# ShipDocs > ShipDocs turns any codebase into searchable, chat-ready documentation. Connect a GitHub or GitLab repo, upload a zip, or push from the CLI - ShipDocs scans every file, detects the tech stack, generates an Overview plus one Markdown doc per detected component (backend, frontend, workers, CLI, migrations, etc.), and lets you chat with an AI grounded in those docs (no hallucinated APIs). ShipDocs is a hosted SaaS product ($0 free tier; Pro and Advanced plans). Source is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and per-project keys, and customer code is never used to train any AI model. ## Pages - [Homepage](https://shipdocs.sh/index.md): Product overview, features, security, pricing, and roadmap. - [Product facts](https://shipdocs.sh/facts.md): Stable, quoteable facts — pricing, encryption, private repos, no training, CLI. - [Google CodeWiki Alternative](https://shipdocs.sh/google-code-wiki-alternative.md): The #1 Google CodeWiki alternative. Auto-generated, encrypted, chat-ready docs from any codebase — public or private. Markdown you own, zero vendor lock-in. - [Free tools index](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/index.md): Twelve free tools that operate on any public repo or docs URL. - [AI README Generator](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/readme.md): Generates a complete README.md from a public repo's actual source. - [Repo Complexity Score](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/complexity.md): 0-100 complexity score with the file/lines/language/dependency signals behind it. - [Explain Repo in a Tweet](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/tweet.md): One-tweet (≤240 chars) or 4-tweet thread summary of a public repo, based on real code. - [AI Dockerfile Generator](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/dockerfile.md): Production-ready Dockerfile inferred from a public repo's source. - [Architecture Diagram](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/architecture.md): Mermaid architecture diagram from key files in a public repo. - [Production Readiness Audit](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/audit.md): 0-100 production readiness score across docs, CI, secrets, and deps. - [Repo Wrapped](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/wrapped.md): Repository languages, size, dependency count, and personality tags. - [Onboarding Time Estimator](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/onboarding.md): Estimate time to a first meaningful pull request. - [Docs Gap Map](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/docs-gap.md): Find code directories without nearby documentation. - [Dependency Time Bomb](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/deps.md): Flag dependency version-risk signals. - [Dead Code Finder](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/dead-code.md): Find candidate orphan files. - [Agent-Readiness Score](https://shipdocs.sh/tools/agent-score.md): Score any docs URL for LLM/agent consumption (llms.txt, markdown twins, citations, badge). - [Showcase index](https://shipdocs.sh/showcase): Public ShipDocs runs on popular open-source projects. - [SL(1)](https://shipdocs.sh/showcase/2ddacbda-f0bd-474b-b209-51f80a8208ec.md): SL (Steam Locomotive) runs across your terminal when you type "sl" as you meant to type "ls". It's just a joke command, and not useful at all. - [ArnoldC](https://shipdocs.sh/showcase/1a5330cf-72e7-43f1-a8f6-2d3dcf4ce623.md): Programming language based on the one-liners of Arnold Schwarzenegger. - [Bullshit.js](https://shipdocs.sh/showcase/78b36dc4-1990-4c30-b8f7-c06800904871.md): A JavaScript library with the mission-critical purpose of translating marketing-speak into human-readable text. - [Pizza Dough](https://shipdocs.sh/showcase/af9afef9-48e9-4a55-95aa-47eafe5bdb71.md): This recipe is dedicated to helping you make the best possible pizza dough. - [Privacy & encryption policy](https://shipdocs.sh/privacy): Data handling, encryption model, retention, and erasure rights. ## Docs - [Docs index](https://shipdocs.sh/docs/index.md): Product documentation for ShipDocs — how it works, CLI getting started, security, and free tools. Markdown-first for humans and AI agents. - [How ShipDocs works](https://shipdocs.sh/docs/how-it-works.md): End-to-end pipeline — import a repo, detect components, generate Overview plus per-component Markdown docs, and chat with citations. - [CLI / getting started](https://shipdocs.sh/docs/cli.md): Install the ShipDocs CLI, sign in, and ship a local project for indexing. Commands for login, ship, list, and update. - [Security & encryption](https://shipdocs.sh/docs/security.md): AES-256-GCM at rest, per-project keys, zero AI training, retention, and GDPR-aligned handling. Factual security overview for ShipDocs. - [Free tools overview](https://shipdocs.sh/docs/free-tools.md): Twelve free ShipDocs tools that analyze any public repository or docs URL — README, Dockerfile, audit, architecture, complexity, agent-score, and more. No signup. ## Blog - [Technical Documentation Design: Developer's Guide 2026](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/technical-documentation-design.md): Master technical documentation design for 2026. Explore modern principles, component patterns, tooling, and AI to craft docs developers love. - [Effective Api Documentation Rest: A 2026 Guide](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/api-documentation-rest.md): Learn to write clear, effective api documentation rest. Our guide covers structure, endpoints, authentication, versioning, errors, & automation. - [What Is API Documentation: Purpose, Types, Best Practices](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/what-is-api-documentation.md): What is API documentation? Explore its purpose, types, components, best practices, and how to automate docs for your codebase in 2026. - [API Documentation Java: A Complete Guide 2026](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/api-documentation-java.md): Master comprehensive api documentation java. This guide covers Javadoc, OpenAPI (Swagger), Spring REST Docs, CI automation, and 2026 best practices. - [What Is Living Documentation in Software?](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/what-is-living-documentation-in-software.md): Discover what living documentation in software is and how it revolutionizes development. Stay updated with real-time insights and tools! - [Team Coding Standards Documentation Types Explained](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/team-coding-standards-documentation-types-explained.md): Discover essential team coding standards documentation types to ensure your coding practices are up-to-date and effective. Drive compliance! - [Auto-Generate Codebase Documentation in 2026](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/auto-generate-codebase-documentation-in-2026.md): Discover how to auto-generate codebase documentation in 2026. Enhance team productivity and keep your docs current with this essential guide! - [How Private Repository Tools Work: A Developer's Guide](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/how-private-repository-tools-work-a-developers-guide.md): Unlock the secrets of how private repository tools work in this guide. Learn about security, access controls, and best practices for code protection. - [Code Wiki for Private Repos: How to Document Your Private Codebase with AI](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/code-wiki-for-private-repos-how-to-document-private-codebases.md): Google CodeWiki can't index private repositories. Here's how to get AI-generated documentation for your private codebase — from OAuth setup to encrypted storage to file-citing codebase chat. Full walkthrough with ShipDocs. - [7 CodeWiki Alternatives for Private Repos (2026 Comparison)](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/codewiki-alternatives-7-tools-for-private-repos.md): Google CodeWiki only indexes public repositories. If you need an AI documentation tool that works on private codebases, here are the 7 alternatives — from ShipDocs to Mintlify to Sourcegraph — ranked by private repo support, encryption, and AI chat quality. - [Mintlify vs GitBook: Which Is Better for Developer Documentation in 2026?](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/mintlify-vs-gitbook-which-is-better-for-developer-documentation.md): Mintlify and GitBook are the two most popular hosted documentation platforms for developer teams. But they solve different problems — and neither generates docs from your codebase. Here's the honest comparison, plus where ShipDocs fits if you want auto-generated docs instead of hand-written ones. - [How to Onboard a Developer in 1 Day Instead of 3 Months (The Documentation-First Playbook)](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/how-to-onboard-a-developer-in-1-day.md): The average time to productive for a new engineer is 3 months. Most of that time is spent reading code and asking questions — not writing features. Here's the playbook that cuts it to 1 day using auto-generated documentation, grounded AI chat, and a simple 4-step onboarding flow. - [I Asked 5 AI Tools to Document the Same Repo — Only 1 Got It Right](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/i-asked-5-ai-tools-to-document-the-same-repo.md): I pointed ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot, Google CodeWiki, and ShipDocs at the same open-source codebase. The results were... revealing. Here's what each tool got right, what they got wrong, and why hallucinated documentation is worse than no documentation at all. - [Your Codebase Has No Documentation and It's Costing You $186K/Year](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/your-codebase-has-no-documentation-costing-186k-per-year.md): The average engineer spends 5.3 hours per week searching for answers in undocumented codebases. At US developer salaries, that's $186K per year per team of 10. Here's the math, the research, and what to do about it. - [Google Code Wiki Only Works on Public Repos — Here's What to Use for Private Code](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/google-codewiki-only-works-public-repos-private-alternative.md): Google CodeWiki is impressive for open-source projects, but it cannot index private repositories. If your real codebase lives behind authentication, here's the private-repo documentation tool that actually works — with AES-256 encryption and zero AI training on your code. - [Google CodeWiki Review: Great Tool, One Major Limitation](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/google-codewiki-review-great-tool-one-major-limitation.md): Google CodeWiki generates impressively clean documentation for public GitHub repos, and the AI summaries are solid. But there's one limitation that makes it unusable for most developers — and it has nothing to do with the model quality. - [Google Code Wiki vs ShipDocs: What's the Difference?](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/google-codewiki-vs-shipdocs-comparison.md): Google CodeWiki and ShipDocs both use AI to document codebases, but they solve completely different problems. One works on public repos only. The other handles private repos, encrypts your code, and lets you chat with your codebase. Here's the side-by-side breakdown every developer needs to read. - [I Built ShipDocs Before Google Built CodeWiki — Here's What I Learned](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/i-built-shipdocs-before-google-built-codewiki.md): When Google launched CodeWiki in May 2026, developers started comparing it to ShipDocs. What most don't know is that ShipDocs was already live, already handling private repos, and already encrypted. Here's the story of how we got here — and the hard lessons about building AI documentation tools that Google is about to learn. - [New free tool: AI Dockerfile Generator from any public repo](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/ai-dockerfile-generator-for-any-repo.md): Paste a public repo URL and get a production-ready Dockerfile in seconds. Multi-stage builds, pinned versions, non-root user — all inferred from the actual source code. Works on 250+ languages and frameworks. - [New free tool: Is Your Repo Production-Ready? Get a 0-100 Audit in Seconds](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/production-readiness-audit-for-any-repo.md): ShipDocs' new Production Readiness Audit scans any public repo and scores it across documentation, CI/testing, dev environment, secrets hygiene, and dependency health. No signup required. - [ShipDocs vs Mintlify, GitBook, NotebookLM & Cursor](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/shipdocs-vs-mintlify-gitbook-notebooklm-cursor-sourcegraph.md): A side-by-side look at how ShipDocs stacks up against the five tools developers most often consider for codebase docs and AI code understanding - and why ShipDocs covers the same ground from a stronger starting point. - [ShipDocs for engineering teams: what you gain](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/shipdocs-for-engineering-teams.md): What dev teams gain when they adopt ShipDocs - onboarding velocity, always-current architecture, AI-assisted dev workflows grounded in your actual codebase, defensible security posture, and a roadmap that closes every gap that matters. - [Why every developer needs ShipDocs in 2026](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/why-developers-need-shipdocs.md): AI assistants are only as good as the docs they read. Here's why solo developers, OSS maintainers, and engineers in teams should generate full codebase docs with ShipDocs - and exactly what changes the day they do. - [ShipDocs is live: AI-generated, chat-ready docs for any codebase](https://shipdocs.sh/blog/shipdocs-is-live.md): ShipDocs scans any GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket repo and ships full per-component docs plus a grounded AI chat - in seconds, not weeks. Here's what's in v1, what's next, and why we built it. ## Optional - [Full LLM digest](https://shipdocs.sh/llms-full.txt): Curated concat of homepage, comparison, facts, tools, and top posts. - [Public agent API](https://api.shipdocs.sh/api/ai): Structured AI/agent endpoints (OpenAPI at [/api/ai/openapi.json](https://api.shipdocs.sh/api/ai/openapi.json)). - [Changelog](https://shipdocs.sh/changelog.md): Product milestones and public releases (also [/changelog/feed.xml](https://shipdocs.sh/changelog/feed.xml)). - [Sitemap](https://shipdocs.sh/sitemap.xml): Machine-readable sitemap of crawlable URLs. - [robots.txt](https://shipdocs.sh/robots.txt): Crawl + Content-Signals policy (search=yes, ai-input=yes, ai-train=no). - [CLI install script](https://shipdocs.sh/install.sh): `curl -fsSL shipdocs.sh | sh`.