What ditto does

Ditto is a tool that turns your markdown files into a polished, professional-looking documentation website—without requiring any complicated build steps or server setup. If you've written documentation in markdown and want it to look as clean as the Three.js or Backbone.js docs, this tool makes that easy. You point it at your markdown files, it renders them as a browsable website, and you can host the result for free on GitHub Pages.

How it works

You create a simple HTML file that tells ditto which markdown files to load, then ditto fetches and displays them in a nicely formatted layout. Since everything is just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that runs in your browser, there's no build process to run and no server to manage. The documentation is generated on the fly when someone visits your site. You also get nice-to-have features built in: automatic clickable anchor links for headings, an "Edit on GitHub" button so readers can suggest changes directly, and a button to jump back to the top of the page.

Who would use this

This is ideal for open-source projects, small libraries, and developer tools where you want professional-looking docs but don't want to deal with complex documentation generators or hosting infrastructure. A JavaScript library author, for example, could write their API docs in markdown, set up ditto to display them, push everything to GitHub, enable GitHub Pages, and have their documentation live in minutes. It's also good for teams that prefer keeping docs close to their code—right in the same repository—without adding build complexity.

Why it matters

The main appeal is simplicity and speed. Traditional documentation tools often require you to learn new syntax, install build tools, and manage deployments. Ditto cuts through all that. You get a modern, searchable docs site that looks professional and works well on any device, all from plain markdown files and a tiny amount of HTML boilerplate.