Have you ever thought about turning your iPad into a mini documentation server?
With iSH (a Linux shell for iOS) and MkDocs, you can not only build documentation projects right on your iPad, but also serve and browse them locally in Chrome or Safari on the same device! 🚀
Why do this?
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📝 Write and preview your documentation on the go, without a laptop.
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💡 Turn your iPad into a self-contained dev and docs environment.
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🌍 Browse your MkDocs site locally as if it’s hosted online — but it’s all happening inside your iPad.
Step 1: Install iSH
Grab iSH Shell from the App Store. It runs Alpine Linux inside iOS — lightweight and perfect for experiments like this.
Step 2: Install Python & Build Tools
Inside iSH, update and install the required packages:
apk update
apk add python3 py3-pip build-base python3-dev libffi-dev openssl-dev
pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
Step 3: Install MkDocs
pip install mkdocs mkdocs-material
Check if it works:
mkdocs —version
Step 4: Create a Project
mkdocs new mydocs
cd mydocs
Step 5: Serve the Site
Here’s the magic part — run the built-in dev server on 127.0.0.1:
mkdocs serve -a 127.0.0.1:8000
Step 6: Browse on Your iPad 🎉
Now open Chrome or Safari on your iPad and go to:
http://127.0.0.1:8000/
Boom! You’re browsing your MkDocs site that’s being served locally inside iSH. No extra devices, no external servers — just your iPad.
⚠️ Tip: Keep the iSH app running in the foreground (or in split-screen with Chrome/Safari). If iSH is fully sent to the background, iOS will freeze the process and your local MkDocs server will stop responding.
Final Thoughts
This little hack shows how powerful iSH can be. Pair it with MkDocs, and suddenly your iPad becomes a portable documentation lab. You can edit Markdown, rebuild instantly, and preview it live in your browser — all on one device.
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👉 Would you try running MkDocs (or maybe even other Python-based tools) on your iPad?