How to verify AI-written documentation
A practical checklist for trusting documentation an AI wrote from your code: what to check, what to cut, and which safeguards matter.
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The risk is confident wrong answers
AI can write fluent documentation that describes things your code does not do. The problem is not style, it is claims nobody checked: a flag that does not exist, a default that changed, a step that no longer works.
A checklist before you publish
- Commands and code samples: run the ones a new user would run first.
- Configuration names and defaults: compare them with the files that define them.
- Anything described as supported: confirm the code path exists.
- Missing pieces: a short, accurate page beats a complete page with guesses.
- Links and names: check that referenced pages, files and endpoints exist.
Safeguards worth looking for in a generator
- The writer is limited to what it verified in your source and leaves out what it cannot confirm.
- Each page is tied to the source files it was written from, so you know where to look.
- The first version is a private draft, with a preview and a publish step that lists every page going live.
- Your edits are protected: later updates become suggestions instead of overwrites.
- Secrets and credential files are filtered out before anything reaches the AI.
Docup works this way, but the checklist applies to any tool. A generator reduces the work of writing; reviewing is still yours.
Frequently asked questions
- Can AI generate accurate technical documentation from source code?
- It can when it is restricted to what the code confirms and a person reviews the draft before publishing. Treat the output as a strong first draft, not a finished source of truth.
- How do I check generated documentation quickly?
- Run the getting-started commands, compare configuration names and defaults with the code that defines them, and cut any claim you cannot confirm.
- Does Docup execute my code to check its docs?
- No. It reads your files and does not run them, so verification of behavior is a review step for you.
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Last updated November 3, 2026