How to Fix Spring Rest Docs Not Producing HTML Output

Why is Spring Rest Docs not generating HTML documentation?

Spring Rest Docs is a powerful tool for documenting RESTful APIs in Java. It relies on tests to produce documentation snippets, which can be assembled into various formats, including HTML. If you're encountering issues with it not generating HTML, there are several potential reasons and corresponding solutions.

// Example of Gradle dependency for Spring Rest Docs
dependencies {
    testImplementation 'org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-mockmvc'
    testImplementation 'org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-webtestclient'
}

Causes

• The Gradle/Maven build configuration might be incorrect, causing documentation generation to fail.
• There may be missing dependencies required for HTML generation.
• The test setup might not include necessary annotations or configurations for Spring Rest Docs to function properly.
• The output directory for the generated documentation might not be configured correctly.

Solutions

• Ensure that your `build.gradle` or `pom.xml` file includes all necessary dependencies for Spring Rest Docs and HTML generation.
• Check your test configuration to confirm that the correct Spring Rest Docs annotations, such as `@RestDocumentationConfiguration`, are being used in your tests.
• Verify that the output directory for generated documentation is set correctly in your build configuration, typically under `outputDir` in your Spring Rest Docs configuration.
• Run your tests with a debugging flag to observe the logs and pinpoint any errors that might be occurring during the documentation generation process.

Mistake: Forgetting to include the Spring Rest Docs dependencies in the project.

Solution: Check your build configuration file (e.g., Gradle or Maven) for the necessary Spring Rest Docs dependencies.

Mistake: Not configuring the output directory correctly.

Solution: Make sure that the output directory is set up correctly in your build configuration for HTML output.

Mistake: Not running tests that trigger the documentation generation steps.

Solution: Ensure that your tests are executing the endpoints that you want to document and include the necessary snippets.