whatisgithub

What is showdoc?

star7th/showdoc — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

★ 12,821PHPAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · moderate

In one sentence

ShowDoc is a shared documentation hub for software teams, letting everyone write and find API references, database descriptions, and technical guides in one browser-accessible place.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((ShowDoc))
    What it does
      API documentation
      Database schema docs
      Team guidelines
    Features
      Markdown editor
      Version history
      Templates
    Access control
      Public projects
      Private with password
      Team members
    Deployment
      Self-hosted PHP
      Hosted service
      Automated installer
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Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Host a shared API reference so your frontend and backend teams always see the same endpoint docs.

USE CASE 2

Build a team knowledge base with version-controlled pages for technical standards and onboarding guides.

USE CASE 3

Document a database schema so new team members can quickly understand what each table and field means.

USE CASE 4

Self-host a private documentation site on your own server using the automated installer.

What is it built with?

PHPMarkdown

How does it compare?

star7th/showdocspatie/laravel-permissionwallabag/wallabag
Stars12,82112,88412,706
LanguagePHPPHPPHP
Setup difficultymoderateeasymoderate
Complexity2/52/53/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires a PHP server to self-host, alternatively use the hosted version at showdoc.com.cn with no setup.

Apache 2.0, use freely for any purpose including commercial, modify and distribute as long as you keep the copyright and license notice.

So what is it?

ShowDoc is an online documentation tool built for software development teams. It solves a common frustration: when someone joins a project or takes over from a colleague, there is often no organized place to find API references, database descriptions, or technical guides. Documentation ends up scattered across email threads, instant messages, and Word files on individual computers. ShowDoc replaces that chaos with a shared, browser-accessible space where everyone on the team can read and contribute. The tool supports three main types of documents. API documents describe how a server's endpoints work, including what parameters each one accepts and what it returns. This is useful when a backend team needs to communicate with a frontend team or a mobile app team. Data dictionary documents describe a database structure, spelling out what each table and field means. Explanation documents are general-purpose pages for writing team guidelines, tool instructions, or technical standards. Editing is done in Markdown, a lightweight text format that converts to clean HTML. The editor includes templates for common document types, so you can insert an API template or a data dictionary template and fill in the blanks rather than starting from scratch. Each page keeps a history of previous versions, so you can roll back a change if needed. Projects can be set to public or private. Public projects are readable by anyone with the link. Private projects require a password. Project owners can add team members who can edit content, transfer ownership to someone else, or export the whole project as an offline document. ShowDoc can be hosted on your own server using an automated installer, or used through the hosted version at showdoc.com.cn. The code is written in PHP and released under the Apache 2.0 license, which allows free use and modification.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I'm using ShowDoc to document my REST API. Write a ShowDoc API template entry for a POST /users endpoint that accepts name, email, and password fields and returns a user object with id and created_at.
Prompt 2
Help me write a ShowDoc data dictionary entry for a 'payments' table with columns: id, user_id, amount, currency, status, and created_at.
Prompt 3
I'm migrating from Word docs to ShowDoc. How should I organize my team's documentation into projects and pages for a mobile app with a separate backend API?
Prompt 4
Write a team guidelines page in Markdown for ShowDoc covering how to write API documentation, including required fields and formatting rules.

Frequently asked questions

What is showdoc?

ShowDoc is a shared documentation hub for software teams, letting everyone write and find API references, database descriptions, and technical guides in one browser-accessible place.

What language is showdoc written in?

Mainly PHP. The stack also includes PHP, Markdown.

What license does showdoc use?

Apache 2.0, use freely for any purpose including commercial, modify and distribute as long as you keep the copyright and license notice.

How hard is showdoc to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is showdoc for?

Mainly developer.

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