Gitbook

GitBook Skill

Comprehensive assistance with GitBook — an AI-native documentation platform for creating, publishing, and managing product documentation, API references, and knowledge bases.

When to Use This Skill

Trigger this skill when:

• Creating documentation in GitBook (spaces, pages, blocks, collections)
• Setting up Git Sync between a GitBook space and a GitHub or GitLab repository
• Publishing a docs site — custom domains, site structure, visibility settings
• Configuring GitBook AI — AI Search, GitBook Assistant, GitBook Agent
• Collaborating on docs — change requests, roles, permissions, comments
• Importing content from Notion, Confluence, GitHub, or other sources
• Customizing site appearance — themes, colors, fonts, logos, layout
• Using the GitBook API or building integrations
• Embedding docs into a product using Docs Embed
• Troubleshooting Git Sync conflicts, publishing issues, or permission problems

Key Concepts

Content Hierarchy

Organization
  └── Collection (group of spaces)
       └── Space (a documentation project)
            └── Page (a document)
                 └── Block (content unit: text, code, hint, table, etc.)

Spaces vs Sites

• Space — where you write and organize content (private by default)
• Docs Site — the published version of one or more spaces; has its own URL, customization, and access controls

Change Requests

GitBook's equivalent of Git pull requests. All edits happen in a change request (a branch of the live content), then get reviewed and merged — preserving a full audit trail.

Getting Started

Create an Account and First Space

1. Sign up at app.gitbook.com
2. Create a new space from the sidebar
3. Add pages using the + button or / command in the editor
4. Publish as a docs site when ready

Import Existing Content

GitBook can import from:

• Confluence — via the import panel
• Notion — via the import panel
• GitHub/GitLab — via Git Sync (bi-directional)
• Files — Markdown, HTML, Word documents, CSV

Space menu → Import → Choose source

Content Creation

Blocks

GitBook is block-based — every element is a block. Insert with / in the editor.

Hint Block Styles

{% hint style="info" %}    → Blue info box
{% hint style="warning" %} → Yellow warning
{% hint style="danger" %}  → Red alert
{% hint style="success" %} → Green success
{% endhint %}

Code Blocks

• Set language for syntax highlighting
• Toggle line numbers, caption, line wrap
• One-click copy button for readers

Reusable Content

Create once, sync everywhere. Edit one instance and all uses update automatically.

/ → Reusable content → Create new reusable block
Requires Pro or Enterprise plan

Variables and Expressions

Define reusable text values (version numbers, product names) at the space level. Reference them inline with {{ variable_name }}. Useful for content that changes across versions.

Version Control

Every change request merge creates a history entry. View the Version history side panel to see all changes — who made them, when, and what changed. Roll back by creating a new change request from a past version.

Git Sync

Bi-directional sync between a GitBook space and a GitHub or GitLab repo.

Enabling GitHub Sync

1. Open space → Configure (top-right header)
2. Select GitHub Sync from the provider list
3. Authenticate with GitHub (one-time)
4. Choose repo, branch, and sync direction:
   • GitHub → GitBook (import existing docs)
   • GitBook → GitHub (export to repo)
   • Bi-directional (recommended)

.gitbook.yaml Configuration

Place at the repo root to control how GitBook parses the repo:

root: ./docs          # optional: look in a subdirectory
structure:
  readme: README.md   # the space's root page
  summary: SUMMARY.md # table of contents

redirects:
  previous/page: new-folder/page.md

Monorepos

Point root: to a specific subdirectory to sync only part of a repo.

How Content Maps

• Markdown files → GitBook pages
• Folders → page groups
• SUMMARY.md → sidebar structure (if present)
• Images in .gitbook/assets → embedded images

Pull Request Previews

GitBook can add a preview comment to GitHub PRs showing a staging link before merge.

Publishing Docs Sites

Create a Docs Site

Organization home → New site → Link an existing space or create new

Site Structure Options

• Single space — one space = one site
• Site sections — multiple spaces as tabbed sections (e.g., "Guides", "API Reference")
• Content variants — same space, multiple versions (e.g., v1, v2) or languages

Custom Domain

1. Available on Premium and Ultimate plans
2. Add CNAME record pointing to hosting.gitbook.io
3. Enter domain in site settings → Custom domain
4. GitBook auto-provisions SSL

Custom subdirectory (e.g. example.com/docs) requires a Cloudflare Workers, Vercel, or AWS CloudFront proxy.

Visibility Options

• Public — anyone can access without signing in
• Unlisted — accessible via direct link only
• Private — requires GitBook account with org membership
• Share links — invite-only access via secret URL
• Authenticated access — your own SSO/JWT visitor authentication

Site Customization

• Logo, favicon, social image
• Color theme (light/dark/system)
• Font family
• Header links and footer
• Custom CSS (Ultimate plan)

PDF Export

Enable in site settings → readers can export any page or the full site as PDF.

Collaboration

Change Requests

The primary editing workflow — all edits live in a change request until merged.

Space → New change request → Edit → Request review → Merge

• Multiple people can edit the same change request
• Reviewers get notified; can approve or request changes
• Merge rules can require N approvals before merging

Roles

Permissions and Inheritance

GitBook uses cascading role-based permissions:

Organization role → inherited by all spaces
  └── Collection role → overrides org role for spaces in collection
       └── Space role → overrides for that space
            └── Site role → overrides for published site access

Setting a space to "No access" restricts it regardless of org-level role.

Comments

Add inline comments on any block. Comments thread and resolve. Use @mentions to notify team members.

AI Features

GitBook AI Search

Replaces keyword search with semantic understanding. Users ask questions in natural language; AI answers using your docs as the source.

Site → Configure → Search → Enable AI Search

Options:

• Keyword search — default, always on
• GitBook AI search — semantic Q&A over your docs (Pro+)
• GitBook AI search + Crawler — also indexes external URLs

GitBook Agent

An AI teammate that creates and maintains documentation inside GitBook.

Capabilities:

• Write new pages from a prompt or outline
• Edit existing blocks via natural language instructions
• All edits happen in a change request for human review
• Follows custom style guides and instructions
• Translate docs into other languages
• Write from source materials (URLs or uploaded files)

Requires Pro or Enterprise plan.

Docs Embed

Embed your documentation as a widget inside your own product:

<script src="https://gitbook.com/assets/docs-embed.js"
        data-api-key="YOUR_KEY"></script>

// React
import { GitBookEmbed } from '@gitbook/docs-embed/react';

<GitBookEmbed apiKey="YOUR_KEY" welcomeMessage="How can we help?" />

Supports AI Q&A, page browsing, custom welcome messages, and authenticated visitors.

LLM-Ready Docs

Every GitBook page exposes a machine-readable endpoint:

GET https://your-site.gitbook.io/page-path.md

With live Q&A:

GET https://your-site.gitbook.io/page-path.md?ask=how do I set up git sync

AI Insights

See what questions users are actually asking — identify documentation gaps.

Site → Insights → AI Insights

Developer API

Authentication

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  https://api.gitbook.com/v1/user

Generate tokens: app.gitbook.com → Settings → Developer → API Tokens

Key Endpoints

GET  /v1/orgs/{orgId}/spaces           List spaces
GET  /v1/spaces/{spaceId}/content      Get space content
POST /v1/spaces/{spaceId}/content/page Create a page
GET  /v1/spaces/{spaceId}/revisions    List revision history

Integrations SDK

Build custom GitBook integrations using @gitbook/runtime:

• Custom blocks rendered in the GitBook editor
• Webhooks triggered on space events
• External data source connections

Examples

Example 1: Set Up Git Sync for a Monorepo

# .gitbook.yaml — docs live in /packages/docs/
root: ./packages/docs
structure:
  readme: index.md
  summary: SUMMARY.md
redirects:
  old-section/page: new-section/page.md

1. Space → Configure → GitHub Sync → select repo, branch main
2. After initial import, switch to bi-directional sync
3. Publish as docs site with custom domain

Example 2: Version Variants for v1/v2 Docs

1. Create two spaces: docs-v1 and docs-v2
2. Create docs site → Add space → configure as Content variants
3. GitBook shows a version picker; /v1/ and /v2/ paths both stay live

Example 3: Reusable Warning Callout Across Spaces

Space settings → Reusable content → New reusable block
Add hint: {% hint style="warning" %}
          Breaking change in v2: the `id` field is now `uuid`.
          {% endhint %}

Embed this block on every affected page. Update once → all pages update.

Example 4: Adaptive Content for Different User Plans

Site → Configure → Adaptive content

Define visitor properties (plan: "free" | "pro" | "enterprise") via your auth token. Show/hide blocks conditionally based on {{ visitor.plan }}.

Common Patterns

Hint for Plan-Gated Features

{% hint style="info" %}
This feature is available on Pro and Enterprise plans.
{% endhint %}

.gitbook.yaml with Redirects

root: ./docs
structure:
  readme: README.md
  summary: SUMMARY.md
redirects:
  getting-started: introduction/quickstart.md
  api/v1/auth: api/authentication.md

Variable Reference in Content

API base URL: {{ env.api_base_url }}
Current version: {{ product.version }}

Resources

• Docs: gitbook.com/docs
• LLMs.txt (full doc index): gitbook.com/docs/llms.txt
• API reference: gitbook.com/docs/developers/gitbook-api/api-reference
• Integrations SDK: gitbook.com/docs/developers/integrations
• Community: community.gitbook.com
• Status: gitbookstatus.com