2026 Roadmap

[ovflowd]

2026 is going to be the year of doc-kit. Not just as the replacement for Node's API documentation generation and tooling, but becoming a generic and pluggable documentation generator that can serve the masses. A project that can live outside just being used for Node's docs. For example, Node.js's Learn content, and Webpack API docs are potential candidates of using doc-kit in the future. The part where doc-kit distinguishes from alternatives such as Docusaurus and Hon-Kit, is that doc-kit isn't just a doc web framework, it is a toolkit meant to parse and understand docs and their metadata and be able to generate outputs in multiple formats.

For this year we plan achieving doc-kit to be adopted by node core, getting the redesigned api docs out and achieve our major milestone of doc-kit becoming an universal tooling

Our major milestone constitues from publishing @nodejs/doc-kit, having it become a monorepo, where core generators such as (ast-js, json, ast, llms-txt, etc..) become part of it and the remaining generators become packaged generators that are pluggable (via doc-kit's upcoming configuration file, such as @node-core/doc-kit-web [...], and @doc-kit/[...] packages. Eventually the "web" generator engine (rolldown, base html template, processing of mdx...) becomes its own generator, and the "component mapping", "document layout" and "extended html templates" are what custom "themes" would allow us to do. With an initial "theme" using @shadcn/ui to allow quick and instant customization.

The tasks below represent so far what's incorporated for 2026:

Note

The list below will change as time goes and the decision of what also comes bundled with doc-kit and what becomes 3rd party will also evolve.

• Don't pass pre-rendered components to the client #353
• Add cli-progress (Progress Bar) for CLI #58
• Use i18n for common strings #280
• feat(cli): add a configuration file option #593
• Define core generators for doc-kit
• Break down web generator into a base (rolldown/server/client-side generation, base html template, css processing) and the actual "nodejs" flavour (components, styles..)
• Make the repository a monorepo (each generator its own package (?))
• Better documentation, README and usage/contribution/publishing a generator guides
• Generic Web Theme (via shadcn/ui which is highly customizable)

Tasks specifically for Node.js API docs redesign:

• Remodel (or remove) our parameter tables #587
• Remember User ESM/CJS choice #588
• Automate npm publication as @node-core/doc-kit with version bump workflow #568
• New JSON generator schema #214
• Tests for metadata generator #491

[avivkeller]

But I still think landing in core is our priority, and we should wait until that's done before moving forward with some of these