In this blog post, we will explore how to integrate Java Spring REST Docs with GitHub Pages to generate and host API documentation for your RESTful web services.

What is Java Spring REST Docs?

Java Spring REST Docs is a testing framework that generates documentation for RESTful APIs. It allows you to write concise and expressive documentation in Markdown format, which can be easily transformed into a range of output formats including HTML, PDF, and GitHub-flavored Markdown.

Why use GitHub Pages for API documentation?

GitHub Pages is a free hosting service provided by GitHub that allows you to create static websites. It is a great choice for hosting API documentation as it provides a simple and intuitive way to publish and maintain your documentation. Additionally, GitHub Pages supports custom domains, SSL encryption, and version control, making it a reliable and convenient option for hosting your API documentation.

Steps to integrate Java Spring REST Docs with GitHub Pages

1. Generate documentation with Spring REST Docs: Start by writing tests for your RESTful APIs using the Spring REST Docs framework. These tests should include snippets that capture the request and response payloads, as well as any additional documentation you want to include. After running the tests, Spring REST Docs will generate the documentation snippets in a directory (build/generated-snippets by default).

2. Configure the build process: Update your project’s build configuration to include the necessary dependencies and plugins for generating the API documentation. This typically involves adding the asciidoctor and spring-restdocs-asciidoctor plugins to your project’s build.gradle or pom.xml file.

3. Generate the documentation: Run the build command for your project (./gradlew build or mvn clean install) to trigger the documentation generation process. This will convert the documentation snippets into HTML pages using the AsciiDoctor and Spring REST Docs tools.

4. Set up GitHub Pages: If you don’t already have a GitHub repository for your project, create one. Then, go to the repository settings and navigate to the GitHub Pages section. Choose the branch that will contain your documentation (typically gh-pages), and set the folder to the docs folder in your project’s root directory.

5. Push the generated documentation: Copy the generated HTML documentation files (*.html) to the docs folder in your project’s repository. Commit and push these changes to the chosen branch (e.g., gh-pages).

6. Access your API documentation: Once the changes are pushed, GitHub Pages will automatically build and publish your API documentation. You can access it using the URL https://<username>.github.io/<repository>/.

That’s it! You have successfully integrated Java Spring REST Docs with GitHub Pages to host your API documentation. Now you can easily share and maintain your RESTful API documentation with your team and stakeholders.

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