Fumadocs

What is Fumadocs?

Fumadocs is a React-based framework for building documentation websites. It uses MDX as its content format and runs primarily with Next.js, but also supports React Router and Waku. Developers who want to build documentation that goes beyond static pages and embeds real React components will find a well-considered foundation here. The project is open source and actively maintained.

Core features

• MDX with developer extras: Fumadocs supports TypeScript Twoslash directly in code blocks, along with Shiki for syntax highlighting. Types and errors can be shown inline in the documentation.
• OpenAPI integration: API documentation can be generated automatically from OpenAPI specifications, without having to maintain each route manually.
• Headless mode and theme CLI: Developers who do not want to adopt the default layout can use Fumadocs without any prescribed styles and customise the theme via the CLI.
• CMS compatibility: Official integrations exist for Sanity, Payload and Content Collections, so content can come from external sources.
• React Server Components: Fumadocs uses the Next.js App Router architecture and supports Server Components, which broadens the options available at the rendering layer.

Who is Fumadocs for?

The target audience is developers and engineering teams building documentation for open-source libraries, UI components or SaaS products. Anyone already working with Next.js can integrate Fumadocs directly.

The barrier is clear. Without knowledge of React, you will not get far. The framework assumes you understand how components work, how MDX files are structured and how Next.js manages routes. For editors or product managers without a JavaScript background, it is not usable without developer support.

There is no support outside the JavaScript ecosystem. Anyone documenting a Django or Rails application still has to manage the content inside a JavaScript project.

Context & alternatives

Fumadocs occupies the same space as Docusaurus and Nextra. Both are also React-based, though Docusaurus is less focused on Next.js and leans more heavily on predefined structures. Nextra is conceptually similar to Fumadocs but offers less flexibility in theming and no comparable OpenAPI integration.

Developers who prefer plain Markdown with a minimal build setup over a React stack will be better served by VitePress or MkDocs. The concrete advantage of Fumadocs lies in its headless approach: the framework provides the logic and data structure, while the visual output is entirely under the developer's control.