Edit your docs | Fern Docs Starter

Fern provides two ways to edit your documentation: the command-line interface (CLI) for developers, and Fern Editor for team members who prefer a visual interface.

Using the CLI

The Fern CLI lets you preview changes locally and publish updates from your terminal.

Install the CLI

$ npm install -g fern-api

Preview locally

Start a local development server with hot-reloading:

$ fern docs dev

This serves your documentation at http://localhost:3000.

Generate a preview link

Create a shareable preview URL for your team to review changes before publishing:

$ fern generate --docs --preview

Publish to production

When you’re ready for your docs to be publicly accessible:

$ fern generate --docs

This builds and publishes your documentation to the URL configured in docs.yml.

For detailed CLI documentation, see the Fern CLI reference.

Using Fern Editor

Fern Editor is a visual editor that lets anyone on your team update documentation without learning Markdown or Git. It’s ideal for content writers, product managers, and other non-technical contributors.

Key features

Fern Editor provides rich text editing similar to Notion or Google Docs, support for Fern components like Callouts and Cards, and a GitHub-backed workflow that creates pull requests for review.

Get started

Log in to the Fern Dashboard
Connect your GitHub repository
Open Fern Editor from the top navigation

Changes made in Fern Editor create pull requests automatically, maintaining your docs-as-code workflow with full Git history and review process.

For more details on Fern Editor features and supported components, see the Fern Editor documentation.

Next steps

Write content

Create pages using MDX and components

Set up navigation

Configure tabs, sections, and pages

Customize your docs

Brand your documentation