---
title: Generating Reference Documentation for the Kubernetes API
content_template: templates/task
---

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This page shows how to update the generated reference docs for the
Kubernetes API.

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You need to have these tools installed:

* [Git](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git)
* [Golang](https://golang.org/doc/install) version 1.9.1 or later

Your $GOPATH environment variable must be set.

You need to know how to create a pull request (PR) to a GitHub repository.
Typically, this involves creating a fork of the repository. For more
information, see
[Creating a Documentation Pull Request](/docs/contribute/start/) and
[GitHub Standard Fork & Pull Request Workflow](https://gist.github.com/Chaser324/ce0505fbed06b947d962).

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## The big picture

The reference documentation for the Kubernetes API is generated in two separate stages:

1. Generate an OpenAPI spec from the Kubernetes source code. The tools for
this stage are at [kubernetes/kubernetes/hack](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/tree/master/hack).

1. Generate an HTML file from the OpenAPI spec. The tools for this stage are at
[kubernetes-incubator/reference-docs](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/reference-docs).

If you find bugs in the generated documentation generated, you need to 
[fix them upstream](/docs/contribute/generate-ref-docs/contribute-upstream/).

If you need only to regenerate the reference documentation from the OpenAPI
spec, continue reading this page.

## Getting three repositories

If you don't already have the kubernetes/kubernetes repository, get it now:

```shell
mkdir $GOPATH/src
cd $GOPATH/src
go get github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes
```

Determine the base directory of your clone of the
[kubernetes/kubernetes](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes) repository.
For example, if you followed the preceding step to get the repository, your
base directory is `$GOPATH/src/github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes.`
The remaining steps refer to your base directory as `<k8s-base>`.

If you don't already have the kubernetes/website repository, get it now:

```shell
mkdir $GOPATH/src
cd $GOPATH/src
go get github.com/kubernetes/website
```

Determine the base directory of your clone of the
[kubernetes/website](https://github.com/kubernetes/website) repository.
For example, if you followed the preceding step to get the repository, your
base directory is `$GOPATH/src/github.com/kubernetes/website.`
The remaining steps refer to your base directory as `<web-base>`.

If you don't already have the kubernetes-incubator/reference-docs repository, get it now:

```shell
mkdir $GOPATH/src
cd $GOPATH/src
go get github.com/kubernetes-incubator/reference-docs
```

Determine the base directory of your clone of the
[kubernetes-incubator/reference-docs](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/reference-docs) repository.
For example, if you followed the preceding step to get the repository, your
base directory is `$GOPATH/src/github.com/kubernetes-incubator/reference-docs.`
The remaining steps refer to your base directory as `<rdocs-base>`.

## Generating the API reference docs for publishing

The preceding section showed how to edit a source file and then generate
several files, including `api/openapi-spec/swagger.json` in the 
`kubernetes/kubernetes` repository.

This section shows how to generate the
[published Kubernetes API reference documentation](/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/{{< param "version" >}}/),
which is generated by the tools at
[kubernetes-incubator/reference-docs](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/reference-docs).
Those tools take the `api/openapi-spec/swagger.json` file as input.

### Editing Makefile in kubernetes-incubator/reference-docs

Go to `<rdocs-base>`, and open `Makefile` for editing:

Set `K8SROOT` to the base directory of your local kubernetes/kubernetes
repository. Set `WEBROOT` to the base directory of your local kubernetes/website repository.
Set `MINOR_VERSION` to the minor version of the docs you want to build. For example,
if you want to build docs for Kubernetes 1.9, set `MINOR_VERSION` to 9. Save and close `Makefile`.

### Copying the OpenAPI spec

The doc generation code needs a local copy of the OpenAPI spec for the Kubernetes API.
Go to `<k8s-base>` and check out the branch that has the OpenAPI spec you want to use.
For example, if you want to generate docs for Kubernetes 1.9, checkout the release-1.9
branch.

Go back to `<rdocs-base>`. Enter the following command to copy the OpenAPI spec from the
`kubernetes/kubernetes` repository to a local directory:

```shell
make updateapispec
```

The output shows that the file was copied:

```shell
cp ~/src/github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/api/openapi-spec/swagger.json gen-apidocs/generators/openapi-spec/swagger.json
```

### Building the API reference docs

Run the following command to generate the API reference docs:

```shell
cd <rdocs-base>
make api
```

### Locate the generated files

These two files are the output of a successful build. Verify that they exist:

* `<rdocs-base>/gen-apidocs/generators/build/index.html`
* `<rdocs-base>/gen-apidocs/generators/build/navData.js`

## Copying the generated docs to the kubernetes/website repository

The preceding sections showed how to generate reference documentation for publication.

This section shows how to copy the generated reference to the
[kubernetes/website](https://github.com/kubernetes/website) repository. The files
in the `kubernetes/website` repository are published in the
[kubernetes.io](https://kubernetes.io) website. In particular, the generated
`index.html` file is published [here](/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/{{< param "version" >}}/).

Enter the following command to copy the generated files to
your local kubernetes/website repository:

```shell
make copyapi
```

Go to the base of your local kubernetes/website repository, and 
see which files have been modified:

```shell
cd <web-base>
git status
```

The output shows the modified files:

```shell
On branch master
...
   modified:   docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.9/index.html
```

In this example, only one file has been modified. Recall that you generated both
`index.html` and `navData.js`. But apparently the generated `navata.js` is not different
from the `navData.js` that was already in the kubernetes/website` repository.

In `<web-base>` run `git add` and `git commit` to commit the change.

Submit your changes as a
[pull request](/docs/contribute/start/) to the
[kubernetes/website](https://github.com/kubernetes/website) repository.
Monitor your pull request, and respond to reviewer comments as needed. Continue
to monitor your pull request until it has been merged.

A few minutes after your pull request is merged, your changes will be visible
in the [published reference documentation](/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/{{< param "version" >}}/).

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* [Generating Reference Docs for Kubernetes Components and Tools](/docs/home/contribute/generated-reference/kubernetes-components/)
* [Generating Reference Documentation for kubectl Commands](/docs/home/contribute/generated-reference/kubectl/)
* [Generating Reference Documentation for the Kubernetes Federation API](/docs/home/contribute/generated-reference/federation-api/)

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