> migration guide: This page documents the method to configure storybook introduced recently in 5.3.0, consult the [migration guide](https://github.com/storybookjs/storybook/blob/next/MIGRATION.md) if you want to migrate to this format of configuring storybook.
Storybook Docs transforms your Storybook stories into world-class component documentation. Storybook Docs for React supports [DocsPage](../docs/docspage.md) for auto-generated docs, and [MDX](../docs/mdx.md) for rich long-form docs.
To learn more about Storybook Docs, read the [general documentation](../README.md). To learn the React specifics, read on!
- [Installation](#installation)
- [DocsPage](#docspage)
- [Props tables](#props-tables)
- [MDX](#mdx)
- [Inline stories](#inline-stories)
- [TypeScript props with `react-docgen`](#typescript-props-with-react-docgen)
- [More resources](#more-resources)
## Installation
First add the package. Make sure that the versions for your `@storybook/*` packages match:
```sh
yarn add -D @storybook/addon-docs@next
```
Then add the following to your `.storybook/main.js` list of `addons`:
```js
module.exports = {
// other settings
addons: ['@storybook/addon-docs'];
}
```
## DocsPage
When you [install docs](#installation) you should get basic [DocsPage](../docs/docspage.md) documentation automagically for all your stories, available in the `Docs` tab of the Storybook UI.
## Props tables
Storybook Docs automatically generates [Props tables](../docs/props-tables.md) for your components based on either `PropTypes` or `TypeScript` types. To show the props table for your component, be sure to fill in the `component` field in your story metadata:
```ts
import { Button } from './Button';
export default {
title: 'Button',
component: Button,
};
```
If you haven't upgraded from `storiesOf`, you can use a parameter to do the same thing:
```ts
import { storiesOf } from '@storybook/react';
import { Button } from './Button';
storiesOf('InfoButton', module)
.addParameters({ component: Button })
.add( ... );
```
## MDX
[MDX](../docs/mdx.md) is a convenient way to document your components in Markdown and embed documentation components, such as stories and props tables, inline.
Docs has peer dependencies on `react`, `react-is`, and `babel-loader`. If you want to write stories in MDX, you may need to add these dependencies as well:
```sh
yarn add -D react react-is babel-loader
```
Then update your `.storybook/main.js` to make sure you load MDX files:
```js
module.exports = {
stories: ['../src/stories/**/*.stories.@(js|mdx)'],
};
```
Finally, you can create MDX files like this:
```md
import { Meta, Story, Props } from '@storybook/addon-docs/blocks';
import { Button } from './Button';
# Button
Some **markdown** description, or whatever you want.
## Props
```
## Inline stories
Storybook Docs renders all React stories inline on the page by default. If you want to render stories in an `iframe` so that they are better isolated. To do this, update `.storybook/preview.js`:
```js
import { addParameters } from '@storybook/react';
addParameters({
docs: {
inlineStories: false,
},
});
```
## TypeScript props with `react-docgen`
If you're using TypeScript, there are two different options for generating props: `react-docgen-typescript` (default) or `react-docgen`.
You can add the following lines to your `.storybook/main.js` to switch between the two (or disable docgen):
```js
module.exports = {
typescript: {
// also valid 'react-docgen-typescript' | false
reactDocgen: 'react-docgen',
},
};
```
Neither option is perfect, so here's everything you should know if you're thinking about using `react-docgen` for TypeScript.
| | `react-docgen-typescript` | `react-docgen` |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Features** | **Great**. The analysis produces great results which gives the best props table experience. | **OK**. React-docgen produces basic results that are fine for most use cases. |
| **Performance** | **Slow**. It's doing a lot more work to produce those results, and may also have an inefficient implementation. | **Blazing fast**. Adding it to your project increases build time negligibly. |
| **Bugs** | **Many**. There are a lot of corner cases that are not handled properly, and are annoying for developers. | **Few**. But there's a dealbreaker, which is lack for imported types (see below). |
| **SB docs** | **Good**. Our prop tables have supported `react-docgen-typescript` results from the beginning, so it's relatively stable. | **OK**. There are some obvious improvements to fully support `react-docgen`, and they're coming soon. |
**Performance** is a common question, so here are build times from a random project to quantify. Your mileage may vary:
| Docgen | Build time |
| ----------------------- | ---------- |
| react-docgen-typescript | 59s |
| react-docgen | 29s |
| none | 28s |
The biggest limitation of `react-docgen` is lack of support for imported types. What that means is that when a component uses a type defined in another file or package, `react-docgen` is unable to extract props information for that type.
```tsx
import React, { FC } from 'react';
import SomeType from './someFile';
type NewType = SomeType & { foo: string };
const MyComponent: FC = ...
```
So in the previous example, `SomeType` would simply be ignored! There's an [open PR for this in the `react-docgen` repo](https://github.com/reactjs/react-docgen/pull/352) which you can upvote if it affects you.
Another common pitfall when switching to `react-docgen` is [lack of support for `React.FC`](https://github.com/reactjs/react-docgen/issues/387). This means that the following common pattern **DOESN'T WORK**:
```tsx
import React, { FC } from 'react';
interface IProps { ... };
const MyComponent: FC = ({ ... }) => ...
```
Fortunately, the following workaround works:
```tsx
const MyComponent: FC = ({ ... }: IProps) => ...
```
Please upvote [the issue](https://github.com/reactjs/react-docgen/issues/387) if this is affecting your productivity, or better yet, submit a fix!
## More resources
Want to learn more? Here are some more articles on Storybook Docs:
- References: [DocsPage](../docs/docspage.md) / [MDX](../docs/mdx.md) / [FAQ](../docs/faq.md) / [Recipes](../docs/recipes.md) / [Theming](../docs/theming.md) / [Props](../docs/props-tables.md)
- Announcements: [Vision](https://medium.com/storybookjs/storybook-docs-sneak-peak-5be78445094a) / [DocsPage](https://medium.com/storybookjs/storybook-docspage-e185bc3622bf) / [MDX](https://medium.com/storybookjs/rich-docs-with-storybook-mdx-61bc145ae7bc) / [Framework support](https://medium.com/storybookjs/storybook-docs-for-new-frameworks-b1f6090ee0ea)
- Example: [Storybook Design System](https://github.com/storybookjs/design-system)
