Documinty
Documinty (alias dty) is a lightweight CLI tool to help you document your Ruby codebase as you build features. It lets you:
- Create and manage features
- Tag files with a node type, description, and methods
- Query documentation by file or by feature
- Visualize which files belong to a feature (grouped by directory)
- Search for features by substring
Everything you record lives under a .documinty/ folder in your project. You can version it alongside your code, making documentation part of your workflow.
Installation
Prerequisites
- Ruby ≥ 3.1
- Bundler (optional, but recommended)
From RubyGems
gem install documinty
# or, if you prefer the short alias:
# gem install dty
From Git(development version)
git clone git@github.com:yourusername/documinty.git
cd documinty
Build and install locally
bundle install
bundle exec rake build
gem install pkg/documinty-<VERSION>.gem
Usage
1. Go into your existing codebase
cd path/to/your-app
2. Initialize Documinty (creates .documinty/)
dty init --codebase your-app
3. Create a feature called "user-auth"
dty feat user-auth
4. Tag a file under "user-auth" as a controller, prompt for description & methods
dty doc app/controllers/sessions_controller.rb -f user-auth -n controller
# • You’ll be prompted:
# Enter a brief description for this node⚙️:
# (e.g.) "Handles login/logout flows"
#
# Enter comma-separated methods for this node🛠️:
# (e.g.) :new, :create, :destroy
5. View documentation for that file
dty show app/controllers/sessions_controller.rb
Show documentation under a specific feature
dty show app/controllers/sessions_controller.rb -f user-auth
6. List all defined features
dty features
7. Show all files under "user-auth"
dty show_feature user-auth
8. Show file structure under "user-auth"
dty involved user-auth
9. Search for features that contain "user"
dty search_f user
10. Add or remove methods for a documented file
To add:
dty methods path/to/file -f user-auth -a add
To add:
dty methods path/to/file -f user-auth -a remove
you will be prompted to add the comma separated methods that you want to add or remove
11. Display description of a documented file
dty describe path/to/file
This will display all the descriptions that a file has undear each of the features
Optionally, the feature flag can be passed to specify the description for a feature
dty describe path/to/file -f user-auth
12. Update the description for a file
dty update_description path/to/file -f user-auth
NOTE: you must pass the feature when updating the description
You will be prompted to enter the new description for the file under the feature
Project layout
.
├── exe/
│ ├── documinty # primary executable stub
│ └── dty # short alias stub
├── lib/
│ └── documinty/
│ ├── cli.rb # Thor CLI definitions
│ └── store.rb # YAML-backed storage logic
│ └── documinty.rb # loads version and CLI
│ └── documinty/version.rb
├── .documinty/ # created once you run `dty init`
│ ├── config.yml
│ └── features/ # per-feature YAML files live here
├── Rakefile # builds the gem
├── documinty.gemspec # gemspec (metadata + dependencies)
├── LICENSE.txt
└── README.md
Contributing
1 - Fork the repository
2 - Create a new branch (git checkout -b my-feature)
3 - Make your changes and add tests if applicable
4 - Commit, push, and open a Pull Request
5 - We’ll review and merge!
License
License This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.txt for details.