AI Index / AI tools for developers writing documentation / History

AI tools for developers writing documentation — AI Recommendation History

What AI assistants recommended for ai tools for developers writing documentation, date by date. Every ranking we publish is frozen the day it publishes, so this is a record of what was said — not a re-computation of what today's data would say about the past.

Record: 26 dated snapshots · Aug 14, 2026 – Sep 8, 2026

Answer archive Methodology Data studies JSON

What changed

Computed by comparing each dated snapshot with the one before it. Share moves smaller than 1pp are treated as noise and left out — the same threshold that suppresses trend arrows on the ranking.

Sep 8, 2026vs Sep 7, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Sep 7, 2026vs Sep 6, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Sep 6, 2026vs Sep 5, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Sep 5, 2026vs Sep 4, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Sep 4, 2026vs Sep 3, 2026

▲GitBook moved #3 → #2
▼ReadMe moved #2 → #3
▲GitLab moved #9 → #8
▼Cursor moved #8 → #9
▲Swimm +3.4pp (26.8% → 30.2%)
▼ReadMe -3.2pp (42.9% → 39.7%)
▼Cursor -2.8pp (25% → 22.2%)
▼Git -1.9pp (32.1% → 30.2%)
▼GitBook -1.6pp (42.9% → 41.3%)
▼Mintlify -1.5pp (57.1% → 55.6%)
▼GitLab -1pp (23.2% → 22.2%)

Sep 3, 2026vs Sep 2, 2026

▲Docusaurus moved #10 → #7
▼GitLab moved #7 → #9
▲ReadMe moved #3 → #2
▼GitBook moved #2 → #3
▼DocuWriter moved #9 → #10
▼Swimm -10.3pp (37.1% → 26.8%)
▼Git -7.9pp (40% → 32.1%)
▼DocuWriter.ai -7.2pp (42.9% → 35.7%)
▼Mintlify -5.8pp (62.9% → 57.1%)
▼GitBook -5.7pp (48.6% → 42.9%)
▼DocuWriter -4.3pp (25.7% → 21.4%)
▼ReadMe -2.8pp (45.7% → 42.9%)
▼GitLab -2.5pp (25.7% → 23.2%)
▲Docusaurus +1.1pp (25.7% → 26.8%)

Sep 2, 2026vs Sep 1, 2026

Methodology change: extraction rules 4-7 → 7 between these dates. Differences below may reflect the rule change rather than a change in what AI recommends — see the methodology changelog.

▲ INCursor entered the top 10 (#13 → #8)
▲ INDocusaurus entered the top 10 (#12 → #10)
▼ OUTFern left the top 10 (#7 → #12)
▼ OUTNotion left the top 10 (#10 → #11)
▲Cursor moved #13 → #8
▼Fern moved #7 → #12
▲GitLab moved #9 → #7
▲Docusaurus moved #12 → #10
▲GitBook moved #3 → #2
▼ReadMe moved #2 → #3
▲Git moved #6 → #5
▼Swimm moved #5 → #6
▼DocuWriter moved #8 → #9
▼Notion moved #10 → #11
▼Fern -10pp (27.1% → 17.1%)
▲Git +9.5pp (30.5% → 40%)
▲Cursor +8.8pp (16.9% → 25.7%)
▲Docusaurus +7.1pp (18.6% → 25.7%)
▲Mintlify +7pp (55.9% → 62.9%)
▲DocuWriter.ai +5.6pp (37.3% → 42.9%)
▲GitBook +4.5pp (44.1% → 48.6%)
▲GitLab +3.7pp (22% → 25.7%)
▲DocuWriter +3.7pp (22% → 25.7%)
▲Swimm +1.5pp (35.6% → 37.1%)

Sep 1, 2026vs Aug 31, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 31, 2026vs Aug 30, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 30, 2026vs Aug 29, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 29, 2026vs Aug 28, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 28, 2026vs Aug 27, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 27, 2026vs Aug 26, 2026

▲ INNotion entered the top 10 (#11 → #10)
▼ OUTVS Code left the top 10 (#9 → #11)
▼VS Code moved #9 → #11
▲DocuWriter.ai moved #5 → #4
▼Swimm moved #4 → #5
▲GitLab moved #10 → #9
▲Notion moved #11 → #10
▲DocuWriter.ai +5.8pp (31.5% → 37.3%)
▲GitLab +2.8pp (19.2% → 22%)
▲Fern +2.4pp (24.7% → 27.1%)
▼VS Code -1.9pp (20.5% → 18.6%)
▲Git +1.7pp (28.8% → 30.5%)
▲DocuWriter +1.5pp (20.5% → 22%)
▲Mintlify +1.1pp (54.8% → 55.9%)
▲Notion +1.1pp (19.2% → 20.3%)

Aug 26, 2026vs Aug 25, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 25, 2026vs Aug 24, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 24, 2026vs Aug 23, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 23, 2026vs Aug 22, 2026

▲ INGitLab entered the top 10 (#12 → #10)
▼ OUTNotion left the top 10 (#9 → #11)
▲DocuWriter moved #10 → #8
▲GitLab moved #12 → #10
▼Notion moved #9 → #11
▼VS Code moved #8 → #9
▲DocuWriter +2.4pp (18.1% → 20.5%)
▼ReadMe -2.3pp (48.9% → 46.6%)
▲GitBook +2.3pp (41.5% → 43.8%)
▲GitLab +2.2pp (17% → 19.2%)
▼Git -1pp (29.8% → 28.8%)
▼Notion -1pp (20.2% → 19.2%)

Aug 22, 2026vs Aug 21, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 21, 2026vs Aug 20, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 20, 2026vs Aug 19, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 19, 2026vs Aug 18, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 18, 2026vs Aug 17, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 17, 2026vs Aug 16, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

Aug 16, 2026vs Aug 15, 2026

▲ INNotion entered the top 10 (#11 → #9)
▲ INDocuWriter entered the top 10 (#13 → #10)
▼ OUTDocument360 left the top 10 (#8 → #13)
▼ OUTDocusaurus left the top 10 (#9 → #11)
▼Document360 moved #8 → #13
▲DocuWriter moved #13 → #10
▲VS Code moved #10 → #8
▲Notion moved #11 → #9
▼Docusaurus moved #9 → #11
▼Document360 -4.3pp (21.3% → 17%)
▼DocuWriter.ai -2.4pp (34.3% → 31.9%)
▼Docusaurus -2.3pp (20.4% → 18.1%)
▼Mintlify -2.1pp (57.4% → 55.3%)
▼Git -1.7pp (31.5% → 29.8%)
▲DocuWriter +1.4pp (16.7% → 18.1%)
▼ReadMe -1.1pp (50% → 48.9%)
▼GitBook -1.1pp (42.6% → 41.5%)
▼Swimm -1pp (36.1% → 35.1%)

Aug 15, 2026vs Aug 14, 2026

No change above the noise floor.

The ranking, date by date

Top 10 on each archived date, exactly as published. Cite a date and it stays true: snapshots are append-only, and a correction appends a new revision rather than overwriting the original.

Sep 8, 202663 sampled answers · window 2026-08-11 – 2026-09-08 · rules v7

#1Mintlify55.6%
#2GitBook41.3%
#3ReadMe39.7%
#4DocuWriter.ai34.9%
#5Git30.2%
#6Swimm30.2%
#7Docusaurus27%
#8GitLab22.2%
#9Cursor22.2%
#10DocuWriter20.6%

Sep 7, 202663 sampled answers · window 2026-08-10 – 2026-09-07 · rules v7

#1Mintlify55.6%
#2GitBook41.3%
#3ReadMe39.7%
#4DocuWriter.ai34.9%
#5Git30.2%
#6Swimm30.2%
#7Docusaurus27%
#8GitLab22.2%
#9Cursor22.2%
#10DocuWriter20.6%

Sep 6, 202663 sampled answers · window 2026-08-09 – 2026-09-06 · rules v7

#1Mintlify55.6%
#2GitBook41.3%
#3ReadMe39.7%
#4DocuWriter.ai34.9%
#5Git30.2%
#6Swimm30.2%
#7Docusaurus27%
#8GitLab22.2%
#9Cursor22.2%
#10DocuWriter20.6%

Sep 5, 202663 sampled answers · window 2026-08-08 – 2026-09-05 · rules v7

#1Mintlify55.6%
#2GitBook41.3%
#3ReadMe39.7%
#4DocuWriter.ai34.9%
#5Git30.2%
#6Swimm30.2%
#7Docusaurus27%
#8GitLab22.2%
#9Cursor22.2%
#10DocuWriter20.6%

Sep 4, 202663 sampled answers · window 2026-08-07 – 2026-09-04 · rules v7

#1Mintlify55.6%
#2GitBook41.3%
#3ReadMe39.7%
#4DocuWriter.ai34.9%
#5Git30.2%
#6Swimm30.2%
#7Docusaurus27%
#8GitLab22.2%
#9Cursor22.2%
#10DocuWriter20.6%

Sep 3, 202656 sampled answers · window 2026-08-06 – 2026-09-03 · rules v7

#1Mintlify57.1%
#2ReadMe42.9%
#3GitBook42.9%
#4DocuWriter.ai35.7%
#5Git32.1%
#6Swimm26.8%
#7Docusaurus26.8%
#8Cursor25%
#9GitLab23.2%
#10DocuWriter21.4%

Sep 2, 202635 sampled answers · window 2026-08-05 – 2026-09-02 · rules v7

#1Mintlify62.9%
#2GitBook48.6%
#3ReadMe45.7%
#4DocuWriter.ai42.9%
#5Git40%
#6Swimm37.1%
#7GitLab25.7%
#8Cursor25.7%
#9DocuWriter25.7%
#10Docusaurus25.7%

Sep 1, 202659 sampled answers · window 2026-08-04 – 2026-09-01 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.9%
#2ReadMe45.8%
#3GitBook44.1%
#4DocuWriter.ai37.3%
#5Swimm35.6%
#6Git30.5%
#7Fern27.1%
#8DocuWriter22%
#9GitLab22%
#10Notion20.3%

Aug 31, 202659 sampled answers · window 2026-08-03 – 2026-08-31 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.9%
#2ReadMe45.8%
#3GitBook44.1%
#4DocuWriter.ai37.3%
#5Swimm35.6%
#6Git30.5%
#7Fern27.1%
#8DocuWriter22%
#9GitLab22%
#10Notion20.3%

Aug 30, 202659 sampled answers · window 2026-08-02 – 2026-08-30 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.9%
#2ReadMe45.8%
#3GitBook44.1%
#4DocuWriter.ai37.3%
#5Swimm35.6%
#6Git30.5%
#7Fern27.1%
#8DocuWriter22%
#9GitLab22%
#10Notion20.3%

Aug 29, 202659 sampled answers · window 2026-08-01 – 2026-08-29 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.9%
#2ReadMe45.8%
#3GitBook44.1%
#4DocuWriter.ai37.3%
#5Swimm35.6%
#6Git30.5%
#7Fern27.1%
#8DocuWriter22%
#9GitLab22%
#10Notion20.3%

Aug 28, 202659 sampled answers · window 2026-07-31 – 2026-08-28 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.9%
#2ReadMe45.8%
#3GitBook44.1%
#4DocuWriter.ai37.3%
#5Swimm35.6%
#6Git30.5%
#7Fern27.1%
#8DocuWriter22%
#9GitLab22%
#10Notion20.3%

Aug 27, 202659 sampled answers · window 2026-07-30 – 2026-08-27 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.9%
#2ReadMe45.8%
#3GitBook44.1%
#4DocuWriter.ai37.3%
#5Swimm35.6%
#6Git30.5%
#7Fern27.1%
#8DocuWriter22%
#9GitLab22%
#10Notion20.3%

Aug 26, 202673 sampled answers · window 2026-07-29 – 2026-08-26 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify54.8%
#2ReadMe46.6%
#3GitBook43.8%
#4Swimm35.6%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.5%
#6Git28.8%
#7Fern24.7%
#8DocuWriter20.5%
#9VS Code20.5%
#10GitLab19.2%

Aug 25, 202673 sampled answers · window 2026-07-28 – 2026-08-25 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify54.8%
#2ReadMe46.6%
#3GitBook43.8%
#4Swimm35.6%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.5%
#6Git28.8%
#7Fern24.7%
#8DocuWriter20.5%
#9VS Code20.5%
#10GitLab19.2%

Aug 24, 202673 sampled answers · window 2026-07-27 – 2026-08-24 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify54.8%
#2ReadMe46.6%
#3GitBook43.8%
#4Swimm35.6%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.5%
#6Git28.8%
#7Fern24.7%
#8DocuWriter20.5%
#9VS Code20.5%
#10GitLab19.2%

Aug 23, 202673 sampled answers · window 2026-07-26 – 2026-08-23 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify54.8%
#2ReadMe46.6%
#3GitBook43.8%
#4Swimm35.6%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.5%
#6Git28.8%
#7Fern24.7%
#8DocuWriter20.5%
#9VS Code20.5%
#10GitLab19.2%

Aug 22, 202694 sampled answers · window 2026-07-25 – 2026-08-22 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.3%
#2ReadMe48.9%
#3GitBook41.5%
#4Swimm35.1%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.9%
#6Git29.8%
#7Fern25.5%
#8VS Code20.2%
#9Notion20.2%
#10DocuWriter18.1%

Aug 21, 202694 sampled answers · window 2026-07-24 – 2026-08-21 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.3%
#2ReadMe48.9%
#3GitBook41.5%
#4Swimm35.1%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.9%
#6Git29.8%
#7Fern25.5%
#8VS Code20.2%
#9Notion20.2%
#10DocuWriter18.1%

Aug 20, 202694 sampled answers · window 2026-07-23 – 2026-08-20 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.3%
#2ReadMe48.9%
#3GitBook41.5%
#4Swimm35.1%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.9%
#6Git29.8%
#7Fern25.5%
#8VS Code20.2%
#9Notion20.2%
#10DocuWriter18.1%

Aug 19, 202694 sampled answers · window 2026-07-22 – 2026-08-19 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.3%
#2ReadMe48.9%
#3GitBook41.5%
#4Swimm35.1%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.9%
#6Git29.8%
#7Fern25.5%
#8VS Code20.2%
#9Notion20.2%
#10DocuWriter18.1%

Aug 18, 202694 sampled answers · window 2026-07-21 – 2026-08-18 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.3%
#2ReadMe48.9%
#3GitBook41.5%
#4Swimm35.1%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.9%
#6Git29.8%
#7Fern25.5%
#8VS Code20.2%
#9Notion20.2%
#10DocuWriter18.1%

Aug 17, 202694 sampled answers · window 2026-07-20 – 2026-08-17 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.3%
#2ReadMe48.9%
#3GitBook41.5%
#4Swimm35.1%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.9%
#6Git29.8%
#7Fern25.5%
#8VS Code20.2%
#9Notion20.2%
#10DocuWriter18.1%

Aug 16, 202694 sampled answers · window 2026-07-19 – 2026-08-16 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify55.3%
#2ReadMe48.9%
#3GitBook41.5%
#4Swimm35.1%
#5DocuWriter.ai31.9%
#6Git29.8%
#7Fern25.5%
#8VS Code20.2%
#9Notion20.2%
#10DocuWriter18.1%

Aug 15, 2026108 sampled answers · window 2026-07-18 – 2026-08-15 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify57.4%
#2ReadMe50%
#3GitBook42.6%
#4Swimm36.1%
#5DocuWriter.ai34.3%
#6Git31.5%
#7Fern25.9%
#8Document36021.3%
#9Docusaurus20.4%
#10VS Code19.4%

Aug 14, 2026108 sampled answers · window 2026-07-17 – 2026-08-14 · rules v4-7

#1Mintlify57.4%
#2ReadMe50%
#3GitBook42.6%
#4Swimm36.1%
#5DocuWriter.ai34.3%
#6Git31.5%
#7Fern25.9%
#8Document36021.3%
#9Docusaurus20.4%
#10VS Code19.4%

Read any date directly

Every archived date is machine-readable at /api/index/ai-tools-for-developers-writing-docs/as-of/<YYYY-MM-DD>, which returns the ranking as it stood, with the extraction version and revision it was published under. Dates before the record begins return no_record rather than a recomputation — we do not reconstruct history on demand and present it as what we said. See what the engines actually said.

[ORBATOR]