ast-doc

name	ast-doc
description	AST-powered code documentation tool for generating optimized llms.txt files from codebases. Use this skill when users need to generate LLM-optimized documentation, reduce token usage when feeding code to AI models, create structured Markdown summaries of code repositories, extract code architecture and public interfaces, or prepare code context for AI-assisted development.
metadata	{"author":"longcipher","version":"0.1.0"}

AST Documentation Generator

Generate optimized llms.txt files from codebases using AST-based semantic parsing.

Triggers

Use this skill when users ask to:

• Generate llms.txt or LLM-optimized documentation
• Document a codebase for AI consumption
• Create code summaries or architecture overviews
• Optimize code context for AI models
• Use code2prompt or similar tools

Installation

Install the skill:

npx skills add longcipher/ast-doc

Install the CLI tool:

cargo install ast-doc

Basic Usage

# Generate documentation from current directory
ast-doc .

# With token limit and output file
ast-doc . --max-tokens 30000 --output llms.txt

# Summary mode for quick overview
ast-doc . --strategy summary --output summary.md

# Protect core files from degradation
ast-doc . --max-tokens 50000 --core "src/core/**" --output docs.txt

# Copy to clipboard
ast-doc . --copy

Options

Option	Description
-o, --output <FILE>	Output file path (default: stdout)
-m, --max-tokens <NUM>	Maximum token budget (default: 100000)
-c, --core <PATTERN>	Glob pattern for core files (never degrade)
-s, --strategy <STRATEGY>	Default strategy: full, no-tests, or summary
--include <PATTERN>	Include file patterns
--exclude <PATTERN>	Exclude file patterns
--no-git	Skip git context
--no-tree	Skip directory tree
--copy	Copy output to clipboard
-v, --verbose	Verbose output

Output Strategies

1. Full Mode: Complete source code preservation
2. NoTests Mode: Removes test modules and test functions
3. Summary Mode: Extracts only public interfaces, signatures, and docstrings

Workflow

1. Check if ast-doc is installed:

   which ast-doc
   

2. If not installed, install via cargo:

   cargo install ast-doc
   

3. Run ast-doc with appropriate options:

   ast-doc /path/to/project --max-tokens 50000 --output llms.txt
   

4. Review the generated report showing optimization statistics

Output Format

The tool generates a standard llms.txt Markdown file containing:

• Repository name and description
• Directory tree with strategy annotations
• Git context (branch, commits, changes)
• Source files with their processing strategy and token counts

Tips

• Use --core to protect critical files from being summarized
• Start with higher --max-tokens values and decrease as needed
• Use --strategy summary for quick architectural overviews
• Combine with --no-git and --no-tree for pure code output
• Check the optimization report to understand token savings