Unified Docusaurus Documentation Strategy

Concept

Single Docusaurus instance that aggregates documentation from multiple repositories:

FishingLog.Backend (current repo)
FishingLog.Mobile (React Native - future)
FishingLog.Web (Web app - future)
FishingLog.Admin (Admin panel - future)

All served from one password-protected site.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Docusaurus Site (Password Protected)  │
│  https://docs.reelog.app                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
              │
              ├── Fetches from GitHub
              │
    ┌─────────┼─────────┐
    │         │         │
┌───▼───┐ ┌──▼───┐ ┌───▼───┐
│Backend│ │Mobile│ │  Web  │
│  Docs │ │ Docs │ │ Docs  │
└───────┘ └──────┘ └───────┘

How It Works

Option 1: Git Submodules (Recommended)

Setup:

Create new repo: FishingLog.Documentation

Add repos as git submodules:

git submodule add https://github.com/JamesWJager/FishingLog.Backend.git backend
git submodule add https://github.com/JamesWJager/FishingLog.Mobile.git mobile
git submodule add https://github.com/JamesWJager/FishingLog.Web.git web

Docusaurus reads from submodule directories
Build script updates submodules before build

Pros:

✅ Simple setup
✅ Version control (can pin to specific commits)
✅ Works with private repos
✅ Standard Git feature

Cons:

⚠️ Need to update submodules manually or via CI
⚠️ Slightly more complex workflow

Option 2: GitHub Actions Fetch

Setup:

Docusaurus repo with GitHub Actions workflow

Workflow fetches docs from other repos:

- name: Fetch Backend Docs
  run: |
    git clone --depth 1 --branch main \
      https://github.com/JamesWJager/FishingLog.Backend.git \
      temp/backend
    cp -r temp/backend/docs docs/backend

Builds Docusaurus site
Deploys to Netlify/Vercel with password protection

Pros:

✅ Automatic updates
✅ Can fetch from multiple branches
✅ Flexible

Cons:

⚠️ More complex setup
⚠️ Need GitHub tokens for private repos

Option 3: Docusaurus Multi-Instance Plugin

Setup:

Use docusaurus-plugin-content-docs with multiple sources
Configure multiple doc directories
Each points to different repo's docs folder

Pros:

✅ Native Docusaurus feature
✅ Clean organization
✅ Unified search

Cons:

⚠️ Still need to sync docs (via submodules or CI)

Implementation: Git Submodules Approach

Step 1: Create Documentation Repository

# Create new repo
mkdir FishingLog.Documentation
cd FishingLog.Documentation
git init

Step 2: Initialize Docusaurus

npx create-docusaurus@latest . classic --typescript

Step 3: Add Repositories as Submodules

# Add backend docs
git submodule add https://github.com/JamesWJager/FishingLog.Backend.git backend

# Future: Add other repos
# git submodule add https://github.com/JamesWJager/FishingLog.Mobile.git mobile
# git submodule add https://github.com/JamesWJager/FishingLog.Web.git web

Step 4: Configure Docusaurus

docusaurus.config.js:

module.exports = {
  title: 'FishingLog Platform Documentation',
  tagline: 'Complete documentation for all FishingLog applications',
  url: 'https://docs.reelog.app',
  baseUrl: '/',
  
  presets: [
    [
      '@docusaurus/preset-classic',
      {
        docs: {
          // Backend docs
          path: 'backend/docs',
          routeBasePath: 'backend',
          sidebarPath: require.resolve('./sidebars/backend.js'),
        },
        // Future: Add more doc instances
        // blog: false, // Disable blog
        theme: {
          customCss: require.resolve('./src/css/custom.css'),
        },
      },
    ],
  ],
  
  // Multi-instance docs
  plugins: [
    [
      '@docusaurus/plugin-content-docs',
      {
        id: 'mobile',
        path: 'mobile/docs',
        routeBasePath: 'mobile',
        sidebarPath: require.resolve('./sidebars/mobile.js'),
      },
    ],
    [
      '@docusaurus/plugin-content-docs',
      {
        id: 'web',
        path: 'web/docs',
        routeBasePath: 'web',
        sidebarPath: require.resolve('./sidebars/web.js'),
      },
    ],
  ],
};

Step 5: Update Submodules Script

.github/workflows/deploy-docs.yml:

name: Deploy Unified Documentation

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          submodules: recursive
          token: $\{\{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN \}\}
      
      - name: Update Submodules
        run: |
          git submodule update --init --recursive
          git submodule update --remote
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
      
      - name: Install Dependencies
        run: npm install
      
      - name: Build Documentation
        run: npm run build
      
      - name: Deploy to Cloudflare Pages
        uses: cloudflare/pages-action@v1
        with:
          apiToken: $\{\{ secrets.CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN \}\}
          accountId: $\{\{ secrets.CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID \}\}
          projectName: fishinglog-docs
          directory: build
          gitHubToken: $\{\{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN \}\}

Password Protection Options

Option 1: Cloudflare Pages Password Protection (Easiest)

Setup:

Deploy to Cloudflare Pages
Settings → Access → Password Protection
Set password
Done!

Pros:

✅ One-click setup
✅ Free
✅ Works immediately

Cons:

⚠️ Single password (no user management)

Option 2: Cloudflare Access (Free Tier)

Setup:

Deploy to Cloudflare Pages
Enable Cloudflare Access
Configure access policies
Users authenticate via email/SSO

Pros:

✅ Free tier available
✅ User management
✅ SSO support
✅ More secure

Cons:

⚠️ More setup required

Option 3: Docusaurus Auth Plugin

Setup:

Install @docusaurus/plugin-google-analytics or custom auth
Add authentication middleware
Protect routes

Pros:

✅ Full control
✅ Customizable

Cons:

⚠️ More complex
⚠️ Need to maintain auth

Benefits of Unified Approach

✅ Advantages

Single Source of Truth
- One place for all documentation
- Consistent navigation
- Unified search
Better Organization
- Clear separation by project
- Cross-references between projects
- Shared components/themes
Easier Maintenance
- One deployment pipeline
- One password to share
- One site to maintain
Professional
- Looks more polished
- Better for team onboarding
- Easier to share with stakeholders
Future-Proof
- Easy to add new projects
- Scales well
- Standard pattern

⚠️ Considerations

Complexity
- More moving parts
- Submodule management
- CI/CD complexity
Update Workflow
- Need to update submodules
- CI needs to handle multiple repos
- More potential failure points
Initial Setup
- More time to set up
- Need to migrate existing docs
- Learning curve

Comparison: Docusaurus vs MkDocs

Feature	Docusaurus	MkDocs
Multi-repo support	✅ Native plugins	⚠️ Requires workarounds
React-based	✅ Yes	❌ No
Password protection	⚠️ Requires plugin	⚠️ Requires plugin
Search	✅ Algolia/meilisearch	✅ Built-in
Theming	✅ Many themes	✅ Material theme
Multi-instance docs	✅ Built-in	⚠️ Complex
Deployment	✅ Cloudflare Pages/Vercel	✅ GitHub Pages

Recommendation

✅ Go with Docusaurus Unified Approach

Why:

Better for multi-repo - Native support for multiple doc sources
More professional - Better UI/UX than MkDocs
Cloudflare Pages - Fast CDN, free, password protection
Future-proof - Easy to add mobile/web/admin docs
Password protection - Netlify makes it easy
Better organization - Unified navigation, search, themes

Implementation Plan

Phase 1: Setup (1-2 hours)
- Create FishingLog.Documentation repo
- Initialize Docusaurus
- Add backend as submodule
- Configure basic structure
Phase 2: Migration (2-3 hours)
- Migrate existing docs structure
- Set up navigation
- Configure search
- Test locally
Phase 3: Deployment (1 hour)
- Set up Netlify
- Configure password protection
- Set up CI/CD
- Deploy
Phase 4: Future (as needed)
- Add mobile docs when ready
- Add web docs when ready
- Add admin docs when ready

Quick Start: Docusaurus Setup

# 1. Create new repo
mkdir FishingLog.Documentation
cd FishingLog.Documentation
git init

# 2. Initialize Docusaurus
npx create-docusaurus@latest . classic --typescript

# 3. Add backend as submodule
git submodule add https://github.com/JamesWJager/FishingLog.Backend.git backend

# 4. Configure docusaurus.config.js (see above)

# 5. Test locally
npm start

# 6. Deploy to Netlify
# - Connect repo to Netlify
# - Build command: npm run build
# - Publish directory: build
# - Add password protection

Is This Overboard?

Short answer: No!

This is actually a best practice for multi-repo projects. Many companies do this:

Facebook (Meta) uses unified docs
Google uses unified docs
Microsoft uses unified docs

Benefits outweigh complexity:

Better developer experience
Easier onboarding
More professional
Scales better

Next Steps

Would you like me to:

Set up the Docusaurus structure - Create config, add submodules
Migrate existing docs - Convert MkDocs structure to Docusaurus
Set up deployment - Cloudflare Pages with password protection
Create migration guide - Step-by-step instructions

This is a solid approach that will scale well as you add more projects!

Concept​

Architecture​

How It Works​

Option 1: Git Submodules (Recommended)​

Option 2: GitHub Actions Fetch​

Option 3: Docusaurus Multi-Instance Plugin​

Implementation: Git Submodules Approach​

Step 1: Create Documentation Repository​

Step 2: Initialize Docusaurus​

Step 3: Add Repositories as Submodules​

Step 4: Configure Docusaurus​

Step 5: Update Submodules Script​

Password Protection Options​

Option 1: Cloudflare Pages Password Protection (Easiest)​

Option 2: Cloudflare Access (Free Tier)​

Option 3: Docusaurus Auth Plugin​

Benefits of Unified Approach​

✅ Advantages​

⚠️ Considerations​

Comparison: Docusaurus vs MkDocs​

Recommendation​

✅ Go with Docusaurus Unified Approach​

Implementation Plan​

Quick Start: Docusaurus Setup​

Is This Overboard?​

Next Steps​

Concept

Architecture

How It Works

Option 1: Git Submodules (Recommended)

Option 2: GitHub Actions Fetch

Option 3: Docusaurus Multi-Instance Plugin

Implementation: Git Submodules Approach

Step 1: Create Documentation Repository

Step 2: Initialize Docusaurus

Step 3: Add Repositories as Submodules

Step 4: Configure Docusaurus

Step 5: Update Submodules Script

Password Protection Options

Option 1: Cloudflare Pages Password Protection (Easiest)

Option 2: Cloudflare Access (Free Tier)

Option 3: Docusaurus Auth Plugin

Benefits of Unified Approach

✅ Advantages

⚠️ Considerations

Comparison: Docusaurus vs MkDocs

Recommendation

✅ Go with Docusaurus Unified Approach

Implementation Plan

Quick Start: Docusaurus Setup

Is This Overboard?

Next Steps