Using pdoc to Generate API Documentation for Python Projects

pdoc is a command‑line tool and library for Python projects that extracts docstrings from source code and generates attractive HTML API documentation, making it easy to create project docs automatically for well‑documented codebases.

Lightweight: Compared with more complex tools like Sphinx, pdoc is simpler to install and use.

Automatic extraction: It reads docstrings from modules and packages without requiring manual Markdown or reStructuredText files.

HTML output: Generates clean HTML documentation that is easy to browse and navigate.

Nested module support: Recursively processes packages with sub‑modules, creating corresponding directory structures and links.

Use pdoc to quickly create a local, web‑based API reference for a Python library or application, either serving it via a temporary server or generating static HTML files.

pdoc --html my_module.py -o docs/ – Generates HTML documentation for a single module.

pdoc --html my_package/ -o docs/ – Recursively generates documentation for an entire package and its sub‑modules.

pdoc --http :8080 my_project – Starts a temporary web server on port 8080 to preview the documentation.

pdoc my_function – Outputs the documentation for a specific function or class to standard output.

pdoc --ignore-errors my_package --html -o docs/ – Ignores import errors in modules and continues generating documentation for the rest.

pdoc --template-dir=my_templates my_package – Uses custom HTML templates located in the specified directory.

pdoc --markdown my_module > my_module.md – Exports documentation for a module in Markdown format.

PYTHONPATH=. pdoc --html my_package -o docs/ – Sets PYTHONPATH explicitly to ensure modules are found.

pdoc --title="My Custom Project Docs" my_project -o docs/ – Overrides the default page title of the generated documentation.

pdoc --all-submodules --inheritance my_class.py – Shows inheritance hierarchy for classes as text.

Note: Command behavior may vary between pdoc versions; refer to the official documentation for accurate details.