Do I need API docs that can be edited by engineers in Git?

Not always—but having API docs in Git is usually a very good idea if engineers need to maintain them.

You probably want docs in Git if:

• Developers own the API and change it often
• You want docs to stay in sync with code
• You need code review, versioning, and audit history
• Multiple engineers collaborate on docs
• You want docs updates to be part of the same PR as the API change

You might not need docs in Git if:

• The API is very stable
• A non-engineering team owns the docs in a CMS or docs platform
• You mainly need public-facing help content, not technical contract docs
• You already generate docs automatically from code/spec and rarely edit them by hand

Common best practice

Keep the source of truth in Git, especially for:

• OpenAPI/Swagger specs
• README-style endpoint docs
• Examples and changelogs

Then publish them to a docs site automatically.

Practical recommendation

If your API is used by other teams or customers, a Git-based workflow is usually the safest choice:

• write docs in Markdown/OpenAPI
• review in pull requests
• auto-publish on merge

If you want, I can also help you decide between:

1. Git-based docs
2. Docs platform/CMS
3. Generated docs from code
4. A hybrid approach