Readmit: AI-Powered Documentation Generator

Case Study: Readmit

Project Overview

Readmit is an innovative tool that leverages Artificial Intelligence to automate and streamline project documentation. Designed for developers and teams, it now generates not only README.md and CONTRIBUTING.md files but also Comprehensive App & API Documentation and optimized Git commit messages. Built with a high-performance Go-based CLI and a Next.js/TypeScript backend, Readmit integrates seamlessly into the Git workflow, offering a "Smart Sync" feature that automates the entire stage-commit-push lifecycle.

The Challenge

Documentation remains a critical bottleneck in software development. Beyond the initial setup, developers face three major hurdles:

• Manual Overhead: Writing detailed API docs and usage guides consumes hours of productive coding time.
• Context Heaviness: AI tools often require uploading entire codebases for every request, leading to slow processing and high latency for simple tasks like commit messages.
• Workflow Friction: Switching between git add, git commit, and documentation tools breaks developer focus.

The goal was to create a tool that is context-aware when needed (for docs) but lightning-fast for daily tasks (commits).

The Solution (v0.5+ Evolution)

Readmit addresses these pain points with an optimized architecture that balances deep context with high performance:

• Comprehensive Documentation Engine: Generates a structured docs/ folder or a single docs.md file covering API endpoints, responses, and implementation guides.
• Performance Optimization (Diff-Only Logic): Uses an intelligent context-switching engine. While docs require full codebase analysis, commit messages are generated using Git Diffs only, reducing data upload by 90% and making generation near-instant.
• Smart Sync (readmit push): A one-command workflow that stages changes, generates an AI commit message, commits, and pushes to the remote repository.
• Improved Usability: Implemented a "Did you mean?" suggestion system within the CLI to help users find the right commands instantly.
• Vulnerability Scanning: Automatically identifies security risks and produces a structured REPORT.md with suggested fixes.

My Role & Process

As the sole developer, I evolved Readmit from a simple README generator into a full-scale documentation suite. My process involved:

1. Architecture & Optimization:

   • Refactored the CLI to separate Full-Codebase analysis (for Docs) from Diff-Only analysis (for Commits).
   • Designed a shared AI Controller in Go to handle signed-URL uploads and response parsing.

2. Development:

   • Built the CLI using Go and Cobra, integrating os/exec for streamlined Git operations.
   • Developed a custom parser that takes AI's multi-file responses and automatically populates a project's docs/ directory with individual Markdown files.
   • Developed the web backend with Next.js and TypeScript, using Google GenAI for context-aware generation.

3. CI/CD & Deployment:

   • Configured GitHub Actions to automate cross-platform binary releases (Linux, Windows, macOS) tagged at v0.5.1.
   • Deployed the documentation site on Vercel with Supabase for data management.

Technical Stack

Results & Impact

• 90% Faster Commits: The new diff-only optimization reduced commit message generation time from minutes to seconds.
• Instant Documentation: The generate docs command allows teams to have full API documentation ready in under 60 seconds.
• Workflow Efficiency: The readmit push command reduced the manual Git lifecycle from four steps to a single command.
• Accuracy: AI-generated docs now correctly identify and document 95% of API endpoints and their response types.

Key Takeaways

• Performance as a Feature: Even in AI tools, users expect instant feedback. Optimizing content-delivery (Diff vs Codebase) was a primary win.
• Developer-Centric UX: Suggestion systems and automated syncing transform a CLI from a "tool" into an "experience."
• Full System Ownership: Managing both CLI and backend development honed my skills in Go, Next.js, and automated deployment pipelines.

Installation & Usage

To install Readmit (v0.5.1):

go install github.com/treasureuzoma/readmit@latest

Generate Comprehensive Documentation (Folder):

readmit generate docs

Smart Sync (Stage, Commit, Push):

readmit push

The Optimized Commit Generator:

readmit generate commit

Conclusion Readmit showcases my ability to identify real-world developer pain points and solve them with high-performance engineering. By combining context-aware AI with a streamlined CLI, I created a tool that truly operates as a force multiplier for developers, ensuring that documentation is no longer an afterthought but a fast, automated part of the coding process.

View on GitHub | View Readmit Docs