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LangChain's unified documentation overview

This repository encompasses the comprehensive documentation for LangChain's products and services, hosted on the Mintlify platform. The documentation is divided into sections for each product. This is a shared set of guidelines to ensure consistency and quality across all content.

Scope

These instructions apply to manually authored documentation only. They do NOT apply to:

  • Files in **/reference/** directories (auto-generated API reference documentation)
  • Build artifacts and generated files

For reference documentation, see .github/instructions/reference-docs.instructions.md.

Working relationship

  • You can push back on ideas-this can lead to better documentation. Cite sources and explain your reasoning when you do so
  • ALWAYS ask for clarification rather than making assumptions
  • NEVER lie, guess, or make up information

Project context

  • Format: MDX files with YAML frontmatter. Mintlify syntax.
  • Config: docs.json for navigation, theme, settings
  • Components: Mintlify components

Content strategy

  • Document just enough for user success - not too much, not too little
  • Prioritize accuracy and usability of information
  • Make content evergreen when possible
  • Search for existing information before adding new content. Avoid duplication unless it is done for a strategic reason. Reference existing content when possible
  • Check existing patterns for consistency
  • Start by making the smallest reasonable changes

docs.json

  • Refer to the docs.json schema when building the docs.json file and site navigation
  • If adding a new group, ensure the root index.mdx is included in the pages array like:
{
  "group": "New group",
  "pages": ["new-group/index", "new-group/other-page"]
}

If the trailing /index (no extension included) is omitted, the Mintlify parser will raise a warning even though the site will still build.

Frontmatter requirements for pages

  • title: Clear, descriptive, concise page title
  • description: Concise summary for SEO/navigation

Custom code language fences

We have implemented custom code language fences for Python and JavaScript/TypeScript. They are used to tag content that is specific to that language. Use either :::python or :::js to tag content that is specific to that language. Both are closed with the ::: fence.

If any code fences like this exist on the code page, then two outputs (one for each language) will be created. For example, if this syntax is on the page in /concepts/foo.mdx, two pages will be created at /python/concepts/foo.mdx and /javascript/concepts/foo.mdx.

For implementation details, see pipeline/preprocessors/markdown_preprocessor.py.

Snippets

Snippet files in src/snippets/ are reusable MDX content that can be imported into multiple pages. These snippets undergo special link preprocessing during the build process that converts absolute /oss/ links to relative paths.

Important: When writing links in snippets, be careful about path segments. Read the docstrings and comments in pipeline/core/builder.py method _process_snippet_markdown_file (lines 807-872) to understand how snippet link preprocessing works and why certain path structures are required.

Icons

This project uses the Tabler icon library ("icons": { "library": "tabler" } in docs.json). When adding or updating icons:

  • Use Tabler icon names only. Browse available icons at https://tabler.io/icons
  • Tabler uses lowercase kebab-case (e.g., home, settings, alert-triangle, player-play)
  • Brand icons require the brand- prefix (e.g., brand-github, brand-python, brand-openai)
  • For providers or brands without a Tabler icon, use a local SVG file in src/images/providers/ with currentColor for theme adaptability (e.g., icon="/images/providers/anthropic-icon.svg")
  • Common Tabler names that differ from FontAwesome: home (not house), tool/tools (not wrench), player-play (not play), bulb (not lightbulb), alert-triangle (not exclamation-triangle), school (not graduation-cap)

Style guide

In general, follow the Google Developer Documentation Style Guide. You can also access this style guide through the Vale-compatible implementation.

  • Second-person voice ("you")
  • Prerequisites at start of procedural content
  • Test all code examples before publishing
  • Match style and formatting of existing pages
  • Include both basic and advanced use cases
  • Language tags on all code blocks
  • Alt text on all images
  • Root relative paths for internal links
  • Correct spelling
  • Correct grammar
  • Sentence-case for headings
  • Ensure American English spelling

Do not

  • Do not skip frontmatter on any MDX file
  • Do not use absolute URLs for internal links
  • Do not review code blocks (denoted by ```), as they are often not full snippets
  • Do not include untested code examples
  • Do not make assumptions - always ask for clarification
  • Do not include localization in relative links (e.g., /python/ or /javascript/) - these are resolved automatically by the build pipeline
  • Do not use model aliases (e.g., "claude-sonnet-4-5") in code examples; always use full model names / identifiers (e.g., "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929")
  • Do not use FontAwesome icon names — this project uses the Tabler icon library. Verify icon names at https://tabler.io/icons
  • Do not use nested double quotes in Mintlify component attributes (e.g., default='["a", "b"]'). This causes escape characters to render in the frontend. Instead, use single quotes inside double quotes: default="['a', 'b']"

For questions, refer to the Mintlify docs (either via MCP, if available), or at the Mintlify documentation.

Pull request guidelines

  • Describe the "why" of the changes, why the proposed solution is the right one.
  • Highlight areas of the proposed changes that require careful review.
  • Always add a disclaimer to the PR description mentioning how AI agents are involved with the contribution.