Docs Writing

SDK Documentation Writing

Write documentation for the Sui TypeScript SDK ecosystem in packages/docs/content/. All docs are MDX files organized by package, rendered by fumadocs, and exported as flat markdown for LLM consumption.

Before Writing

1. Read the relevant meta.json to understand the section structure.
2. Check existing pages in the same section for style and conventions.
3. Read references/structure.md for directory layout and meta.json format.
4. Read references/style-guide.md for writing conventions.

Creating a New Doc Page

1. Create the .mdx file in the appropriate content/ subdirectory.
2. Add YAML frontmatter with both title and description (required):

---
title: My New Feature
description: Short one-line description under 120 characters
---

Content goes here...

3. Add the page name to the parent meta.json pages array in the correct order.
4. If creating a new section directory, create a meta.json with title and pages.
5. Regenerate the LLM index: pnpm --filter @mysten/docs build:docs
6. Validate: pnpm --filter @mysten/docs validate-docs

Adding Docs for a New Package

When a new SDK package needs documentation:

1. Create packages/docs/content/<package-name>/ with meta.json (root: true) and index.mdx
2. Add "build:docs": "tsx ../docs/scripts/build-docs.ts" to the package's package.json scripts
3. Add "docs" to the package's files array in package.json (so docs are published to npm)
4. Add the package as a dependency in packages/docs/package.json
5. See references/structure.md for full checklist

Editing Existing Docs

1. Read the full page before editing — understand context.
2. Keep the description frontmatter accurate after changes.
3. After significant structural changes, regenerate and validate:

   pnpm --filter @mysten/docs build:docs
   pnpm --filter @mysten/docs validate-docs
   

Key Rules

1. Every MDX file must have title and description — CI validates this.
2. Descriptions under 120 characters — used in the LLM index.
3. No trailing period on descriptions.
4. Use code examples liberally — show, don't tell.
5. Import from public API paths — @mysten/sui/transactions, not internal paths.
6. Use fenced code blocks with tsx or typescript language tag.
7. Every new page must be in a meta.json pages array — or it won't appear in navigation.
8. dist/ and docs/ are generated at build time — not committed to git. Run build:docs to verify output locally.
9. New packages need build:docs script and docs in files — or docs won't be published to npm.

Common Mistakes — STOP

• Adding an MDX file without updating meta.json → Page won't appear in navigation or index
• Missing description in frontmatter → CI validation will fail
• Using internal import paths → Readers won't be able to use them
• Using JSX components without imports → MDX build will fail
• Adding a new section directory without meta.json → Pages won't be indexed

Navigation

• Directory Structure — Content layout, meta.json format, how pages are organized by package
• Style Guide — Writing conventions, MDX features, code example patterns

Before Committing

Always validate before committing doc changes:

pnpm --filter @mysten/docs validate-docs

This checks frontmatter completeness and orphan detection. Fix any errors before committing.

Build Commands

# Generate all docs (combined dist/ + per-section indices)
pnpm --filter @mysten/docs build:docs

# Generate docs for a single package (run from package dir)
pnpm --filter @mysten/sui build:docs

# Build everything (includes build:docs automatically via turbo)
pnpm turbo build

# Validate frontmatter + orphan detection
pnpm --filter @mysten/docs validate-docs

# Full site build (Next.js)
pnpm --filter @mysten/docs build