Contributing to documentation

Accessible documentation is a vital part of LangChain. We welcome both documentation for new features and integrations, as well as community improvements to existing docs.

These are contribution guidelines for our open source projects, but they also apply to the LangSmith documentation.

Contribute

Quick edits

For quick changes like fixing typos or changing a link, you can edit directly on GitHub without setting up a local development environment:

Prerequisites:

• A GitHub account
• Basic familiarity of the fork-and-pull workflow for contributing

1. At the bottom of the page you want to edit, click the link Edit the source of this page on GitHub.
2. GitHub will prompt you to fork the repository to your account. Make sure to fork into your personal account.
3. Make the changes directly in GitHub’s web editor.
4. Click Commit changes… and give your commit a descriptive title like fix(docs): summary of change. If applicable, add an extended description.
5. GitHub will redirect you to create a pull request. Give it a title (often the same as the commit) and follow the PR template checklist.

Docs PRs are typically reviewed within a few days. Keep an eye on your PR to address any feedback from maintainers.

Do not bump the PR unless you have new information to provide – maintainers will address it as their availability permits.

Larger edits and additions

For larger changes, additions, or ongoing contributions, it’s necessary to set up a local development environment on your machine. Our documentation build pipeline offers local preview, important for ensuring your changes appear as intended before submitting.

Set up local environment

Before you can work on this project, ensure you have the following installed:

Required:

• python >= 3.13, < 4.0
• uv - Python package manager (used for dependency management)
• Node.js and npm - For Mintlify CLI and reference documentation builds
• Make - For running build commands
• Git - For version control

Optional but recommended:

• markdownlint-cli - For linting markdown files

  npm install -g markdownlint-cli
  

• pnpm - Required only if you’re working on reference documentation

  npm install -g pnpm@10.14.0
  

• Mintlify MDX VSCode extension

Setup steps:

1. Clone the langchain-ai/docs repo. Follow the steps outlined in IDE_SETUP.md.

2. Install dependencies:

   make install
   

   This command will:

   • Install Python dependencies using uv sync --all-groups
   • Install Mintlify CLI globally via npm

3. Verify your setup:

   make build
   

   This should build the documentation without errors.

After install, you’ll have access to the docs command:

docs --help

Common commands:

• docs dev - Start development mode with file watching and hot reload
• docs build - Build documentation

See Available commands for more details.

Edit documentation

Only edit files in src/ – The build/ directory is automatically generated.

1. Ensure your environment is set up and that you have followed the steps in IDE_SETUP.md to configure your IDE/editor to automatically apply the correct settings.

2. Edit files in src/

   • Make changes to markdown files and the build system will automatically detect changes and rebuild affected files.
   • If OSS content varies between Python and JavaScript/TypeScript, add content for both in the same file. Otherwise, content will be identical for both languages.
   • Use Mintlify syntax for formatting.

3. Start development mode to preview changes locally:

   docs dev
   

   This starts a development server with hot reload at http://localhost:3000.

4. Iterate

   • Continue editing and see changes reflected immediately.
   • The development server rebuilds only changed files for faster feedback.

5. Run the quality checks to ensure your changes are valid.

6. Get approval from the relevant reviewers.

   LangChain team members can generate a sharable preview build

7. Publish to production (team members only).

Create a sharable preview build

Only LangChain team members can create sharable preview builds.

Instructions

Previews are useful for sharing work-in-progress changes with others.

When you create or update a PR, a preview branch/ID is automatically generated for you. A comment will be left on the PR with the ID, which you can then use to generate a preview. (You can also run this workflow manually if needed.)

1. Copy the preview branch’s ID from the comment.
2. In the Mintlify dashboard, click Create preview deployment.
3. Enter the preview branch’s ID.
4. Click Create deployment. A Manual update will display in the Previews table.
5. Select the preview and click Visit to view the preview build.

To redeploy the preview build with the latest changes, click Redeploy on the Mintlify dashboard.

Run quality checks

Before submitting changes, ensure your code passes formatting and linting checks:

# Check broken links
make mint-broken-links

# Format code automatically
make format

# Check for linting issues
make lint

# Fix markdown issues
make lint_md_fix

# Run tests to ensure your changes don't break existing functionality
make test

For more details, see the available commands section in the README.

Publish to prod

Only internal team members can publish to production.

Instructions

Once your branch has been merged into main, you need to push the changes to prod for them to render on the live docs site. Use the Publish documentation GH action:

1. Go to Publish documentation.
2. Click the Run workflow button.
3. Select the main branch to deploy.
4. Click Run workflow.

Documentation types

All documentation falls under one of four categories:

How-to guides

Task-oriented instructions for users who know what they want to accomplish.

Conceptual guides

Explanations that provide deeper understanding and insights.

Reference

Technical descriptions of APIs and implementation details.

Tutorials

Lessons that guide users through practical activities to build understanding.

Where applicable, all documentation must have both Python and JavaScript/TypeScript content. For more details, see the co-locate Python and JavaScript/TypeScript content section.

How-to guides

How-to guides are task-oriented instructions for users who know what they want to accomplish. Examples of how-to guides are on the LangChain and LangGraph tabs.

Characteristics

• Task-focused: Focus on a specific task or problem
• Step-by-step: Break down the task into smaller steps
• Hands-on: Provide concrete examples and code snippets

Tips

• Focus on the how rather than the why
• Use concrete examples and code snippets
• Break down the task into smaller steps
• Link to related conceptual guides and references

Examples

• Messages
• Tools
• Streaming

Conceptual guides

Conceptual guide cover core concepts abstractly, providing deep understanding.

Characteristics

• Understanding-focused: Explain why things work as they do
• Broad perspective: Higher and wider view than other types
• Design-oriented: Explain decisions and trade-offs
• Context-rich: Use analogies and comparisons

Tips

• Focus on the “why” rather than the “how”
• Provides supplementary information not necessarily required for feature usage
• Can use analogies and reference alternatives
• Avoid blending in too much reference content
• Link to related tutorials and how-to guides

Examples

• Memory
• Context
• Graph API
• Functional API

Reference

Reference documentation contains detailed, low-level information describing exactly what functionality exists and how to use it.

Python reference

JavaScript/TypeScript reference

A good reference should:

• Describe what exists (all parameters, options, return values)
• Be comprehensive and structured for easy lookup
• Serve as the authoritative source for technical details

Contributing to references

See the contributing guide for Python reference docs.

LangChain reference best practices

• Be consistent; follow existing patterns for provider-specific documentation
• Include both basic usage (code snippets) and common edge cases/failure modes
• Note when features require specific versions

When to create new reference documentation

• New integrations or providers need dedicated reference pages
• Complex configuration options require detailed explanation
• API changes introduce new parameters or behavior
• Community frequently asks questions about specific functionality

Tutorials

Tutorials are longer form step-by-step guides that builds upon itself and takes users through a specific practical activity to build understanding. Tutorials are typically found on the Learn tab.

We generally do not merge new tutorials from outside contributors without an acute need. If you feel that a certain topic is missing from docs or is not sufficiently covered, please open a new issue.

Characteristics

• Practical: Focus on practical activities to build understanding.
• Step-by-step: Break down the activity into smaller steps.
• Hands-on: Provide sequential, working code snippets.
• Supplementary: Provide additional context and information not necessarily required for feature usage.

Tips

• Code snippets should be sequential and working if the user follows the steps in order.
• Provide some context for the activity, but link to related conceptual guides and references for more detailed information.

Examples

• Semantic search
• RAG agent

Writing standards

Reference documentation has different standards - see the reference docs contributing guide for details.

Mintlify components

Use Mintlify components to enhance readability:

Callouts

• <Note> for helpful supplementary information
• <Warning> for important cautions and breaking changes
• <Tip> for best practices and advice
• <Info> for neutral contextual information
• <Check> for success confirmations

Structure

• <Steps> for an overview of sequential procedures. Not for long lists of steps or tutorials.
• <Tabs> for platform-specific content.
• <AccordionGroup> and <Accordion> for nice-to-have information that can be collapsed by default (e.g., full code examples).
• <CardGroup> and <Card> for highlighting content.

Code

• <CodeGroup> for multiple language examples.
• Always specify language tags on code blocks (e.g., ```python, ```javascript).
• Titles for code blocks (e.g. Success, Error Response)

Page structure

Every documentation page must begin with YAML frontmatter:

---
title: "Clear, specific title"
sidebarTitle: "Short title for the sidebar (optional)"
---

Co-locate Python and JavaScript/TypeScript content

All documentation must be written in both Python and JavaScript/TypeScript when possible. To do so, we use a custom in-line syntax to differentiate between sections that should appear in one or both languages:

:::python
Python-specific content. In real docs, the preceding backslash (before `python`) is omitted.
:::

:::js
JavaScript/TypeScript-specific content. In real docs, the preceding backslash (before `js`) is omitted.
:::

Content for both languages (not wrapped)

This will generate two outputs (one for each language) at /oss/python/concepts/foo.mdx and /oss/javascript/concepts/foo.mdx. Each outputted page will need to be added to the /src/docs.json file to be included in the navigation.

We don’t want a lack of parity to block contributions. If a feature is only available in one language, it’s okay to have documentation only in that language until the other language catches up. In such cases, please include a note indicating that the feature is not yet available in the other language.

If you need help translating content between Python and JavaScript/TypeScript, please ask in the community slack or tag a maintainer in your PR.

Quality standards

General guidelines

Avoid duplication

Multiple pages covering the same material are difficult to maintain and cause confusion. There should be only one canonical page for each concept or feature. Link to other guides instead of re-explaining.

Link frequently

Documentation sections don’t exist in a vacuum. Link to other sections frequently to allow users to learn about unfamiliar topics. This includes linking to API references and conceptual sections.

Be concise

Take a less-is-more approach. If another section with a good explanation exists, link to it rather than re-explain, unless your content presents a new angle.

Accessibility requirements

Ensure documentation is accessible to all users:

• Structure content for easy scanning with headers and lists
• Use specific, actionable link text instead of “click here”
• Include descriptive alt text for all images and diagrams

Cross-referencing

Use consistent cross-references to connect docs with API reference documentation.

From docs to API reference:

Use the @[] syntax to link to API reference pages:

See @[`ChatAnthropic`] for all configuration options.

The @[`bind_tools`][ChatAnthropic.bind_tools] method accepts...

The build pipeline transforms these into proper markdown links based on the current language scope (Python or JavaScript). For example, @[ChatAnthropic] becomes a link to the Python or JS API reference page depending on which version of the docs is being built, but only if an entry exists in the link_map.py file! See below for details.

How autolinks work

The @[] syntax is processed by handle_auto_links.py. It looks up link keys in link_map.py, which contains dictionary mappings for both Python and JavaScript scopes.

Supported formats:

Syntax	Result
@[ChatAnthropic]	Link with “ChatAnthropic” as the displayed text
@[`ChatAnthropic`]	Link with `ChatAnthropic` (code formatted) as text
@[text][ChatAnthropic]	Link with “text” as text and ChatAnthropic as the key in the link map
\@[ChatAnthropic]	Escaped: renders as literal @[ChatAnthropic] (no link – what’s being used on this page!)

Adding new links:

If a link isn’t found in the map, it will be left unchanged in the output. To add a new autolink:

1. Open pipeline/preprocessors/link_map.py
2. Add an entry to the appropriate scope (python or js) in LINK_MAPS
3. The key is the link name used in @[key] or @[text][key], the value is the path relative to the reference host

From API reference stubs to OSS docs:

See the README for more information on linking from API reference stubs to Python OSS docs. Specifically see the mkdocstrings cross-reference linking syntax.

Get help

Our goal is to have the simplest developer setup possible. Should you experience any difficulty getting setup, please ask in the community slack or open a forum post. Internal team members can reach out in the #documentation Slack channel.

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