Skip to main content

Repository: govuk-content-api-docs

Documentation for the GOV.UK Content API.

README

This is a microsite for providing documentation for the GOV.UK Content API. It is hosted at https://content-api.publishing.service.gov.uk.

This documentation is built from source files in this repository and an OpenAPI specification file for the Content Store application.

The framework for this documentation is provided by the [GOV.UK Tech Docs Template][tech-docs-template] and through the use of a fork of widdershins to convert the openapi.yaml to Markdown.

Updating content

The [reference.html][reference-page] page is built using the openapi.yaml file. Changes to content on this page should be made by opening a pull request against the Content Store application. Some aspects of the reference.html page are controlled by templates which are stored in the /templates of this repository.

Other HTML pages are in the [/source][source-dir] of this repository and are authored using Markdown. You can suggest edits to these pages by making changes in a branch or fork of this project and then opening a pull request.

Running documentation locally

To run the documentation locally you should have this repository checked out as well as the Content Store.

Installing dependencies

Setting up the documentation requires Ruby and Node. Run the following to install the necessary dependencies:

make requirements

Preview changes

Whilst writing documentation we can run a middleman server to preview how the published version will look in the browser. After saving a change the preview in the browser will automatically refresh on HTML pages. However for changes to openapi.yaml you will need to restart the preview.

The preview is only available on our own computer. Others won’t be able to access it if they are given the link.

Type the following to start the server:

make server API_SPEC=../content-store/openapi.yaml

You should now be able to view a live preview at http://localhost:4567.

Publishing changes

The main branch of this repository is published every 30 minutes to the gh-pages branch. It uses the deployed-to-production branch of Content Store. Thus once a pull request is merged into main changes will automatically display on the site within 30 minutes.

If for some reason the automatic deployment fails you can deploy with the following command:

make publish API_SPEC=<path/to/openapi.yaml>

This will push to the gh-pages branch and therefore deploy to GitHub Pages.

License

MIT License

/templates [source-dir]: https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-content-api-docs/tree/main/source [reference-page]: https://content-api.publishing.service.gov.uk/reference.html [tech-docs-template]: https://github.com/alphagov/tech-docs-template [rvm]: https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/documentation/installation/#managers [bundler]: http://bundler.io/