| title | Maintaining these docs |
|---|---|
| description | How the documentation site works, when a code change requires a docs change, and how to regenerate screenshots. |
Documentation is part of the Definition of Done for AudioSilo: a change that alters behaviour, UI, configuration, or the wire contract isn't finished until the affected pages here say the new truth. This page is the operating manual for the docs themselves.
The docs are their own repo, audiosilo-docs, a sibling of the three code
repos inside the ~/dev/audiosilo workspace:
audiosilo-docs/
docs-users/ the User Guide (served at /users)
docs-developers/ the Developer Docs (served at /developers)
sidebars-users.ts hand-written sidebar + canonical page list
sidebars-developers.ts
screenshots/ the capture pipeline (manifest.mjs, run.sh, capture-*.mjs)
static/img/screenshots/ the generated images the pages embed
src/ landing page + theme (pink #db2777, dark-first)
It's a standard Docusaurus site with two docs instances - one per audience. The User Guide assumes a self-hoster who is not a programmer; the Developer Docs assume a contributor. Keep material in the right instance and cross-link sparingly.
cd audiosilo-docs
npm install # first time
npm start # live-reloading dev server
npm run build # the docs gate - MUST pass before a change is donenpm run build is deliberately strict: broken internal links, broken anchors,
and missing embedded images all fail the build. That is the mechanical
check that pages and screenshots stay consistent - treat it exactly like the
code repos' gates.
Grep these docs for the symbol, flag, route, or UI label you changed -
onBrokenLinks can't catch a stale claim, only a stale link. The common
mappings:
| You changed… | Update |
|---|---|
| An API route, envelope, or field | server/api/reference.md (+ conventions), cross-repo contract - after updating the workspace CROSS-REPO.md itself |
| Config keys, env vars, CLI flags | server/configuration.md + the User Guide pages that mention them (/users/getting-started/remote-access, quickstarts) |
| Admin console UI | /users/admin/* pages + the admin/ screenshots |
| Player screens or strings | /users/listening/* pages + the web-player/ screenshots |
| Playback engines / native module | frontend/playback.md |
| Downloads / PWA | frontend/offline.md + /users/listening/offline-downloads |
| Scanner, detection, metadata | server/scanner.md + /users/getting-started/organizing-your-library |
| Auth, invites, shares | server/auth-and-security.md + /users/admin/users-and-invites, /users/admin/sharing |
| Manager features | /users/manager/* + manager developer pages + manager/ screenshots |
Meta schemas, metaserve API, or intake tooling |
meta developer pages (data model, API, contributing) - and the cross-repo contract when the server's /meta envelope is affected |
| Build / release / distribution | release-pipeline.md + releasing.md |
| A capability flag | server/api/index.md + the feature's user page |
:::tip When you flip something from "planned" to "shipped" (transcode negotiation, WebSocket sync, uploads, manager installers…), search the whole docs tree for the feature name - several pages deliberately mark these as not-yet-shipped. :::
Every embedded image is listed in screenshots/manifest.mjs and lives under
static/img/screenshots/. The pipeline (screenshots/run.sh) rebuilds the
server, seeds a small public-domain LibriVox library, runs a demo-mode server,
and captures the web player, admin console, connect page, and setup wizard
with Playwright. Anything it can't reach (the desktop manager on a headless
machine) gets a labelled placeholder so the build never breaks.
Rules that keep this maintainable:
- Pages embed only manifest-listed images. Add the manifest entry first.
- Never hand-edit a generated screenshot - fix the capture script or the seeded state, then re-run; otherwise the next regeneration loses your edit.
- UI changed? Re-run
screenshots/run.shand commit the refreshed images alongside the docs change. - Manager screenshots are captured semi-manually - see
screenshots/README.mdfor the exact procedure and framing rules.
- Create the
.mdfile underdocs-users/ordocs-developers/withtitle:anddescription:frontmatter (body starts at##). - Add its id to the matching
sidebars-*.ts- sidebars are hand-written so reading order stays deliberate; the build fails if the ids drift. - Link related pages with relative
.mdlinks (validated at build time). npm run build.
- Hyphens, not em dashes. Use a spaced hyphen (
-) or restructure the sentence; do not use the em dash character. A spaced hyphen reads fine mid-sentence, and em dashes also produce messy heading anchors. The one exception: a code block that reproduces literal program output verbatim must match the source, em dashes included (no current output contains one). - Cross-referenced headings should use a colon or rephrase rather than a dash, so the auto-generated anchor stays clean and stable.
Pushes to main build and publish the site via GitHub Actions
(.github/workflows/deploy.yml) to GitHub Pages. The site serves at its custom
domain docs.audiosilo.app: docusaurus.config.ts sets url/baseUrl and a
static/CNAME file is committed.