Docusaurus Technology Intelligence

What is Docusaurus?

Docusaurus is a documentation-focused static site generator built by Meta (Facebook). It makes it easy to build, deploy, and maintain open source project documentation with features like versioning, internationalization, and search out of the box.

Originally created for Facebook's open source projects, Docusaurus 2 was rebuilt using React and modern tooling. It powers documentation for React Native, Jest, Prettier, and hundreds of other projects. The framework combines the simplicity of Markdown content with React's flexibility for custom components and interactive documentation.

Key Features

Documentation

• Versioning: Multiple documentation versions
• Sidebars: Auto-generated or manual navigation
• Search: Algolia DocSearch integration
• MDX: JSX components in Markdown

Internationalization

• Multi-language: Full i18n support
• Locale Switching: Built-in language selector
• Crowdin Integration: Translation workflow
• RTL Support: Right-to-left languages

Blogging

• Blog Plugin: Built-in blog functionality
• Tags: Post categorization
• RSS Feeds: Automatic feed generation
• Authors: Multi-author support

Developer Experience

• Hot reloading
• TypeScript support
• Plugin architecture
• Theme customization

Use Cases

Open Source Project Docs

Open source maintainers document libraries and frameworks with Docusaurus. Version management tracks API changes across releases, while contributors easily update docs through Markdown editing.

API Documentation

Teams document REST and GraphQL APIs with interactive examples. The OpenAPI plugin generates reference documentation from spec files, keeping API docs synchronized with implementation.

Product Documentation

SaaS companies create user guides and knowledge bases. Versioning tracks feature documentation across product versions, while i18n support serves global customer bases.

Developer Portals

Platform teams build comprehensive developer portals. Documentation, API references, tutorials, and blog posts combine in a unified, searchable experience for developers.

Internal Wikis

Engineering teams maintain internal documentation with Docusaurus. The familiar Markdown format encourages team contributions, while search helps locate information quickly.

Technical Blogs

Organizations run engineering blogs alongside documentation. The blog plugin handles posts, tags, and feeds while sharing the same design system as documentation pages.

Code Examples

Configuration

// docusaurus.config.js
module.exports = {
    title: 'My Documentation',
    tagline: 'Documentation made easy',
    url: 'https://docs.example.com',
    baseUrl: '/',

    presets: [
        [
            '@docusaurus/preset-classic',
            {
                docs: {
                    sidebarPath: require.resolve('./sidebars.js'),
                    editUrl: 'https://github.com/org/repo/edit/main/',
                    versions: {
                        current: { label: '2.0.0', path: '2.0.0' }
                    }
                },
                blog: {
                    showReadingTime: true,
                    blogSidebarCount: 'ALL'
                },
                theme: { customCss: require.resolve('./src/css/custom.css') }
            }
        ]
    ],

    themeConfig: {
        navbar: {
            title: 'My Docs',
            items: [
                { type: 'doc', docId: 'intro', label: 'Docs' },
                { to: '/blog', label: 'Blog' },
                { type: 'docsVersionDropdown' },
                { type: 'localeDropdown' }
            ]
        },
        algolia: {
            appId: 'YOUR_APP_ID',
            apiKey: 'YOUR_SEARCH_KEY',
            indexName: 'your_index'
        }
    }
};

MDX Document

---
id: getting-started
title: Getting Started
sidebar_position: 1
---

import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs';
import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem';

# Getting Started

Welcome to our documentation!

<Tabs>
    <TabItem value="npm" label="npm">
        ```bash
        npm install my-package
        ```
    </TabItem>
    <TabItem value="yarn" label="yarn">
        ```bash
        yarn add my-package
        ```
    </TabItem>
</Tabs>

:::tip
This is a helpful tip!
:::

:::caution
Watch out for this!
:::

Custom Component

// src/components/HomepageFeatures.js
import React from 'react';
import styles from './HomepageFeatures.module.css';

const FeatureList = [
    { title: 'Easy to Use', description: 'Get started in minutes' },
    { title: 'Focus on Content', description: 'Let Docusaurus handle the rest' }
];

export default function HomepageFeatures() {
    return (
        <section className={styles.features}>
            {FeatureList.map((feature, idx) => (
                <div key={idx} className={styles.feature}>
                    <h3>{feature.title}</h3>
                    <p>{feature.description}</p>
                </div>
            ))}
        </section>
    );
}

Ecosystem and Comparison

Docusaurus vs GitBook

• Hosting: Docusaurus self-hosted, GitBook SaaS
• Customization: Docusaurus fully customizable
• Collaboration: GitBook better for non-developers
• Cost: Docusaurus free, GitBook has paid plans

Docusaurus vs ReadTheDocs

• Framework: Docusaurus React, RTD Sphinx/MkDocs
• Hosting: Docusaurus anywhere, RTD managed
• Customization: Docusaurus more flexible
• Python Focus: RTD better for Python projects

Plugin Ecosystem

• @docusaurus/plugin-ideal-image: Image optimization
• docusaurus-plugin-openapi: OpenAPI documentation
• docusaurus-plugin-typedoc: TypeScript API docs
• @docusaurus/plugin-pwa: Progressive Web App

Strengths

• First-class versioning support
• Comprehensive i18n features
• Strong community and ecosystem
• MDX for interactive documentation

Considerations

• React knowledge helpful for customization
• Heavier than simpler alternatives
• Configuration can be verbose
• Build times for large sites