Skip to content
logoClay

Clay Documentation

Turn a folder of Markdown files into a fast, searchable documentation website. Everything you need to write, organize and publish docs with Clay.

On this page

Clay turns a folder of Markdown files into a documentation website: a sidebar from your folders, full-text search, code highlighting, components like tabs and diagrams, light and dark themes, versions and translations. You write the pages; Clay does the rest.

#Start in a minute

npm install --save-dev clay-doc
echo 'title: "My Project"' > clay.yaml
mkdir docs && echo '# Hello, Clay' > docs/index.md
npx clay dev

Open http://localhost:3000, and every change you save shows up right away. The quick start takes it from there.

#Ready for AI

Your docs, for people and for the assistants they ask. Every page is also published as Markdown, llms.txt lists them all for language models, and readers can copy a page or open it in ChatGPT or Claude with one click. Coding agents change and check the docs with clay edit and clay check.

Every page as MarkdownTry it: this page is at index.md too.llms.txtThe index language models look for, written on every build.For coding agentsOne change per command, JSON results and help written for agents.
Suggested prompt
Read https://clay-doc.github.io/clay-example-repo/llms.txt, then set up Clay
documentation for this repository: a clay.yaml with the project's name, a docs/
folder with a start page, and a GitHub Pages workflow. Run `npx clay check`
until it passes.

#The docs

Getting StartedWhat Clay is, how to install it and how to build a first site in five minutes.WritingEverything about the content of a page, from Markdown and code blocks to components, links and images.OrganizingHow pages and folders become the navigation, how folders get their pages, and how versions and languages work.FeaturesWhat every Clay site comes with - docs for AI assistants and agents, search, page details, themes and icons, and search engine optimization.ConfigurationReference of clay.yaml, of the front matter of pages and folders, and of the environment variables.PublishingThe clay commands, the checks every build runs, and how to put the site online on GitHub Pages or any other host.GuidesUpgrading from earlier versions of Clay, and solutions for common problems.

#Why Clay

  • Markdown in, website out. Pages are Markdown files in docs/, folders become the navigation. No templates, no theme to build.
  • Ready for AI. Every page as Markdown, llms.txt, and commands that coding agents understand, see AI & agents.
  • More than Markdown. Tabs, steps, cards, diagrams, math and file trees, written as plain text.
  • Search built in. Every page and section is searchable, typos and all, with Ctrl + K or ⌘ + K.
  • Fast anywhere. Every page is pre-rendered to HTML. Host it on GitHub Pages, Netlify or any web server.
  • Checked on every build. Broken links and unknown settings are reported, and --strict stops a deploy that has them.
  • Versions and languages. Keep the docs of older releases online and translate page by page.
  • Organized in the terminal. clay edit creates, orders, renames and translates pages without touching front matter by hand.

Tip

This website is a Clay site. Every page is a Markdown file in the example repository: see how it is made, or copy it as a starting point. Already running Clay 4? See upgrading to Clay 5.

Type to search all pages.