mkdocs-api-autonav
Autogenerate API docs with mkdocstrings, including nav
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and solves a real pain point for projects using mkdocs and mkdocstrings. It's particularly valuable if you have multiple modules or frequently add new submodules—it eliminates boilerplate documentation maintenance. The permissive BSD license poses no restrictions.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires mkdocs>=1.6 (released Apr 20, 2024) and Python >=3.9.
- Your project must have mkdocstrings installed and configured.
- Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD-3-Clause (permissive) — BSD-3-Clause is permissive and poses no restrictions on commercial or proprietary use. You can incorporate this package into closed-source projects without license obligations.
last release 2025-09-09 (339 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-01 · 42 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 130,700 downloads/mo, #11,630 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install mkdocs-api-autonav
# In mkdocs.yml:
plugins:
- search
- mkdocstrings:
- api-autonav:
modules: ['src/my_library']- Whether the plugin handles complex nested module hierarchies without performance degradation.
- How well it integrates with other mkdocs plugins beyond mkdocs-awesome-nav.
- Whether generated navigation scales well for very large codebases with many submodules.
What it is and what it does
mkdocs-api-autonav is a plugin for mkdocs that automatically discovers Python modules and generates API reference documentation pages with corresponding navigation entries, using mkdocstrings under the hood. Instead of manually creating documentation files and nav entries for each module and submodule, you point the plugin at your source directories and it handles page generation and navigation structure automatically.
The plugin integrates with your existing mkdocs.yml nav configuration—it can replace a placeholder entry, append to an existing section, or create a new API Reference section. It supports fine-grained control over which modules to include or exclude, allows per-module docstring rendering options (docstring style, heading levels, etc.), and handles edge cases like implicit namespace packages. It's designed to work well with mkdocs-material's navigation features and plays nicely with mkdocstrings' extensive configuration options.
Use it for
- Generate complete API documentation for a multi-module Python library without manually creating or maintaining nav entries.
- Automatically include all submodules in your API docs while excluding private modules and applying consistent docstring formatting.
- Integrate API documentation into a larger mkdocs site where the API section can be repositioned or extended with additional pages.
- Apply different docstring styles or rendering options to specific modules using regex-based module_options configuration.
- Maintain API docs that stay in sync with your codebase structure without manual updates to documentation files or navigation.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and solves a real pain point for projects using mkdocs and mkdocstrings. It's particularly valuable if you have multiple modules or frequently add new submodules—it eliminates boilerplate documentation maintenance. The permissive BSD license poses no restrictions.
Install
mkdocs-api-autonav on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution. The package is actively maintained with recent commits and has been in active development since early 2025. Depends on mkdocs, mkdocstrings-python, and pyyaml—all stable, widely-used libraries.
Requires mkdocs>=1.6 (released Apr 20, 2024) and Python >=3.9. Your project must have mkdocstrings installed and configured.
License in practice
BSD-3-Clause is permissive and poses no restrictions on commercial or proprietary use. You can incorporate this package into closed-source projects without license obligations.
Quickstart
pip install mkdocs-api-autonav
# In mkdocs.yml:
plugins:
- search
- mkdocstrings:
- api-autonav:
modules: ['src/my_library']Verify before relying
- Whether the plugin handles complex nested module hierarchies without performance degradation.
- How well it integrates with other mkdocs plugins beyond mkdocs-awesome-nav.
- Whether generated navigation scales well for very large codebases with many submodules.
Package facts
| License | BSD-3-Clause permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 3 packagesmkdocsmkdocstrings-pythonpyyaml |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 339 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 130,700 / month, #11,630 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Typing :: Typed |
Evidence: mkdocs_api_autonav-0.4.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also mkdocstrings · mkdocs-awesome-nav · mkdocstrings-python · mkdocs-awesome-pages-plugin · mkdocs-literate-nav · mkdocs-include-dir-to-nav · mkdocstrings-python-legacy · mkdocs-gen-files · mkdocs-monorepo-plugin · mkdocs-section-index