Markdown Documentation Strategy

Why MD/MDX format is the universal language for design system documentation

Core Insight: Document your design system in MD or MDX format for universal compatibility and future-proofing

When to Apply

Documentation setup phase → Setting up new documentation sites
CMS migration project → Moving away from proprietary tools
AI integration planning → Preparing for AI-assisted workflows

Why This Works

✓ Universal compatibility - Indeed tried 3 CMSs, always returned to markdown
✓ AI-ready - Kristen (Intuit): "Helps feed our LLMs and leverage AI"
✓ Version control - Dustin (Indeed): "Plain text, version control very easily"
✓ No vendor lock-in - "Try opening a Sketch file 5 years later. Good luck."
✓ Single source of truth - Same content works across multiple platforms and tools

Alternative Approaches

Zeroheight - Teams love the visual editor → Becomes stale, hard to update across surfaces
Notion - Easy for non-technical contributors → No version control, limited customization
Custom CMS - Full control over experience → "Maintenance burden is pretty immense"

Quick Example

# Button Component

<ComponentDemo component="Button" />

## Usage

-   Use `variant="primary"` for main actions
-   Use `size="large"` for hero sections

Interactive Documentation Strategies - Adding interactivity to markdown documentation
AI-Ready Documentation - Optimizing docs for AI consumption
Component Tagging Strategies - Tracking components in production

Session Highlights

Markdown as Universal Language - Real experiences from Indeed and Intuit teams returning to markdown after trying multiple CMSs

Sources: Documentation Craft Session • Dec 2024