Reference¶

A curated collection of tools, libraries, and resources for X-as-Code and Sphinx-Needs based documentation workflows.

Inspired by other “awesome-XXX” collections.

useblocks Open Source¶

The core ecosystem of open-source tools from useblocks for x-as-code workflows.

Sphinx-Needs - The flagship extension for requirements management in Sphinx. Define, link, and trace needs, requirements, specs, and test cases. Supports compliance standards like DO-178B/C and ISO 26262. 341K+ downloads.
Sphinx-Test-Reports - Import test results from JUnit XML files as need objects. Link test results to specifications for full traceability.
Sphinx-Modeling - Pydantic-based models and constraints for Sphinx-Needs objects. Define schemas and validate need structures.
Sphinx-Codelinks - Create Sphinx-Needs items directly from source code comments. Bridge the gap between code and documentation.

Sphinx-SimplePDF - A simple PDF builder for Sphinx using WeasyPrint and SCSS styling. Create professional PDFs without LaTeX.
Bazel-Drives-Sphinx - Use Bazel as the build system for Sphinx documentation projects.

Sphinx-Collections - Collect and manage files from multiple sources (Git repos, symlinks, Jinja templates) into your Sphinx project.
Sphinx-Data-Viewer - Display JSON and Python data structures in readable list format within documentation.
Sphinx-Preview - Add hover-activated link previews for enhanced navigation.

Sphinx-EMF - Connect Sphinx-Needs to Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) models. Import and synchronize EMF-based data.
libpdf - Extract structured data from PDF documents. Useful for importing legacy requirements.

Enterprise-grade tools for professional engineering teams requiring ALM integration and advanced traceability.

ubConnect - Standalone connector that syncs ALM data with Sphinx-Needs. Supports DOORS, Polarion, Codebeamer, Jama, Jira, plus Excel, ReqIF, and SysML v2.
ubCode - VS Code extension for creating structured, reusable building blocks with instant preview, validation, and traceability links.
ubTrace - Real-time traceability dashboard across development artifacts. Shows relationships, versions, and change logs for audits and analysis.

Essential Sphinx extensions for documentation-as-code workflows.

MyST-Parser - Write Sphinx documentation in Markdown with MyST syntax. Full RST feature parity.
sphinx-design - Responsive web design components: grids, cards, tabs, dropdowns, badges.
sphinx-tabs - Create tabbed content areas for code examples and multi-platform instructions.
sphinx-copybutton - Add copy buttons to code blocks for easy code sharing.
sphinx-togglebutton - Toggle visibility of content sections.

sphinx.ext.autodoc - Generate documentation from Python docstrings automatically.
sphinx.ext.napoleon - Support for NumPy and Google style docstrings.
sphinx-autodoc-typehints - Type hints support in autodoc output.
Breathe - Bridge between Sphinx and Doxygen for C/C++ documentation.

sphinxcontrib-mermaid - Embed Mermaid diagrams (flowcharts, sequence diagrams, Gantt charts).
sphinxcontrib-plantuml - Embed PlantUML diagrams for UML modeling.
sphinx-gallery - Build galleries from Python scripts with auto-generated output.

nbsphinx - Jupyter notebook integration for Sphinx.
Jupyter Book - Build publication-quality books from Jupyter notebooks and Markdown.
sphinx-autobuild - Live preview with auto-rebuild on file changes.

Popular themes for professional documentation appearance.

Furo - Clean, customizable theme with excellent mobile support and dark mode.
sphinx-rtd-theme - The Read the Docs theme. Industry standard for open source projects.
PyData Sphinx Theme - Theme for scientific and data-focused projects. Used by NumPy, Pandas.
sphinx-book-theme - Theme designed for Jupyter Book with clean layout.
Alabaster - Minimalist theme, Sphinx default. Clean and lightweight.
sphinx-immaterial - Material Design theme based on mkdocs-material.

Platforms and tools for hosting and automating documentation builds.

Read the Docs - Free documentation hosting with automatic builds from Git. Supports versioning.
GitHub Pages - Free static hosting from GitHub repositories.
GitHub Actions - Automate Sphinx builds in CI/CD pipelines.
GitLab Pages - Static site hosting integrated with GitLab CI/CD.
Netlify - Modern hosting platform with preview deployments.

Standards and formats relevant to engineering documentation and requirements exchange.

ReqIF - Requirements Interchange Format. OMG standard for exchanging requirements between tools.
SysML v2 - Systems Modeling Language for model-based systems engineering.
SPDX - Software Package Data Exchange for license compliance.
OpenAPI/Swagger - API specification standard with Sphinx integration via sphinxcontrib-openapi.

Tutorials, documentation, and examples for getting started.

Sphinx Documentation - Official Sphinx documentation and tutorials.
Sphinx-Needs Documentation - Complete guide to Sphinx-Needs directives, configuration, and features.
Sphinx-Needs Demo - Example project showcasing automotive software documentation patterns.
Write the Docs - Community and resources for documentation practitioners.
Docs as Code - Resources for treating documentation like source code.

Know a tool that should be on this list? Open an issue or pull request!