We are working on developing a product called LiveAPI, a product for creating automated API docs for any project within minutes and with just a few clicks.

We are solving many complex problems to convert the idea into a usable product. In this post, I will explain how we are trying to solve a complex problem in our product.

While discussing the idea of LiveAPI with founders and developers, one main concern they kept asking about was the security of the product.

LiveAPI generates API docs directly from GitHub, GitLab, or self-hosted repositories. This requires users to link their GitHub, GitLab, or any other git provider account to LiveAPI.

As we are a new product with minimal users, people might hesitate to connect their repository or share code with LiveAPI to generate API documentation.

We discussed this problem in the team and came up with the idea of the LiveAPI Runner.

The LiveAPI Runner will act as an agent between the LiveAPI backend and the client. The LiveAPI Runner is a mini-tool that users can install on their own self-hosted server.
For each user, they can enable the LiveAPI Runner and simply install it using a one-line command.

Using the Runner, users can clone the repositories on their own platform and share the important files with the LiveAPI backend to generate documentation.
Also, they can monitor what files LiveAPI is reading to generate documentation. This will provide complete transparency and clarity on how we are dealing with the user's repository.

Curious about how we implemented this Runner? More details and challenges will be discussed in Part 2.