Automating Component Documentation with AI in Under 30 Minutes

The Documentation Problem Every Team Faces

Every frontend team I have worked with has the same problem: the components are built, they work, but nobody documented them. The Storybook is half-empty. The README is from six months ago. New developers join and spend their first week reading source code just to understand what props a Button component accepts.

I used to think documentation was a discipline problem. Now I think it is a tooling problem. If documenting a component takes 20 minutes of manual work, nobody will do it. If it takes 2 minutes with AI assistance, everyone will.

Here is my exact process for automating component documentation using Claude Code. I have used this on three client projects in the last two months, and it works every time.

Step 1: Audit Your Component Library (5 Minutes)

Before you start generating docs, you need to know what you are working with. Run this in your terminal:

find src/components -name "*.tsx" -not -name "*.test.*" -not -name "*.stories.*" | wc -l

This gives you the total count of component files. On most projects I see, it is between 30 and 120 components.

Now check which ones already have documentation:

find src/components -name "*.tsx" -not -name "*.test.*" | while read f; do
  if ! grep -q "@description\|/\*\*" "$f"; then
    echo "UNDOCUMENTED: $f"
  fi
done

This finds every component file missing JSDoc comments. On most projects, that is 80% or more of the codebase.

Step 2: Set Up Your Documentation Template (3 Minutes)

Create a documentation standard that Claude Code will follow for every component. I keep this in a file called .claude/component-docs-template.md:

## Component Documentation Standard

Every component must have:

1. A JSDoc block above the component with:
   - @description — What the component does and when to use it
   - @example — At least one usage example with props

2. TypeScript interface with:
   - JSDoc comment above each prop
   - Default values noted in comments

3. A companion .stories.tsx file with:
   - Default story
   - All major variants
   - Edge cases (empty data, loading, error)

This template is critical. Without it, Claude Code will generate inconsistent documentation across your components.

Step 3: Generate Documentation One Component at a Time (15 Minutes)

Now the actual work. Open Claude Code in your project directory and use this prompt for each component:

Read src/components/ui/DataTable.tsx

Generate documentation for this component following our standard:

1. Add a JSDoc block above the component export with:
   - @description explaining what it does and when to use it
   - @example with a realistic usage showing common props

2. Add JSDoc comments above each prop in the interface explaining:
   - What the prop controls
   - Default value if any
   - Any constraints (e.g., "must be positive integer")

3. Create a Storybook file at src/components/ui/DataTable.stories.tsx with:
   - A Default story with minimal required props
   - A WithPagination story showing paginated data
   - A Loading story showing the loading state
   - An Empty story showing the empty state
   - A WithCustomColumns story showing column customization

Keep the JSDoc concise — one to two sentences per description.
Use realistic data in examples and stories, not "foo" and "bar".

I run this for each undocumented component. With Claude Code reading the actual source, it understands the props, the internal logic, and the edge cases. The documentation it produces is specific and accurate.

Step 4: Generate a Component Index (5 Minutes)

After documenting individual components, generate an index that serves as a quick reference:

Read all files in src/components/ui/. Generate a markdown file at
docs/component-index.md that lists every component with:

- Component name
- One-line description
- File path
- Required props (just names and types, no descriptions)
- Optional props count

Format as a markdown table sorted alphabetically.

This gives you a single file where any developer can look up what components exist and where to find them. I have seen this cut onboarding time in half on multiple teams.

Step 5: Set Up an Automation Script (2 Minutes)

For ongoing maintenance, create a script that checks for undocumented components in your CI pipeline:

#!/bin/bash
# scripts/check-docs.sh

UNDOCUMENTED=0

for file in $(find src/components -name "*.tsx" -not -name "*.test.*" -not -name "*.stories.*"); do
  if ! grep -q "@description" "$file"; then
    echo "Missing documentation: $file"
    UNDOCUMENTED=$((UNDOCUMENTED + 1))
  fi
done

if [ $UNDOCUMENTED -gt 0 ]; then
  echo ""
  echo "$UNDOCUMENTED components missing documentation."
  echo "Run: claude 'Document the component in [file]' for each."
  exit 1
fi

echo "All components documented."

Add this to your CI pipeline so new components without docs fail the build. This prevents documentation debt from accumulating again.

Real Results

On a recent client project with 67 React components, I documented the entire library in one afternoon:

• 52 components had zero documentation
• Used Claude Code to generate JSDoc, prop descriptions, and Storybook stories for each
• Total time: about 4 hours including review and minor edits
• The same task estimated manually: 2-3 weeks

The documentation was not perfect — I edited maybe 20% of the generated descriptions for accuracy. But going from zero to 80% documented in an afternoon is a massive win.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Do not batch too many components in one prompt. Claude Code produces better results when focused on a single component.

2. Always review the generated documentation. AI sometimes misunderstands what a component does, especially if the code is unclear.

3. Do not skip the template step. Without a clear standard, you will get inconsistent documentation that is harder to maintain than no documentation.

4. Use realistic example data. "Lorem ipsum" and "test" values in documentation are useless for developers trying to understand how to use a component.

Start with your most-used components — the ones new developers ask about most often. Document those first, and you will see immediate impact on your team's productivity.