> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.qodo.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Help docs

<Badge color="outline-provider" size="sm" shape="pill" icon="github">GitHub</Badge>
<Badge color="outline-provider" size="sm" shape="pill" icon="gitlab">GitLab</Badge>
<Badge color="outline-provider" size="sm" shape="pill" icon="bitbucket">Bitbucket</Badge>

<Warning>
  **Git Integration (formerly Qodo Merge)** – AI code review agents for pull requests. This documentation describes the Qodo v1 experience. For the Qodo v2 documentation, click [here.](/code-review)
</Warning>

The `help_docs` tool can answer a free-text question based on your git documentation folder.

## How to use the `help_docs` tool

**Manual usage**

Comment on the PR:

```bash theme={null}
/help_docs "..."
```

**Automatic usage**

To run the tool automatically when a new issue is opened, add it to your [configuration file](/v1/configuration/configuration-file/):

```bash theme={null}
[github_app]
pr_commands = [
    "/help_docs",
    ...
]

[pr_help_docs]
repo_url = ""
...
```

The tool assumes by default that the documentation is located in the root of the repository, at the `/docs` folder.

However, this can be customized by setting the `docs_path` configuration option:

```bash theme={null}
[pr_help_docs]
repo_url = ""                 # The repository to use as context
docs_path = "docs"            # The documentation folder
repo_default_branch = "main"  # The branch to use in case repo_url overwritten
```

<CardGroup>
  <Card title="Learn more about automatic usage of tools." icon="book" href="/v1/getting-started/usage-guide" horizontal />
</CardGroup>

### Run automatically when a new issue is opened

You can configure Qodo to run `help_docs` automatically on any newly created issue. This can be useful for providing immediate feedback to users who open issues with questions on open-source projects with extensive documentation.

<Steps>
  <Step>
    [Create a GitHub action](/v1/getting-started/setup-and-installation/github), such as: `.github/workflows/help_docs.yml`
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Add to your `YAML` file:

    ```yaml expandable theme={null}
    name: Run Qodo on every opened issue, respond to user comments on an issue

    #When the action is triggered
    on:
      issues:
        types: [opened] #New issue

    # Read env. variables
    env:
      GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      GITHUB_API_URL: ${{ github.api_url }}
      GIT_REPO_URL: ${{ github.event.repository.clone_url }}
      ISSUE_URL: ${{ github.event.issue.html_url || github.event.comment.html_url }}
      ISSUE_BODY: ${{ github.event.issue.body || github.event.comment.body }}
      OPENAI_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENAI_KEY }}

    # The actual set of actions
    jobs:
      issue_agent:
        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
        if: ${{ github.event.sender.type != 'Bot' }} #Do not respond to bots

        # Set required permissions
        permissions:
          contents: read    # For reading repository contents
          issues: write     # For commenting on issues

        steps:
          - name: Run PR Agent on Issues
            if: ${{ env.ISSUE_URL != '' }}
            uses: docker://codiumai/pr-agent:latest
            with:
              entrypoint: /bin/bash #Replace invoking cli.py directly with a shell
              args: |
                -c "cd /app && \
                echo 'Running Issue Agent action step on ISSUE_URL=$ISSUE_URL' && \
                export config__git_provider='github' && \
                export github__user_token=$GITHUB_TOKEN && \            
                export github__base_url=$GITHUB_API_URL && \
                export openai__key=$OPENAI_KEY && \
                python -m pr_agent.cli --issue_url=$ISSUE_URL --pr_help_docs.repo_url="..." --pr_help_docs.docs_path="..." --pr_help_docs.openai_key=$OPENAI_KEY && \help_docs \"$ISSUE_BODY\""
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Continue adding secrets and relevant configurations, such as `repo_url` and `docs_path`.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Merge the changes to your main branch.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Done! When a new issue related to the repository's documentation is opened in your repository, you will see a comment from the `github-actions` bot with an auto response.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Configuration options

Configure the `help_docs` tool by setting configurations under the `pr_help_docs` part in your [configuration file](/v1/configuration/configuration-file/).

| Possible configurations | Default value                                           | What they do                                                                                                     |
| :---------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------ | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `repo_url`              | The URL for the repository where the issue or PR reside | The repository's URL                                                                                             |
| `repo_default_branch`   | none                                                    | The branch to use in case `repo_url` overwritten. If repo\_url was not overwritten this parameter has no effect. |
| `docs_path`             | `./docs`                                                | Relative path to the docs folder from the root of repository.                                                    |
| `exclude_root_readme`   | `false`                                                 | Whether to exclude the root `README` file from Qodo's context.                                                   |
| `supported_doc_exts`    | `[".md", ".mdx", ".rst"]`                               | Which file extensions should be included for `help_docs`'s action.                                               |

## Example usage

Asking a question about another repository:

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/qodo/uIkZ6kAWHm6WXqrW/images/v1/image-178.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=uIkZ6kAWHm6WXqrW&q=85&s=7ef14c2d7df27de0c981a0ffd52d34d3" alt="" width="1846" height="384" data-path="images/v1/image-178.png" />
</Frame>

Response:

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/qodo/uIkZ6kAWHm6WXqrW/images/v1/image-179.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=uIkZ6kAWHm6WXqrW&q=85&s=2b8da17c7d9dd10a21edb51e2252c57c" alt="" width="988" height="685" data-path="images/v1/image-179.png" />
</Frame>