docent

Docent

A Claude Code plugin that turns any GitHub repo into a public-facing, self-maintaining website.

Docent reads your code, commits, issues, and releases, and produces a static site that tells your repo's story to non-developer visitors — what the project is, what's been happening, what's broken, what's coming.

The site lives in your repo under /docs and deploys to GitHub Pages. No hosted service, no API keys, no backend. Inference runs through your Claude Code subscription via a weekly/daily Routine. Forms submit by opening pre-filled GitHub issues in a new tab.

What it produces

A live site at username.github.io/project with:

• Overview — an AI-written explanation of what the project is and who it's for
• Journal — blog posts summarizing recent activity on a configurable cadence
• Status — open issues grouped and summarized, known bugs, in-progress work
• Report a bug / Request a feature — forms that open pre-filled GitHub issues
• Changelog — human-readable release notes derived from tags and merged PRs

Installing it in a repo

Docent is distributed as a Claude Code plugin. In any Claude Code session inside your target repo:

/plugin marketplace add calumjs/docent
/plugin install docent@docent

Then say:

set up Docent for this repo

The skill runs its init procedure — asks about tone, cadence, domain; scaffolds /docs from the plugin's bundled Astro template; generates an overview, a status page, a changelog, an inaugural journal post; analyzes your repo for design signals (logo, badges, metadata) and picks one of four visual vibes; opens a pull request against your default branch.

After merging the PR, two manual steps only you can do:

1. Enable GitHub Pages with Actions as the source:

   gh api -X POST repos/OWNER/REPO/pages -f build_type=workflow
   

   (Or via the web UI: Settings → Pages → Source → GitHub Actions.)

2. Set up the Routine that keeps content fresh:

   /schedule Docent update daily at 08:00 — prompt: "Docent: run update mode."
   

   One routine, adaptive output: update mode decides for itself whether to refresh content, write a journal post, both, or nothing — based on what's happened in the repo since the last run. Routines use your Claude Code subscription tokens — no ANTHROPIC_API_KEY required.

You can also invoke Docent manually anytime: "Docent, write a journal post about the auth refactor."

What's in this repo

docent/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   ├── marketplace.json          # marketplace metadata
│   └── plugin.json               # plugin metadata
├── skills/
│   └── docent/                   # the skill itself — what gets installed
│       ├── SKILL.md              # triggering description + mode dispatch
│       ├── modes/                # one file per operation mode
│       ├── prompts/              # prompt fragments for each content type
│       ├── schemas/              # JSON shapes for structured content
│       └── templates/            # Astro site + deploy workflow
├── docs/                         # Docent's own site (dogfood)
├── SPEC.md                       # full technical specification
└── README.md                     # this file

Status

The skill, Astro template, and dogfood site are in place. Docent's own site is live at calumjs.github.io/docent. See SPEC.md for the full design and STATUS.md for what's done vs. outstanding.

License

MIT.