Penify Configuration (penify.config.json)

The penify.config.json file is the central configuration resource for Penify. It controls how Penify generates documentation, analyzes your repository, and interacts with Git. This file should be placed in the root directory of your project.

Complete Configuration Example

Below is a complete example of a penify.config.json file with all available options:

{
  "ignore": ["node_modules", ".git", ".github", "docs"],
  "should_use_git_ignore": true,
  "api_docs": {
    "open_api_file": "openapi.json",
    "generate_example": false,
    "host_documentation": true,
    "commit_output": {
      "commit_to_git": true,
      "branch": "main",
      "path": "docs/openapi_penify.json"
    }
  },
  "arch_docs": {
    "host_documentation": true,
    "generate_pdf": true,
    "generate_md": true,
    "commit_output": {
      "commit_to_git": false,
      "branch": null,
      "path": "docs"
    }
  },
  "analyze_repo": {
    "send_email": true,
    "email": "developer@example.com",
    "ignore": ["node_modules", ".git", ".github", "public", "dist", "test*", "docs*"]
  }
}

Configuration Options

Root Level Configuration

Option	Type	Default	Description
ignore	Array of Strings	["node_modules", ".git", ".github", "docs"]	Global patterns to ignore when processing files. These patterns apply to all Penify operations unless overridden in specific sections.
should_use_git_ignore	Boolean	true	When set to true, Penify will respect patterns in your .gitignore file in addition to the ignore patterns specified in this configuration.
api_docs	Object	See API Documentation	Configuration for API documentation generation.
arch_docs	Object	See Architecture Documentation	Configuration for architecture documentation generation.
analyze_repo	Object	See Repository Analysis	Configuration for repository analysis features.

API Documentation

The api_docs section configures how Penify generates API documentation from your OpenAPI specification.

Option	Type	Default	Description
open_api_file	String	"openapi.json"	Path to your OpenAPI specification file, relative to your project root.
generate_example	Boolean	false	When set to true, Penify will generate example requests and responses for your API endpoints.
host_documentation	Boolean	true	When set to true, Penify will set up hosted documentation for your API that can be accessed through the Penify platform.
commit_output	Object	See Commit Output	Configuration for how API documentation is committed to your repository.

Architecture Documentation

The arch_docs section configures how Penify generates architectural documentation for your project.

Option	Type	Default	Description
host_documentation	Boolean	true	When set to true, Penify will host the architectural documentation on the Penify platform.
generate_pdf	Boolean	true	When set to true, Penify will generate PDF documentation for your project architecture.
generate_md	Boolean	true	When set to true, Penify will generate Markdown documentation for your project architecture.
commit_output	Object	See below	Configuration for how architecture documentation is committed to your repository. Default values differ from API documentation.

Default commit_output for architecture documentation:

{
  "commit_to_git": false,
  "branch": null,
  "path": "docs"
}

Repository Analysis

The analyze_repo section configures Penify's repository analysis capabilities, which provide insights about your codebase.

Option	Type	Default	Description
send_email	Boolean	true	When set to true, Penify will send email reports of repository analysis results.
email	String	null	Email address where repository analysis reports will be sent. If not specified, it will use the email associated with your Penify account.
ignore	Array of Strings	["node_modules", ".git", ".github", "public", "dist", "test*", "docs*"]	Patterns to ignore during repository analysis. This overrides the global ignore setting for repository analysis operations.

Commit Output

The commit_output object appears in both api_docs and arch_docs sections and controls how documentation is committed to your repository.

Option	Type	Default	Description
commit_to_git	Boolean	Varies	When set to true, Penify will automatically commit generated documentation to your repository.
branch	String or null	null	The branch where documentation should be committed. If null, Penify will use your default branch.
path	String	Varies	The path where documentation files will be written, relative to your project root.

Usage with Penify CLI

The penify.config.json file is automatically detected by the Penify CLI when running commands like:

# Generate documentation using settings from penify.config.json
penifycli docgen

# Analyze repository using settings from penify.config.json
penifycli analyze

You can also specify a different configuration file using the --config flag:

penifycli docgen --config custom-penify.config.json

Creating a Configuration File

The simplest way to create a configuration file is with the interactive configuration command:

penifycli config init

This will guide you through a series of prompts to create a customized penify.config.json file for your project.

Alternatively, you can create the file manually in your project root directory using the example provided above as a starting point.