# Documentation Deployment System - Change Log

## [2025-10-24] - Documentation Infrastructure Overhaul

### 🎯 Summary
Complete redesign of the documentation deployment system using MkDocs, mike, and GitHub Actions for automated, versioned documentation deployment to GitHub Pages.

### ✨ New Features

#### GitHub Actions Workflows
- **`deploy-docs.yml`**: Unified workflow for all documentation deployments
  - Automatic deployment on tag push (versioned releases)
  - Automatic deployment on main branch push (development docs)
  - Manual dispatch with custom version/alias support
  - Intelligent version detection and aliasing
  - Detailed deployment summaries
  
#### Developer Tools
- **`scripts/docs-helper.sh`**: Interactive helper script for local documentation operations
  - Serve documentation locally with live reload
  - Build documentation with strict validation
  - Test mike deployments without pushing
  - List deployed versions
  - Deploy, delete, and set default versions
  - Colored output and interactive prompts

- **Makefile Targets**: Convenient make commands for documentation tasks
  - `make docs-serve`: Start local development server
  - `make docs-build`: Build and validate documentation
  - `make docs-test`: Test mike deployment locally
  - `make docs-list`: List all deployed versions
  - `make docs-deploy-dev`: Deploy development documentation
  - `make docs-deploy-stable VERSION=vX.Y.Z`: Deploy stable release
  - `make docs-delete VERSION=vX.Y.Z`: Delete a version
  - `make docs-clean`: Clean build directory

#### Documentation
- **`docs/contributing/documentation-deployment.md`**: Comprehensive deployment guide
  - Version management strategy
  - Workflow documentation
  - Troubleshooting guide
  - Best practices
  - Security considerations
  - Workflow diagrams

- **`.github/workflows/README.md`**: Complete workflow reference
  - All workflows documented
  - Required secrets
  - Workflow dependencies
  - Common operations
  - Troubleshooting

- **`docs/contributing/docs-deployment-summary.md`**: Executive summary
  - Architecture overview
  - Changes made
  - Benefits
  - Usage examples
  - Migration notes

### 🔄 Modified

#### Workflows
- **`check-docs.yml`**: Enhanced with better mike testing
  - Added git configuration for mike operations
  - Improved test workflow
  - Better artifact handling

- **`release.yml`**: Simplified documentation handling
  - Removed duplicate deployment logic
  - Added informational step about automatic deployment
  - Documentation deployment now handled by `deploy-docs.yml`

#### Configuration
- **`mkdocs.yml`**: Updated navigation
  - Added Contributing section
  - Linked new documentation pages

- **`Makefile`**: Added documentation targets (see above)

### ❌ Removed
- **`.github/workflows/main-doc.yml`**: Replaced by unified `deploy-docs.yml`

### 📊 Architecture Changes

#### Before
```
Tag Push → release.yml → Deploy docs
Main Push → main-doc.yml → Deploy docs
(Duplicate logic, no unified control)
```

#### After
```
Tag Push → deploy-docs.yml → Deploy as vX.Y.Z (alias: stable)
Main Push → deploy-docs.yml → Deploy as main (alias: development)
Manual → deploy-docs.yml → Deploy custom version/alias
(Single source of truth, unified workflow)
```

### 🔒 Security Improvements
- No long-lived secrets required
- Uses GitHub's automatic `GITHUB_TOKEN`
- Scoped permissions (`contents: write` only for deployment)
- Clear audit trail in `gh-pages` branch
- Automatic secret masking

### 📈 Benefits

#### For Developers
- Local testing without pushing to gh-pages
- Helper script for common operations
- Makefile targets for convenience
- Clear error messages and validation
- Comprehensive documentation

#### For Maintainers
- Automatic versioned releases
- Development docs always up-to-date
- Easy rollback capabilities
- Clear deployment history
- Manual deployment control when needed

#### For Users
- Version selector in documentation
- Stable version as default landing page
- Development version for latest features
- Fast, reliable documentation hosting
- Professional, polished documentation site

### 🎓 Usage Examples

#### Local Development
```bash
# Start development server
make docs-serve
# or
./scripts/docs-helper.sh serve

# Build and validate
make docs-build

# Test mike deployment
make docs-test
```

#### Deploying Versions
```bash
# Automatic (via git tag)
git tag v0.14.0
git push origin v0.14.0
# → Triggers deploy-docs.yml automatically

# Manual deployment
make docs-deploy-stable VERSION=v0.13.0
# or
./scripts/docs-helper.sh deploy v0.13.0 stable

# Delete old version
make docs-delete VERSION=v0.10.0
```

#### Checking Deployed Versions
```bash
make docs-list
# or
./scripts/docs-helper.sh list
```

### 🧪 Testing Performed
- [x] Documentation builds without errors
- [x] Mike configuration validated
- [x] Helper script functional
- [x] Makefile targets work correctly
- [x] Workflows have correct triggers
- [x] Permissions properly scoped
- [x] Local testing successful

### 📝 Migration Notes

#### For Existing Deployments
- No action required
- Existing versions in gh-pages remain unchanged
- New deployments will use the unified workflow

#### For Contributors
- Review `docs/contributing/documentation-deployment.md`
- Use helper script or Makefile for local operations
- Test documentation builds before submitting PRs

#### For Maintainers
- Tag-based releases now automatically deploy documentation
- No manual documentation deployment needed
- Use workflow dispatch for custom deployments if needed

### 🔮 Future Enhancements
- PR preview deployments
- Automated cleanup of old versions
- Multi-language support
- Broken link checking
- SEO optimization
- Analytics integration (optional)
- Performance monitoring

### 📚 References
- [MkDocs Documentation](https://www.mkdocs.org/)
- [Mike Documentation](https://github.com/jimporter/mike)
- [GitHub Actions Documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/actions)
- [GitHub Pages Documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/pages)

---

**Implementation Date**: 2025-10-24  
**Implemented By**: GitHub Copilot  
**Status**: ✅ Complete and Tested
