Girish Kotte
Complete guide to Markdown documentation files. Learn what each file does, why it's important, and get ready-to-use templates for any project.
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Must-have documentation for every project
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Professional documentation for teams
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Organized by purpose and use case
README.mdessentialFront door of your project. First thing visitors see. Explains what, why, and how.
LICENSE.mdessentialLegal terms for using your code. Protects you and clarifies usage rights.
CONTRIBUTING.mdessentialGuidelines for contributors. Sets expectations and processes for collaboration.
CHANGELOG.mdessentialTrack all notable changes to the project. Helps users understand what's new.
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.mdessentialCommunity standards and behavior expectations. Creates a welcoming environment.
SECURITY.mdessentialSecurity policy and vulnerability reporting process. Protects users and maintainers.
DEVELOPMENT.mdrecommendedDetailed development setup and guidelines. Onboards developers quickly.
ARCHITECTURE.mdrecommendedSystem design and technical decisions. Documents the 'why' behind architectural choices.
DEPLOYMENT.mdrecommendedDeployment procedures and configurations. Ensures consistent, reliable deployments.
API.mdrecommendedAPI reference documentation. Essential for API consumers and integrators.
TESTING.mdrecommendedTesting strategies and guidelines. Ensures code quality and reliability.
.env.exampleessentialTemplate for environment variables. Shows required configuration without exposing secrets.
ROADMAP.mdnice-to-haveFuture plans and vision. Helps community understand project direction.
.cursorrulesrecommendedConfigure Cursor AI IDE behavior. Defines coding standards, project context, and AI assistant guidelines.
CLAUDE.mdrecommendedConfigure Claude AI assistant for your project. Provides context, guidelines, and specific instructions.
WINDSURF.mdrecommendedConfigure Windsurf AI editor. Define project rules, patterns, and AI behavior for optimal assistance.
Pro Tip: Start with essential docs and add others as your project grows. Quality over quantity - a well-maintained README is better than 20 outdated docs.
DocKit is a documentation tool designed to help creators and businesses organize, structure, and publish their knowledge base content efficiently. It streamlines the process of creating product documentation, help articles, and resource libraries with AI-assisted writing and formatting.
DocKit uses AI to assist with drafting documentation from rough notes, structuring content into logical sections, generating table of contents and navigation, and suggesting improvements for clarity and completeness. The AI helps you produce professional documentation in a fraction of the time it would take to write everything from scratch.
DocKit supports product documentation, API references, help center articles, knowledge base content, onboarding guides, FAQs, and standard operating procedures. It is designed for any structured content that needs to be well-organized, searchable, and easy to maintain over time.
DocKit offers free access to core documentation features. It is designed to be accessible for individual creators, small teams, and startups who need professional documentation without the cost of enterprise documentation platforms.
DocKit focuses specifically on public-facing documentation with AI assistance, whereas Notion is a general-purpose workspace and GitBook targets developer documentation. DocKit's AI features help non-technical users create professional documentation faster, making it ideal for founders and small teams who need polished docs without a technical writer.
Learn how to create professional documentation for your projects with DocKit templates
DocKit provides templates for all essential project documentation including README files, LICENSE documents, CONTRIBUTING guides, CHANGELOG files, CODE_OF_CONDUCT, SECURITY policies, and more. Each template is professionally crafted and follows industry best practices for open source and enterprise projects.
Yes, our templates are language and framework agnostic. While examples may reference specific technologies, the structure and content work for any project - whether you're building with JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust, or any other language. Simply customize the technical details to match your stack.
Each template includes placeholder text clearly marked for replacement. Simply copy the template, replace [Project Name], [Your Name], and other bracketed placeholders with your actual information. Tips are provided with each template to guide you on what content works best.
Quality documentation serves as the front door to your project. It helps new users understand what your project does, guides contributors on how to participate, protects you legally with proper licensing, and builds trust with potential users and employers. Well-documented projects see 3-5x more contributions than poorly documented ones.
The right license depends on your goals. MIT License is the most permissive and popular for open source. Apache 2.0 provides patent protection. GPL requires derivative works to be open source. For proprietary projects, you may want a custom license. We recommend using choosealicense.com to help decide based on your specific needs.
Update your CHANGELOG with every release or significant change. Follow semantic versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH) and categorize changes as Added, Changed, Deprecated, Removed, Fixed, or Security. This helps users understand what's new and whether they should upgrade.
A great README includes: a clear project title and description, badges for quick status indicators, installation instructions, usage examples, configuration options, contribution guidelines link, license information, and contact details. For visual projects, include screenshots or GIFs. Keep it comprehensive but scannable.
Absolutely. All DocKit templates are free to use for any purpose - personal, open source, or commercial projects. Simply customize them for your needs. However, we recommend reviewing any legal templates (like LICENSE) with legal counsel for commercial applications to ensure they meet your specific requirements.