I’m working on a project and want to automatically generate documentation using tools like Sphinx or JSDoc, then push this documentation directly to my GitHub repository’s wiki section. I’ve been looking through the GitHub API documentation but haven’t found clear instructions on how to programmatically update wiki pages.
Is it possible to use the GitHub API to automatically upload generated documentation files to a project wiki? I was hoping there might be a simple way to transfer files directly, similar to how you might copy files to a remote server. Has anyone successfully implemented this kind of automated documentation deployment to GitHub wikis?
Any guidance on the right API endpoints or alternative approaches would be really helpful.
I’ve done this exact thing and the wiki repository approach works great for automated docs. Here’s the key: every GitHub wiki has its own Git endpoint at repository.wiki.git. My setup generates docs with Sphinx, clones the wiki repo to a temp directory, copies the files over, and pushes changes back. Watch out for the Home.md file - GitHub wikis need this as the main page. Also make sure your automation cleans up old files when your doc structure changes between builds. Works perfectly with GitHub Actions - just trigger wiki updates whenever your main repo changes.
Authentication gets tricky with automation. Personal access tokens work for individual repos, but use deploy keys or GitHub App tokens in CI environments - way more secure. I learned this when my automation broke after rotating my personal token. Heads up: wiki commits show in your contribution graph, which you might not want for automated docs. Git approach is solid, just watch out for merge conflicts if multiple processes hit the wiki at once.
GitHub wikis are essentially separate Git repositories, which can be confusing at first. While there isn’t a dedicated API for wikis, you can easily clone the wiki repository using https://github.com/username/repository.wiki.git. After cloning, treat it like any standard Git repository: add your generated documentation files, commit the changes, and push them back to GitHub. This process can be automated using shell scripts or a relevant Git library in your preferred programming language. Just ensure that your wiki pages are in markdown format and adhere to GitHub’s naming conventions. This method works well with CI/CD pipelines, giving you robust control over your documentation.
heads up - you need write access to the wiki repo or this won’t work. some orgs disable wiki editing, so check your repo settings first. i throw a simple check in my automation script to see if the wiki clone works before pushing changes. saves debugging time later.