Technical Documentation Software
Document a system around its own diagram, and keep the README, API reference, events, configuration and runbook one click from the parts they describe.
Free forever on the Personal plan
Technical documentation: an example
Docs beside the design
README, API and runbook open from the diagram of what they describe.
Code and config, formatted
Highlighted code, configuration tables and Mermaid diagrams in every section.
Published as a docs site
On the Team plan, a folium publishes the docs with search and an API reference.
The basics
What is technical documentation?
Technical documentation explains how a system works and how to work on it: what it is for, how it is built, its interfaces and data, how to configure, deploy and operate it, and the decisions behind it. Its readers are engineers who build it, run it or integrate with it.
Technical docs drift because they are kept apart from the system's design: the diagram in one tool, the README in a repository, the runbook in a wiki. Readers cannot tell which one is current.
In Blueprintr the system diagram is the front page: each component opens its notes, and each document tile opens the document itself, with code, tables and Mermaid diagrams rendered in place.
Why Blueprintr
Documentation engineers keep up to date
The system on one diagram, every document one click from its part.
The diagram as the front page
Draw callers, components, data stores and dependencies, and a tile for each document, so readers start from how the system fits together.
VellumDocuments behind the tiles
Write each document in a stratum with markdown, tables, callouts and numbered steps, and keep code or config in a Raw tab with highlighting.
StratumA documentation site
On the Team plan, a folium publishes pages with a page tree, search, manual version snapshots, page comments and your own domain.
FoliumAPI reference from OpenAPI
A folium generates an API reference from an OpenAPI or AsyncAPI file, beside the hand-written guides.
Docs in Git
A folium syncs markdown with GitHub.com or GitLab.com: it pulls pages in, and pushes edits to a new branch for review.
Diagrams as code
Mermaid code blocks render as diagrams wherever you write, and a blueprint can hold a whole Mermaid tab for sequence and state diagrams.
How to
How to write technical documentation in Blueprintr
Create a blueprint
Sign up free and create a blueprint for the system you are documenting.
Draw the system
Add the callers, the system's parts and what it depends on, with the data flowing between them.
Add the documents
Add a tile for each document, such as README, API, events and runbook, and write it in the stratum.
Link parts and documents
Link each part's notes to the documents that cover it, and back again.
Publish and grow
Publish for your team, and move the documents into a folium as they multiply.
FAQ
Questions about technical documentation
Is this technical documentation software free?
Yes. The Vellum editor, strata with markdown, code and Mermaid, and blueprint publishing are on the free Personal plan. Folium documentation sites, repo sync and API references are part of the Team plan.
What should technical documentation include?
What the system is for and who owns it, how it is built, its APIs and events, configuration and deployment, alerts and runbooks, the decisions behind it, and how a new engineer gets started.
Can I write the documentation in markdown?
Yes. Strata, rich text tabs and folium pages are markdown, with callouts, numbered steps, tabs, tables and code blocks, so documents move in and out as plain text.
Can I keep documentation in sync with GitHub?
On the Team plan, a folium syncs with GitHub.com or GitLab.com: it pulls markdown into pages and pushes edits to a new branch for review. GitHub Enterprise and self-managed GitLab are not supported.
Can I generate API documentation from OpenAPI?
Yes. A folium builds an API reference from an OpenAPI or AsyncAPI file, which you can place beside hand-written guides and the system diagram.
Can I write diagrams as code?
Yes. Mermaid code blocks render as diagrams in any markdown, and a blueprint can hold Mermaid tabs beside the Vellum diagram.