Software documentation is supposed to help us understand systems.
In reality, it often does the opposite.
Most of us have seen this pattern:
- API docs that don’t match the actual behavior
- ERD diagrams that were accurate six months ago
- Setup guides that fail on step two
- Wiki pages nobody trusts anymore
So teams stop reading docs.
They ask teammates instead.
“Just check the code” becomes the default answer.
Documentation slowly turns into something we have to write, not something we use.
The core problem with current documentation
The biggest issue with most documentation isn’t that it’s poorly written.
It’s that it’s static.
Software is dynamic:
- APIs change
- schemas evolve
- configs get updated
- environments drift
But documentation stays frozen in time.
Even when docs are detailed, they age quickly. Step-by-step guides are especially fragile. The more detailed they are, the faster they become wrong.
That’s why certain types of docs survive longer than others:
- Architecture diagrams (even if imperfect)
- High-level system explanations
- Quick reference information
They give context, not instructions.
But even those suffer from one big limitation:
you can’t verify them.
You can’t run an architecture diagram.
You can’t execute an API example written in Markdown.
You can’t tell if a database query in a doc still works.
So the trust slowly disappears.
What if documentation could be executed?
Now imagine a different approach.
Instead of documentation being just text, what if:
- API docs could actually run the request
- Database docs could execute the query
- Architecture diagrams lived next to the system logic
- Examples were real, not screenshots
In this world:
- Docs wouldn’t lie as easily
- Drift would be obvious
- Documentation would stay alive because it’s used, not just read
This isn’t about replacing code or tests.
It’s about bringing documentation closer to reality.
Executable documentation doesn’t try to explain everything.
It focuses on being a source of truth.
How executable docs change the workflow
When documentation is executable, a few things change naturally:
- Developers trust it more because they can verify it
- Onboarding becomes faster because examples actually work
- Architecture discussions become clearer because diagrams and APIs live together
- Docs stay updated because broken execution is visible immediately
Instead of asking, “Is this doc still valid?”, you just run it.
If it works, it’s valid.
If it doesn’t, it needs fixing.
That feedback loop is what traditional documentation is missing.
Where this idea came from (personally)
As a backend engineer, I found myself constantly switching tools:
- Notion or Confluence for documentation
- Postman for API testing
- Draw.io for ERD / HLD diagrams
- MySQL Workbench, pgAdmin, Mongo Compass for databases
All of them were good tools.
But none of them were connected.
My documentation lived in one place.
My execution lived somewhere else.
That gap is where most docs die.
I didn’t want better writing tools.
I wanted documentation that stayed close to how the system actually behaves.
Introducing DevScribe (naturally)
That frustration is what led me to build DevScribe.
Not as another note-taking app, but as an offline, executable documentation workspace.
With DevScribe:
- API documentation uses a Postman-like interface and can be executed
- Database documentation can run real queries and visualize schemas
- Architecture diagrams (HLD, ERD) live alongside the explanation
- Everything stays local and offline
The goal isn’t to replace IDEs or specialized tools.
It’s to create a place where the system’s truth lives.
Documentation, execution, and reasoning in one workspace.
Why this isn’t about replacing everything
Executable documentation doesn’t mean:
- replacing Postman
- replacing databases tools
- replacing IDEs
It means having one place that ties them together.
Teams will still use specialized tools.
But when someone asks:
“Where can I understand how this system really works?”
There should be a clear answer.
The bigger idea
Executable documentation shifts documentation from:
“Something we write after building”
to:
“Something we build alongside the system”
When docs are executable, they stop being an obligation.
They become part of the workflow.
And that’s when documentation finally starts working.