dotnet-documentation-strategy
dotnet-documentation-strategy
Documentation tooling recommendation for .NET projects: decision tree for selecting Starlight (Astro-based, modern default), Docusaurus (React-based, plugin-rich), or DocFX (community-maintained, .NET-native XML doc integration). Covers MarkdownSnippets for verified code inclusion from source files, Mermaid rendering support across all platforms, migration paths between tools, and project-context-driven recommendation based on team size, project type, and existing ecosystem.
Version assumptions: Starlight v0.x+ (Astro 4+). Docusaurus v3.x (React 18+). DocFX v2.x (community-maintained). MarkdownSnippets as dotnet tool (.NET 8.0+ baseline). Mermaid v10+ (GitHub, Starlight, Docusaurus render natively).
Scope boundary: This skill owns documentation tooling selection and configuration for .NET projects -- the decision of which doc platform to use, initial setup, and content authoring patterns. CI deployment of doc sites to GitHub Pages or other hosts is owned by [skill:dotnet-gha-deploy]. API reference documentation generation from XML comments is owned by [skill:dotnet-api-docs].
Out of scope: CI/CD deployment pipelines for doc sites (GitHub Pages workflows, Docker-based deployment) -- see [skill:dotnet-gha-deploy]. API documentation generation specifics (DocFX API reference setup, OpenAPI-as-docs) -- see [skill:dotnet-api-docs]. XML documentation comment authoring -- see [skill:dotnet-xml-docs]. Mermaid diagram syntax and .NET-specific diagram patterns -- see [skill:dotnet-mermaid-diagrams].
Cross-references: [skill:dotnet-gha-deploy] for doc site deployment pipelines, [skill:dotnet-api-docs] for API reference generation, [skill:dotnet-xml-docs] for XML doc comment authoring, [skill:dotnet-mermaid-diagrams] for .NET-specific Mermaid diagrams.
Documentation Tooling Decision Tree
Choose documentation tooling based on project context, team capabilities, and existing ecosystem investments.