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AibnuHibban
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šŸš€ Bytedocs: A Modern Alternative to Swagger

For years, Swagger has been the go-to for API documentation. And while it’s solid, let’s be honest—it feels kinda outdated in today’s developer workflow.

That’s why I built Bytedocs: a fresh, modern alternative to Swagger that not only documents your APIs but also helps you test, explore, and even stress-test them.

šŸ‘‰ Check it out: bytedocs.dev


šŸ¤” What Makes Bytedocs Different?

Bytedocs UI

Unlike traditional tools that stop at generating static docs, Bytedocs is designed to be multi-language, interactive, and developer-friendly from day one.

Here’s what it brings to the table:

šŸ“š Modern API Documentation

  • Clean, responsive, and easy-to-use docs.
  • Looks great across devices.
  • Not just another Swagger clone.

šŸŒ Multi-Language Support

  • Dedicated repos for different stacks.
  • Example: bytedocs-laravel
  • More languages coming soon (Go, Node.js, etc.).

šŸŽÆ Scenario Runner

Bytedocs Scenario

  • Group multiple endpoints into a single scenario.
  • Run complete flows in one click (e.g., login → create → fetch → delete).
  • Great for integration and workflow testing.

šŸ¤– AI Assistant

  • Ask AI about your endpoints directly.
  • No more hunting through pages of docs to figure out required params.

⚔ Roadmap: Load & Performance Testing

  • Planned native integration with K6.
  • Run load tests without leaving your API docs.

šŸ›  Getting Started

Want to try it out? Start with the Laravel package:
šŸ‘‰ bytedocs-laravel

Installation is simple, and you’ll have your docs live in minutes.


🌐 The API Documentation Landscape

Swagger may be the most widely known, but it’s not the only player in the game:

  • Scalar: a newer open-source project with a sleek UI and growing community (~12k GitHub stars). Great for modern docs, but still focused mostly on visualization.

  • Redoc: clean and minimal OpenAPI renderer, often used for public-facing docs.

  • Stoplight: more of a design-first platform with collaboration features.

  • ReadMe / Bump.sh / Mintlify: commercial platforms that bring analytics, portals, and customization on top of docs.

These tools are all awesome in their own ways, but most of them stay within the boundary of ā€œdocumentationā€

That’s where Bytedocs is different—it’s not just another viewer for your OpenAPI spec. It’s a developer toolkit that connects docs with scenarios, AI, and testing.


šŸŽÆ The Vision

I don’t want Bytedocs to just be ā€œSwagger 2.0ā€.
The goal is to make it the all-in-one developer tool for APIs:

  • Write less boilerplate
  • Get clearer insights
  • Test faster
  • Scale with confidence

šŸ¤ Join the Journey

This is just the beginning. I’d love your feedback, contributions, and ideas.
šŸ‘‰ bytedocs.dev
šŸ‘‰ bytedocs-laravel


šŸ’” With Bytedocs, API documentation is no longer static—it’s interactive, intelligent, and future-ready.

Top comments (2)

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mikiqex profile image
Michal NovƔk

While the idea is good and quite well executed, I truly dislike it presents completely different format for API description. Swagger/OpenAPI’s wide adoption is a major asset, providing a REST counterpart to WSDL for SOAP and making API documentation clear and standardized.

Creating a competing format creates fragmentation (look at video streaming services!), where two teams trying to integrate may face unnecessary problems just because their tools use incompatible documentation.

A more constructive approach would be to extend Swagger, like TypeScript extends JavaScript, rather than reinventing the good-enough wheel that Swagger is.

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aibnuhibban profile image
AibnuHibban

hey, thanks a lot for the feedback šŸ™Œ. I totally get your point, OpenAPI is a huge standard and super valuable.

But just to clarify, Bytedocs isn’t really trying to ā€œcompeteā€ with OpenAPI. The idea is more about the developer experience, not just static docs, but being able to run flows, test scenarios end-to-end, and soon even do load tests.

Think of it less as a new format, more like a toolkit on top. And yeah, I’m already considering adding OpenAPI support so existing specs can plug right in and still use all the features