---
id: sphinxcontrib-autoyaml
version: "1.2.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# sphinxcontrib-autoyaml — Sphinx autodoc extension for documenting YAML files from comments

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 87.5K/mo

## What it is and what it does

sphinxcontrib-autoyaml is a Sphinx extension that turns YAML configuration files into readable documentation by extracting comments and converting them to reStructuredText format. It works by scanning YAML files for comments that start with a configurable delimiter (default `###`) and renders each comment as a definition entry paired with its YAML key.

The extension is designed for documenting configuration files and similar YAML-based settings. It handles nested structures up to a configurable depth and flattens sequences to focus on mapping keys. It depends on Sphinx for documentation generation and ruamel.yaml for YAML parsing. The package has known limitations: complex mapping keys and flow-style entries are only partially documented, and sequences are traversed but not represented in output.

Use it for:

- Generate reference documentation for application configuration files stored in YAML format.
- Automatically document infrastructure-as-code YAML files (e.g., Ansible playbooks, Kubernetes configs) from inline comments.
- Create self-documenting YAML schemas by extracting structured comments into Sphinx-generated HTML or PDF docs.
- Maintain synchronized documentation and YAML configuration by embedding docs as comments in the source files.

## Worth the install?

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

A Sphinx extension that auto-generates documentation for YAML files by extracting and formatting comments as reStructuredText definitions.

Yes, if you maintain YAML configuration files and use Sphinx for documentation. The low install friction, permissive license, and straightforward directive syntax make it a practical choice for keeping YAML docs in sync with source. The Alpha status and known limitations (flow-style entries, complex keys) mean you should test it against your specific YAML patterns first.

## Install

pip install sphinxcontrib-autoyaml
uv add sphinxcontrib-autoyaml
poetry add sphinxcontrib-autoyaml

## Installing sphinxcontrib-autoyaml

Before you install: Low friction: pure Python wheel with only two runtime dependencies (Sphinx and ruamel.yaml). Marked active with a recent release in May 2026, though the package is classified as Alpha.

License in practice: MIT license permits free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.

Quickstart:

pip install sphinxcontrib-autoyaml

# In conf.py:
extensions = ["sphinxcontrib.autoyaml"]
autoyaml_root = "."
autoyaml_doc_delimiter = "###"

# In your .rst file:
.. autoyaml:: config.yml

Requires Python >=3.6 and an existing Sphinx documentation project.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package handles all YAML 1.2 features or only a subset of the YAML spec.
- Performance characteristics when processing large YAML files or deeply nested structures.
- Whether the Alpha status reflects incomplete features or simply conservative versioning.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 87.5K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

sphinx yaml documentation, auto-generate yaml docs, yaml comment extraction, sphinx autodoc yaml, yaml file documentation, sphinx yaml extension, document yaml files, yaml-documentation, sphinx-extension, config-docs

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