Document Your Code in 60 Seconds: The AI Documentation Workflow

Stop spending hours writing documentation. Generate comprehensive, accurate docs in 60 seconds with AI.

Reading time: 4 minutes Category: Workflow & Productivity Published: January 11, 2026

The Documentation Problem

Reality:

• Documentation is tedious
• It’s always outdated
• Nobody writes it
• New developers suffer

Solution: AI writes it in 60 seconds while you move on.

The 60-Second Workflow

Function Documentation (15 seconds)

Prompt:

Add JSDoc for this function:

[paste function]

Result:

/**
 * Validates user registration data
 *
 * @param {Object} data - User registration data
 * @param {string} data.email - User email address
 * @param {string} data.password - User password (min 8 chars)
 * @param {string} data.name - User full name
 *
 * @returns {ValidatedUser} Validated user object
 * @throws {ValidationError} If email format invalid or password too weak
 *
 * @example
 * const validated = validateUser({
 *   email: 'user@example.com',
 *   password: 'SecurePass123!',
 *   name: 'John Doe'
 * });
 */
function validateUser(data) {
  // ... implementation
}

Time: 15 seconds (paste → copy → done)

API Endpoint Documentation (20 seconds)

Prompt:

Generate API docs for this endpoint:

[paste route handler]

Format: OpenAPI/Swagger

Result:

/api/users:
  post:
    summary: Create new user
    description: Registers a new user account with email and password
    requestBody:
      required: true
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            type: object
            required:
              - email
              - password
              - name
            properties:
              email:
                type: string
                format: email
                example: user@example.com
              password:
                type: string
                minLength: 8
                example: SecurePass123!
              name:
                type: string
                example: John Doe
    responses:
      201:
        description: User created successfully
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
      400:
        description: Validation error
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'

Time: 20 seconds

README Documentation (25 seconds)

Prompt:

Generate README for this project:

Package.json: [paste]
Main files: [list 3-5 key files]
Purpose: [one sentence]

Include:
- Installation
- Quick start
- Basic usage example
- Available scripts

Result:

# Project Name

Brief description of what this project does.

## Installation

```bash
npm install

Quick Start

npm run dev

Visit http://localhost:3000

Usage

import { validateUser } from './validation';

const user = validateUser({
  email: 'user@example.com',
  password: 'SecurePass123!',
  name: 'John Doe'
});

Available Scripts

• npm run dev - Start development server
• npm run build - Build for production
• npm test - Run tests
• npm run lint - Lint code

License

MIT

**Time:** 25 seconds

## Documentation Types: Quick Prompts

### Inline Comments

Add helpful inline comments to explain complex logic:

[paste code]

### Class Documentation

Generate TypeDoc for this class including all methods:

[paste class]

### Module Documentation

Document this module’s exports and usage:

[paste module]

### Type Definitions

Generate TypeScript types with descriptions:

[paste JavaScript code]

### Configuration File

Add comments explaining each config option:

[paste config]

## Real Example: Documenting Entire Module

**Task:** Document new authentication module

**Files:**
- `auth.service.ts` (200 lines)
- `auth.controller.ts` (150 lines)
- `auth.types.ts` (50 lines)

### Traditional Approach: 2-3 hours

1. Write JSDoc for each function (90 min)
2. Create README (30 min)
3. Write API docs (45 min)
4. Add inline comments (30 min)

**Total:** 3 hours 15 min

### AI Approach: 5 minutes

**Minute 1:** JSDoc for service

Add JSDoc to all functions in this file: [paste auth.service.ts]

**Minute 2:** JSDoc for controller

Add JSDoc to all functions in this file: [paste auth.controller.ts]

**Minute 3:** Type definitions

Add descriptions to all types: [paste auth.types.ts]

**Minute 4:** API documentation

Generate OpenAPI docs for these routes: [paste controller routes]

**Minute 5:** Module README

Generate README for auth module:

Files: auth.service.ts, auth.controller.ts, auth.types.ts Purpose: User authentication with JWT Features: Register, login, logout, refresh token

**Total:** 5 minutes (97% faster)

## Documentation Quality Checklist

Good AI-generated docs should have:

- ✅ Clear function/method descriptions
- ✅ Parameter types and descriptions
- ✅ Return value documentation
- ✅ Error conditions listed
- ✅ Usage examples
- ✅ Edge cases noted

**Review AI output for these** (adds 30 seconds)

## Time Savings Table

| Documentation Type | Manual | AI | Saved |
|-------------------|--------|-----|-------|
| Single function | 5 min | 15 sec | 96% |
| API endpoint | 10 min | 20 sec | 97% |
| README | 30 min | 25 sec | 99% |
| Full module | 3 hrs | 5 min | 97% |

## Keeping Docs Updated

**Traditional problem:** Code changes, docs don't

**AI solution:**

When you change code:

Update the documentation for this function to match new behavior:

Old code: [paste old]

New code: [paste new]

Current docs: [paste current docs]

**AI updates docs to match** (15 seconds)

## Advanced: Auto-Generated Architecture Docs

**Prompt:**

Analyze these files and generate architecture documentation:

Files:

• src/services/*.ts
• src/controllers/*.ts
• src/models/*.ts

Include:

• System architecture diagram (Mermaid)
• Data flow
• Component relationships
• Key design decisions

**Result:** Complete architecture docs with diagrams

**Time:** 2 minutes vs 4+ hours manual

## Common Documentation Patterns

### Error Handling Docs

Document all error cases and how to handle them:

[paste function]

### Migration Guide

Create migration guide from v1 to v2:

V1 code: [paste] V2 code: [paste]

Explain breaking changes and how to update.

### Troubleshooting Guide

Generate troubleshooting section for common issues:

Function: [name] Common errors: [list 3-5]

## Team Implementation

**Week 1:** Personal use
- Document your own code with AI
- Build confidence
- Collect time savings

**Week 2:** Team pilot
- Share prompts with 2-3 teammates
- Document new features together
- Establish standards

**Week 3:** Make it standard
- Add "AI-document" to PR checklist
- Create team prompt library
- Measure compliance

**Week 4:** Measure impact
- Track documentation coverage
- Measure onboarding time for new devs
- Collect feedback

## Documentation Prompt Library

**Save these:**

```markdown
## Function Docs
Add JSDoc with examples for this function: [code]

## API Docs
Generate OpenAPI spec for this endpoint: [code]

## README
Generate README with installation, usage, examples: [context]

## Type Docs
Add descriptions to all types: [types]

## Update Docs
Update these docs to match new code: [old] → [new]

Success Metrics

After 1 month of AI documentation:

Metric	Before	After
Documentation coverage	40%	95%
New dev onboarding time	2 weeks	3 days
”How does this work?” questions	20/week	2/week
Time spent documenting	6 hrs/week	20 min/week

Next Steps

Today:

1. Pick one undocumented function
2. Generate docs with AI (60 seconds)
3. Review and commit

This Week:

1. Document all new code with AI
2. Backfill docs for 5 critical modules
3. Share prompts with team

This Month:

1. Achieve 80%+ documentation coverage
2. Create team documentation standards
3. Measure impact on onboarding

Related:

• Stop Writing Boilerplate - Automate more repetitive tasks
• AI Pair Programming - Document as you code
• Refactoring Legacy Code - Document while refactoring

Start now: Find the least-documented file in your project. Paste it into AI with “Add comprehensive documentation”. 60 seconds later, you’re done.