Generate Your First AI Documentation in 5 Minutes

Your First Project in 5 Minutes or Less

This tutorial will walk you through creating your first technical documentation package using CodePlan. By the end, you'll have a complete set of docs ready to feed into your favorite AI coding assistant.

Step 1: Sign Up and Create Project

First, sign up with Google or GitHub. You'll land on your dashboard. Click the Create New Project button to start the wizard.

Step 2: Describe Your Project

In the textarea, describe what you want to build. Be specific but don't overthink it. For example:

A task management SaaS for remote teams with real-time
collaboration, kanban boards, time tracking, and Slack integration.
Users should be able to create workspaces, invite team members,
and export reports.

Pro tip: Click the Use Template button to browse 40+ pre-made project descriptions. Or click AI Refine to have GPT-4o improve your description.

Step 3: Select Your AI Tools

Check the boxes for the AI coding assistants you plan to use:

• ChatGPT
• Claude
• GitHub Copilot
• Cursor
• Bolt.new
• Replit Agent

This helps CodePlan format the documentation in a way that works best with your tools. You must select at least one.

Step 4: Answer the Questionnaire

CodePlan will show you a series of questions about your project like "What are your must-have features?" and "Who is your target user?"

You can type your own answers or click the AI Answer button next to any question. This uses OpenAI's o3-small model to generate intelligent responses based on your project description.

Note: AI-generated answers cost tokens. You'll see the estimated cost in a tooltip before confirming.

Step 5: Review Your Plan

CodePlan automatically compiles your questionnaire responses into an outline. Review it and make any edits. This preview is fully editable - just click and type.

When you're happy with the plan, click Next to move to generation.

Step 6: Generate Documentation

You'll see a checklist of six document types. Click Generate next to each one you want:

• Product Requirements Document (PRD)
• Tech Stack Recommendations
• File Structure
• Database Schema Design
• User Flow Diagrams
• Styling Guidelines

Each generation shows real-time progress with streaming output. The token meter in your navbar updates as documents complete.

Step 7: Download and Use

Once generated, you can download documents individually as Markdown or PDF, or use the Download All button to get everything as a ZIP file.

Copy the contents into your AI coding tool and start building with complete context!

Next Steps

Now that you've generated your first documentation, explore these features:

• Share your project with team members (Viewer or Commenter roles)
• Add comment threads to discuss specific sections
• Save versions to track changes over time (10 versions max)
• Browse our template library for your next project