BookStack

BookStack is a web-based documentation and wiki platform designed for creating and organizing content in a clear hierarchy of Books, Chapters, and Pages. It provides an approachable editing experience while still supporting richer technical workflows for teams that need structured internal documentation.

Key Features

• Structured content model: Books → Chapters → Pages (plus optional “Shelves” to group books)
• WYSIWYG editor with Markdown support, including code blocks and formatting tools
• Granular permissions & roles to control access at shelf/book/chapter/page levels
• Full-text search across content to quickly find pages and references
• Page revision history with change tracking and the ability to review/restore past versions
• Images and file attachments management for documentation assets
• Linkable content with easy page linking and navigation via a consistent hierarchy
• Authentication options including LDAP integration and SSO via SAML2/OAuth2 (via supported identity providers)
• REST API for integrating content and automating documentation workflows
• Theme and customization options (including customization via configuration and UI styling)

Use Cases

• Internal team knowledge base for SOPs, runbooks, onboarding, and troubleshooting guides
• Product/engineering documentation with organized manuals and versionable pages
• Lightweight company wiki for policies, processes, and cross-team collaboration

Limitations and Considerations

• Content organization is opinionated around the book/chapter/page hierarchy, which may not suit all wiki styles
• Real-time collaborative editing (simultaneous co-authoring like Google Docs) is not the primary editing model

BookStack is well-suited for teams that want a clean, navigable documentation system without the complexity of a full CMS. Its structured hierarchy, permissions, and revision history make it a practical choice for maintaining internal documentation at scale.