Skip to content

serve docs

Home › Reference › Commands › Serve › Docs

Overview

Command: serve docs [flags] Purpose: Start, stop, or reload MkDocs documentation server Category: serve

The serve docs command manages the MkDocs documentation server using Docker. It can start a server on a specified port, stop a running server, reload to pick up changes, and open the documentation in your browser.

Syntax

serve docs [flags]

Flags

Flag Description
--no-browser Don't open browser after starting server
-p, --port Port number for MkDocs server (default: auto-allocated 9000-9999)
--stop Stop the running MkDocs server
--reload Reload documentation by restarting the running server
--debug Enable debug mode with log streaming
-h, --help Show help message

Examples

# Start server with auto-allocated port
serve docs

# Start server on specific port
serve docs --port 9001

# Start without opening browser
serve docs --no-browser

# Reload to pick up documentation changes
serve docs --reload

# Stop the running server
serve docs --stop

# Enable debug mode with log streaming
serve docs --debug

Workflow

Making Documentation Changes

When working on documentation, use the --reload flag to quickly see your changes:

  1. Start the documentation server: 

    serve docs

  2. Make changes to markdown files in docs/

  3. Reload to see changes: 

    serve docs --reload

  4. Browser automatically refreshes to show updated content

Port Management

The server automatically allocates ports in the 9000-9999 range. If you need a specific port:

serve docs --port 9725

If a server is already running on a different port, you'll need to stop it first or use --reload to restart on the same port.

See Also

Tutorials | How-to Guides | Explanation | Reference

You are here: Reference — information-oriented technical descriptions of the system.