Documentation Package Manifest Specification (DPMS)

Version: 1.0.0 (Stable)

The Documentation Package Manifest Specification (DPMS) defines a standardized manifest format for documentation packages (docs.manifest.ygit).

Its purpose is to allow documentation platforms to automatically discover, identify, organize, and publish documentation directly from a project repository without manual configuration.

Canonical schema

Use this immutable schema URL in DPMS Version 1 manifests:

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.ygit.dev/dpms/v1/docs.manifest.schema.json",
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "manifestVersion": "1.0.0"
}

View the full DPMS Schema Reference or download DPMS examples.

Purpose

The primary purpose of DPMS is to make project documentation portable, discoverable, and machine-readable.

Instead of manually copying documentation into a separate documentation portal, the documentation platform reads a project’s documentation manifest and automatically imports the package.

Typical Workflow

A project repository contains:

Repository
│
├── vibproject.ygit
│
└── docs/
    │
    ├── docs.manifest.ygit
    ├── getting-started/
    ├── installation/
    ├── api/
    ├── faq/
    └── assets/

A documentation platform registers the repository once and executes the discovery pipeline:

1. Reads the repository.
2. Locates the docs/ directory.
3. Reads docs.manifest.ygit.
4. Discovers documentation files according to glob patterns.
5. Organizes the documentation structure.
6. Builds the documentation registry.
7. Makes the documentation searchable.
8. Publishes the documentation automatically.

Scope

DPMS is responsible for describing a documentation package:

• Identity: id, title, description, status, tags.
• Paths: docsRoot, defaultDocument, defaultLanguage.
• Discovery: include, exclude, extensions, ignoreHidden, followSymlink.
• Structure: sections hierarchy, sort order, maxDepth.
• Versions: Multi-version support, current, latest, available, strategy.
• Extensions: custom vendor-specific extensions.

DPMS intentionally does not describe website themes, UI styling, search engine internals, or portal branding. Those remain the responsibility of the documentation platform.

Relationship with vibproject.ygit

The project manifest and documentation manifest serve complementary purposes:

Manifest	File	Primary Responsibility
VPMS	vibproject.ygit	Project identity, technology stack, licensing, builds, platforms, and release metadata.
DPMS	docs.manifest.ygit	Documentation package root, discovery rules, sections, and multi-version navigation.

Quick Example

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.ygit.dev/dpms/v1/docs.manifest.schema.json",
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "manifestVersion": "1.0.0",
  "documentation": {
    "id": "vib-tools-image-converter",
    "title": "Vib Tools Image Converter Documentation",
    "description": "Official user documentation for Vib Tools Image Converter.",
    "docsRoot": "docs/",
    "defaultDocument": "getting-started/introduction.md",
    "defaultLanguage": "en",
    "status": "published",
    "tags": ["image", "converter", "desktop", "windows"]
  },
  "discovery": {
    "enabled": true,
    "recursive": true,
    "include": ["**/*.md"],
    "exclude": ["assets/**", "images/**", "drafts/**"],
    "extensions": ["md"],
    "ignoreHidden": true,
    "followSymlink": false
  },
  "structure": {
    "autoGenerate": true,
    "sort": "manual",
    "maxDepth": 10,
    "sections": [
      {
        "id": "getting-started",
        "title": "Getting Started",
        "description": "Initial setup and first steps.",
        "icon": "rocket",
        "path": "getting-started/",
        "order": 1,
        "hidden": false,
        "collapsed": false
      }
    ]
  }
}