Topic

# Docstrings as a Database

## Building a Documentation Pipeline with Python & 11ty

### Elevator Pitch

A contract renewal is coming. Your team has built a complex system over years, but the people who need to understand its value - subject-matter experts, product folks, the client - don't read code. Swagger/OpenAPI tells them what the API accepts and returns, but not what the system does or why.

This talk is the story of how I built a documentation site that solved that problem: a local-first, portable doc site that treats Python docstrings as a database of business logic.

### What You'll Learn

- How to extract structured data from Python docstrings using `griffe` and `docstring-parser`
- Why a Python → JSON → 11ty pipeline decouples data from presentation and keeps templates lean
- How to build a hard validation guardrail - if docs are incomplete, the site doesn't build
- How persona-based information architecture serves both SMEs (process maps) and developers (API references) from the same data
- How a local-first approach bypasses bureaucratic hosting approvals entirely

### Who This Is For

Python developers who have ever wished their docstrings did more than sit in an editor. Developers working on government or regulated projects where hosting approvals are a bottleneck. Anyone who's watched knowledge walk out the door when a contract ends.

No prior experience with 11ty, griffe, or static site generators needed.

### About the Speaker

I'm a developer currently working on public health data modernization projects. I contribute to and builds tools that help teams document what they know before they forget it. You can find him at `hi@rog.gr` or `@rogeruiz` on most platforms.