---
id: mkdocstrings
version: "1.0.6"
license: ISC
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# mkdocstrings — Automatic documentation from sources, for MkDocs.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 8.4M/mo

## What it is and what it does

This plugin for MkDocs extracts docstrings from source code and injects them into your documentation as formatted API reference sections. Instead of manually writing API docs, you add simple directives to your Markdown files, and the plugin parses the source, renders the docstrings, and handles cross-references automatically. It's language-agnostic through a handler system—the base package provides the framework, and separate handlers add support for different languages.

The plugin integrates with MkDocs and its theming system, with support for multiple themes. It supports cross-references both within your documentation and to external project inventories. Configuration is flexible—you can set defaults globally in mkdocs.yml and override them per-directive with YAML blocks.

Use it for:

- Generate API reference docs automatically from docstrings in a project without manual documentation maintenance
- Build multi-language API documentation for a library that exposes bindings in multiple languages
- Create cross-referenced API docs where docstring links resolve automatically across multiple pages
- Maintain up-to-date API documentation that stays in sync with source code changes
- Reference external library APIs in your docs by loading their inventory files

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

An MkDocs plugin that automatically generates API documentation from source code docstrings, supporting multiple programming languages through pluggable handlers.

Yes. The plugin is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, uses a permissive license, and integrates cleanly into MkDocs workflows with low install friction. It's production-ready and widely adopted. Install it if you use MkDocs and want to automate API documentation from source code; you'll also need to install a language handler for your target language.

## Install

pip install mkdocstrings
uv add mkdocstrings
poetry add mkdocstrings

## Installing mkdocstrings

Before you install: Low friction install with a wheel distribution. Active maintenance with a recent release 34 days ago and 2082 repository stars. Requires Python 3.10 or later and depends on six runtime packages including mkdocs, Markdown, and Jinja2.

License in practice: ISC license is permissive, allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects without legal concern.

Quickstart:

pip install mkdocstrings

# In mkdocs.yml:
plugins:
  - mkdocstrings

# In your markdown file:
::: my_module.MyClass

Requires Python 3.10 or later. Language handlers must be installed separately to generate docs for specific languages.

Verify before relying:

- Whether language handlers are bundled or must be installed separately for each language
- Performance characteristics when documenting large codebases
- Customization depth available for generated documentation styling beyond Material theme support

## Package facts

- License: ISC (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 8.4M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

automatic api documentation generation, mkdocs plugin docstring extraction, source code documentation autodoc, multi-language api docs, docstring to markdown, mkdocs autodoc plugin, api reference generation, mkdocs-plugin, autodoc, api-reference

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