Compendium — Creating Documents

Documentation

Overview

A document in Compendium holds the actual written content — the text, diagrams, and details that make up your project's knowledge base. Documents always live inside a section. There are three ways to create one: write it manually, populate it from an existing story, or generate a first draft with AI.

All new documents start in Draft status. They must be submitted for review and approved before they become Published.

Create document dialog
Create Document dialog — choose manually, from a Story, or with AI

Creation methods

MethodWhat it does
ManuallyWrite the document from scratch using the rich-text editor.
From a StoryPull story content (title, description, acceptance criteria) into a new document automatically.
Using AIGenerate an initial draft of the document using AI, then refine it in the editor.

Creating manually

1In the sidebar, select the section where the document should live
2Click Add Document (the document + icon) on the section row, or use the + Add Content button
3The create document dialog opens
4Enter a Title (required), and optionally a Classification and Tags
5Choose Write manually as the creation method
6Click Create — the document is created in Draft status and opens in the editor
7Type your content directly in the rich-text editor
Create document manually
Manual creation — enter Title, Classification, and Tags then click Create to open the editor

Creating from a Story

Use this method when a story's description and acceptance criteria already contain the information you want to document. The content is pulled in automatically, saving you from copying and pasting.

1Select the target section in the sidebar
2Click Add Document on the section row
3Choose From a Story as the creation method
4Use the story search to find the story by title or ID
5Select the story — the title, description, and acceptance criteria are pre-filled
6Adjust the title and add any classification or tags as needed
7Click Create — the document is created with the story content as its body
Create document from a story
From a Story — search and select the story to pull its description and acceptance criteria into the document

Creating with AI

AI generation writes a first draft for you based on a prompt or topic you provide. It is a starting point — always review and edit AI-generated content before submitting for review.

1Select the target section in the sidebar
2Click Add Document on the section row
3Choose Generate with AI as the creation method
4Enter a prompt or description of what the document should cover
5Click Generate — the AI produces an initial draft
6Review the draft and make any edits in the content area
7Enter a Title, and optionally a classification and tags
8Click Create to save the document in Draft status

AI generation uses your plan's AI token balance. Check the AI Token Usage page if generation fails or you receive a token limit error.

Document fields

FieldDescription
TitleThe name of the document as it appears in the sidebar tree and breadcrumbs. Required.
ClassificationA category label (e.g. "Architecture", "Runbook", "Policy"). Used for filtering in search.
TagsComma-separated keywords for discovery. Multiple tags can be added.
ContentThe document body — written in the rich-text editor. Can be left empty initially and added later.

After creation

The new document opens immediately in the content area. It is in Draftstatus — only you and project admins can see it until it is published. From here you can:

  • Edit the content using the rich-text editor (see the Editing Documents guide)
  • Attach files using the paperclip icon in the toolbar
  • Submit for review when the content is ready (see the Approval Workflow guide)

Troubleshooting

"Add Document" button is missing

You must be a non-read-only project member to create documents. Read-only users cannot add content. Check your project role with the project admin.

I cannot find the section to add my document to

Sections must exist before documents can be added to them. If no sections are visible, create a section first (see the Sections guide), then add the document.

The Story search returns no results

Story search is limited to stories in the currently selected project. Ensure the correct project is active and that the project has stories in it.

AI-generated content is blank or shows an error

AI generation requires available AI tokens for your plan. Check your AI Token Usage dashboard to confirm you have remaining tokens. If tokens are available and it still fails, try again after a moment.

My document was created but does not appear in the tree

The tree refreshes after creation. If the document is missing, click the Refresh button in the sidebar or reload the page. The new document should appear inside the section you selected.

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