TypeDoc Getting Started

For TypeScript projects, the theme ships as a TypeDoc plugin — @clean-jsdoc-theme/typedoc. It isn't a CSS theme extending TypeDoc's default; it registers a custom output that feeds TypeDoc's reflections through the same setu → dwar pipeline as the JSDoc bridge. The result is an identical site — SSR HTML, islands, fuzzy + full-text search, companion .md — generated from your TypeScript sources.

How it plugs in. The plugin's load(app) declares one option block (cleanJsdocTheme, see options.ts) and registers an output named clean-jsdoc-theme via app.outputs.addOutput(...). The writer (write-site.ts) adapts reflections → doclets → the shared pipeline. So you select it two ways: plugin loads it, outputs turns it on.

Install and build

Install

Install TypeDoc and the theme's TypeDoc plugin as dev dependencies:

CODE

npm install --save-dev typedoc @clean-jsdoc-theme/typedoc

CODE

pnpm add -D typedoc @clean-jsdoc-theme/typedoc

Configure

Add a typedoc.json. Load the plugin, select it as an output, and put theme options under the cleanJsdocTheme key (TypeDoc's counterpart to JSDoc's opts):

CODE

{
  entryPoints: ["src/index.ts"],
  tsconfig: "tsconfig.json",
  readme: "README.md",

  // Load the plugin, then select its output to render.
  plugin: ["@clean-jsdoc-theme/typedoc"],
  outputs: [{ name: "clean-jsdoc-theme", path: "dist" }],

  // Theme options live here.
  cleanJsdocTheme: {
    siteName: "My Library",
  },
}

3
Build
Run TypeDoc — it renders the registered output to outputs[].path:
CODE
```
npx typedoc
```
4
Serve
Open dist/index.html, or serve the folder (Pagefind's full-text index needs HTTP to load):
CODE
```
npx serve dist
```

A complete, runnable TypeDoc setup lives in the repo at examples/typedoc-basic — its typedoc.json is the reference for the setup above.

Where the options go

Every theme option is the same as for JSDoc — only the location differs: under cleanJsdocTheme instead of opts. The full list, with both forms side by side, is on the Configuration page. A few to start with:

Option	What it does
`siteName`	Header title — plain text, or a `light`/`dark` logo set with `alt` fallback text.
`fonts`	Override `heading` / `body` (Google Fonts, loaded for you) and `mono`.
`colors` / `darkColors`	Recolor the light / dark palettes — override just `bg`, `accent`, …, keep the rest.
`sectionOrder`	Order the top-level sidebar sections.
`clubSidebarItems`	Collapse related entries under a shared, collapsible parent.
`menu`	Custom links pinned above the sidebar, each with a `lucide:` / `simpleicons:` icon.
`copyPage`	The per-page "copy page" / "open in LLM" button (on by default).

Because cleanJsdocTheme is a dedicated namespace, unknown keys inside it only ever warn (with a "did you mean?" hint) — see strict to escalate that to an error.

Multiple languages

The localization workflow declares its locales in the same cleanJsdocTheme block (locales + defaultLocale) and runs through the clean-jsdoc CLI — see Localize your docs and the locales / defaultLocale reference.

Today the TypeDoc bridge can extract translation catalogs but does not yet render the per-locale sites — localized builds are JSDoc-only for now. A single-language TypeDoc site is fully supported.

Next steps

Build an API reference — what becomes a page and how the source-file viewer works.
Build a guides site and Combine guides + API — add hand-written Markdown to the same site.
Structure your sidebar — grouping and ordering levers.
Authoring — callouts, steps, tabs, and embeds.
Localize your docs — the multi-language workflow (extract works on TypeDoc; localized builds are JSDoc-only today).
Packages — how the shared setu → dwar pipeline (and the @clean-jsdoc-theme/typedoc plugin) work under the hood.