

Documentation Hosting

1. GitHub Pages - Free hosting for project documentation directly from a GitHub repository.
2. GitBook - Modern documentation platform for teams.
3. ReadTheDocs - Documentation hosting platform with full-text search.
4. Netlify - Platform for hosting static documentation sites.
5. Surge - Static web publishing for documentation sites.
6. Vercel - Platform for hosting documentation with seamless Git integration.
7. Heroku - Cloud platform that can be used to host documentation apps.
8. Cloudflare Pages - JAMstack platform for hosting documentation sites.

API Testing with Doc Features

1. SoapUI - API testing tool with documentation features for REST and SOAP APIs.
2. Pact - Contract testing tool with documentation for microservices.
3. Dredd - API testing tool that validates API descriptions against implementation.
4. HTTPie - Command-line HTTP client with documentation generation capabilities.
5. REST-Assured - Java testing library with documentation features for REST APIs.
6. Karate - API test automation with documentation capabilities.
7. Chakram - API testing framework with documentation features.

IDE Extensions & Plugins

1. OpenAPI (Swagger) Editor for VS Code - OpenAPI editor for Visual Studio Code.
2. OpenAPI Preview for VS Code - Preview OpenAPI documentation in Visual Studio Code.
3. Swagger Viewer for VS Code - Preview Swagger documentation in VS Code.
4. Swagger Plugin for IntelliJ - Swagger integration for IntelliJ IDEA.
5. ReDoc for VS Code - ReDoc preview for Visual Studio Code.
6. OpenAPI Editor for Eclipse - OpenAPI editor for Eclipse IDE.
7. API Blueprint Preview for Atom - Preview API Blueprint documentation in Atom.

Markdown Tools

1. Docz - Documentation generator using Markdown and JSX.
2. MkDocs - Static site generator for documentation using Markdown.
3. Docsify - Documentation site generator without static HTML files.
4. Markdown-it - Markdown parser with plugins for documentation features.
5. Remarkable - Markdown parser with extension support for documentation.

Static Site Generators for Docs

1. VuePress - Vue-powered static site generator with API documentation features.
2. Jekyll - Static site generator often used for API documentation.
3. Hexo - Fast and simple static site generator with documentation themes.
4. Hugo - Fast static site generator with documentation themes and features.
5. Gatsby - React-based static site generator for documentation sites.

API Design Tools

1. Apicurio Studio - Open-source API design studio with documentation features.
2. Restlet Studio - API design tool with documentation generation capabilities.
3. Insomnia Designer - API design tool with documentation features.
4. API Sprout - Lightweight, embeddable API mock server for prototyping documentation.
5. Prism - Open-source HTTP mock server with API documentation features.

API Monitoring Tools

1. API Metrics - API analytics platform with documentation usage tracking.
2. Moesif - API analytics and monitoring service with documentation engagement tracking.
3. RapidAPI Analytics - Analytics platform for API usage with documentation tracking.
4. APImetrics - API performance monitoring with documentation usage analytics.
5. DocOps - Documentation analytics and optimization platform.

Mock Servers

1. Prism - HTTP mock server for OpenAPI specs.
2. JSON Server - Fake REST API server with documentation features.
3. Mockoon - Mock API server with documentation features.
4. WireMock - Flexible API mocking with documentation capabilities.
5. MockServer - Easy mocking of REST and SOAP services for documentation.

API Gateways with Doc Features

1. Kong - API gateway with documentation portal features.
2. Tyk - API gateway with documentation capabilities.
3. APIGateway - Amazon's API gateway with documentation features.
4. Apigee - Google Cloud's API management platform with documentation.
5. WSO2 API Manager - Open source API management platform with documentation portal.

Documentation Templates

1. API Documentation Template - Template for REST API documentation.
2. API Blueprint Examples - Examples of API Blueprint documentation.
3. OpenAPI Examples - Example OpenAPI specifications.
4. HAL Examples - Examples of HAL documentation.
5. API Guidelines - Microsoft's guidelines for REST API design and documentation.

AI-Powered Documentation Tools

1. Mintlify - AI-powered documentation platform for APIs.
2. DeepDocs - AI documentation generator for APIs.
3. QuickType - AI-powered JSON schema generation and documentation.
4. Docstring AI - AI-assisted documentation generator for code.
5. CodeDoc AI - AI-powered documentation generator for programming languages.

Resources

1. API Documentation Guide - A guide to API documentation by Tom Johnson.
2. OpenAPI Map - Visual representation of the OpenAPI Specification.
3. DevDocs - Unified API documentation browser.
4. API Stylebook - Collection of resources for API designers.
5. Nordic APIs Blog - Articles on API development and documentation best practices.
6. The API Handyman - Blog with API design and documentation best practices.
7. Swagger Blog - Articles about API development and documentation.
8. REST API Tutorial - Tutorial on REST API design and documentation.
9. API Evangelist - Blog about API strategy and documentation.
10. API-University - Educational resources for API documentation and design.
11. JSON Schema Tools - List of tools for working with JSON Schema.
12. REST API Design Rulebook - Book on REST API design principles.
13. API Documentation Best Practices - Article on best practices for API documentation.
14. GraphQL Documentation Guide - Guide to documenting GraphQL APIs.
15. RAML Documentation Guide - Guide to documenting APIs with RAML.

Contributing

License