# Read the Docs — Documentation Hosting Platform for Open Source

> Free documentation hosting service that builds and publishes Sphinx and MkDocs projects automatically from version control, with versioning, search, and PDF export built in.

## Install

Save as a script file and run:

# Read the Docs — Documentation Hosting Platform for Open Source

## Quick Use
```bash
pip install sphinx
sphinx-quickstart docs
# Push to GitHub, then import project at readthedocs.org
# Or self-host:
git clone https://github.com/readthedocs/readthedocs.org.git
cd readthedocs.org
docker compose up
```

## Introduction
Read the Docs is the standard hosting platform for open-source project documentation. It automatically builds documentation from Sphinx or MkDocs source files on every commit, hosts the output with versioned URLs, and provides full-text search across all pages. Thousands of open-source projects rely on it for their public documentation.

## What Read the Docs Does
- Builds documentation from Sphinx, MkDocs, or Jupyter Book source on every push to the repository
- Hosts multiple versions of the documentation tied to branches and tags
- Generates PDF, ePub, and single-page HTML formats alongside the web version
- Provides full-text search powered by Elasticsearch across the entire documentation set
- Integrates pull request previews so reviewers can see documentation changes before merge

## Architecture Overview
The platform watches repositories via webhooks. On each trigger, it clones the repo into a build environment, runs the configured documentation builder, and publishes the output to a CDN-backed hosting layer. A Django backend manages projects, builds, and users, while Celery handles asynchronous build tasks. Elasticsearch powers the search index.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Use the Docker Compose setup from the repository for local or private deployments
- Configure via .readthedocs.yaml in the project root to control build settings
- Set the Python version, extra dependencies, and build commands in the config file
- Supports custom domains with automatic HTTPS via Let's Encrypt integration
- Enable pull request builds for documentation review workflows

## Key Features
- Automatic builds on every commit with webhook integration for GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket
- Versioned documentation tied to Git branches and tags with a flyout version selector
- Multi-format output including HTML, PDF, ePub, and zipped HTML
- Built-in full-text search across all pages and versions
- Pull request previews for reviewing documentation changes before merge

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **GitHub Pages** — static hosting only; Read the Docs adds automatic builds, versioning, and search
- **Netlify** — general static site hosting; Read the Docs is purpose-built for documentation with versioning
- **GitBook** — commercial documentation platform; Read the Docs is free for open source and self-hostable
- **Docusaurus** — React-based doc site generator; Read the Docs is a hosting platform that works with any builder

## FAQ
**Q: Is it free for open-source projects?**
A: Yes. The hosted service at readthedocs.org is free for open-source projects with community ads.

**Q: Can I self-host it?**
A: Yes. The platform is open source under the MIT license and can be deployed using Docker Compose.

**Q: Which documentation builders are supported?**
A: Sphinx, MkDocs, and Jupyter Book are the primary supported builders.

**Q: How does versioning work?**
A: Each Git branch or tag can be activated as a documentation version, and users switch between them via a dropdown.

## Sources
- https://github.com/readthedocs/readthedocs.org
- https://docs.readthedocs.io

---
Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-ce07e354
Author: Script Depot