KDoc-er - Kotlin Doc Generator downloads statistics

KDoc-er is a smart, lightweight KDoc generator for Kotlin in IntelliJ IDEA.

It produces natural, readable documentation from your code — not boilerplate. A template-driven NLP engine builds descriptions from declaration names, understands coroutines and Flow streams, resolves inferred return types, and recognises frameworks like Jetpack Compose, ViewModel, and LiveData.

Non-destructive by default — regenerating never overwrites your hand-written documentation. The merge engine preserves your summaries and tag text while filling in missing @param, @return, and other tags.

Customise everything per project via a .kdocer.yaml style sheet, or use the settings panel.

Features

Smart KDoc Generation

• NLP-aware descriptions — verb maps, word splitting, and pluralisation produce natural sentences (getUserById → "Gets the user by id.") instead of generic placeholders. • Inferred return types — expression-body functions (fun f() = expr) resolve the return type via the K2 Analysis API and emit a meaningful @return. • Smart @return descriptions — type-derived text like @return the user, @return the users (collections), or @return true if the condition holds (booleans). • Coroutine & stream awareness — suspend functions and Flow/StateFlow/SharedFlow/Deferred/Channel return types are documented automatically. • Framework detection — recognises Jetpack Compose, ViewModel, LiveData, data/sealed/enum/object/utility classes and adds tailored notes. • @throws detection — scans function bodies for throw expressions and emits @throws tags with the exception type. • @since version stamp — optionally appends @since <version> to every generated KDoc, with the version configurable per project. • @see cross-references — links override methods to their super declaration, and sealed subtypes to the parent type. • Usage examples — optionally appends a fenced code sample to function KDocs (e.g. val user = getUser(id)).

Non-Destructive Merge

Three policies for handling existing KDocs:

PolicyBehaviour

Merge (default)Keeps your summary and tag text, adds only missing tags, never drops user-only tags like @throws

KeepLeaves existing KDocs completely untouched

ReplaceRegenerates the entire comment from scratch

Multiple Ways to Generate

ActionWhereWhat it does

Type /** + EnterEditorGenerates KDoc for the element at the cursor

Create KDoc for ElementGenerate menu (Alt+Insert) / Code menuSingle-element generation

Create KDocs for All ElementsGenerate menu / Code menuDocuments every qualifying element in the file

Create KDocs in FolderRight-click folder in Project viewBatch-generates across all .kt files with progress bar

Remove KDoc for ElementCode menuRemoves the KDoc from the element at the cursor

Remove KDocs for All ElementsCode menu / right-clickRemoves every KDoc in the file

Missing KDoc Inspection

An inspection (enabled by default) gently suggests adding KDoc to undocumented declarations. Use Alt+Enter to generate the missing KDoc via the quick-fix.

Configure or disable it in Settings > Editor > Inspections > KDoc-er > Missing KDoc comment.

Project-Level Configuration

Create a .kdocer.yaml at the project root to override settings per project. Generate a starter file with every option commented out:

Tools > Create .kdocer.yaml Config (or right-click in the Project view > KDoc-er > Create .kdocer.yaml Config)

style: appendName: true # prepend a generated description sentence splitNames: true # split camelCase/snake_case into readable phrases frameworkAware: true # detect Compose / ViewModel / LiveData / data / sealed usageExample: false # append a fenced sample call to function KDocs includeConstructor: true # emit the @constructor line for classes existingKDoc: merge # merge | keep | replace throwsDetection: false # scan function bodies for throw and emit @throws sinceTag: false # stamp KDocs with @since <version> sinceVersion: "1.0.0" # version string for @since seeReferences: false # add @see for overrides and sealed subtypes verbMapping: # extend/override the verb -> phrase map fetch: "Fetches the {noun} from the remote source" sync: "Synchronises the {noun}"

aspects: notes: # override framework note wording compose: "Jetpack Compose UI for {name}." viewmodel: "Holds and exposes the UI state for the {name} screen."

templates: function: description: "{description}" param: "* @param {name} the {noun}" return: "* @return {description}" class: description: "{description}" constructor: "* @constructor {description}" property: description: "{description}"

Settings

All options are available under Settings > Tools > KDoc-er:

• Generate KDoc For — classes & objects, functions, properties • Visibility — public, protected, internal, private, overridden members • Description — prepend element name, split camelCase names, @constructor toggle • Framework Awareness — detect and annotate frameworks • @throws Detection — scan for throw expressions • @since Tag — stamp with a version string • @see Cross-References — link overrides and sealed subtypes • Usage Example — append sample call to function KDocs • Existing KDoc — Merge / Keep / Replace policy • Templates — override description and tag templates with {placeholder} tokens • Notifications — disable the occasional plugin notification

Customization Guide

Every part of the generated KDoc can be customized — from the description sentence to framework notes to tag templates. Configuration is resolved in order: .kdocer.yaml > IDE settings > built-in defaults.

Controlling Descriptions

By default, KDoc-er builds a description from the element name using NLP:

// Generated with defaults: /**

• Http method */ enum class HttpMethod { ... }

OptionEffectYAMLSettings UI

Disable descriptionsRemoves the auto-generated description line entirelyappendName: falseUncheck "Prepend element name"

Keep camelCase as-isHttpMethod stays as HttpMethod instead of Http methodsplitNames: falseUncheck "Split class names"

How the NLP Description Engine Works…