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

# FAQ

> Frequently asked questions about Shipstar

Have a question that isn't answered here? Reach out to us at [support@shipstar.ai](mailto:support@shipstar.ai).

***

## General

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What is Shipstar?">
    Shipstar is automated product marketing for engineers and agents. It connects to your GitHub repositories, analyzes your commits, and generates polished marketing content — changelogs, blog posts, social media threads, knowledge base articles, release notes emails, and more.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What content types does Shipstar generate?">
    Shipstar generates 10 types of content:

    | Type                  | Format   |
    | --------------------- | -------- |
    | Daily Product Update  | Markdown |
    | Weekly Product Update | Markdown |
    | Feature Blog          | Markdown |
    | Blog Post             | Markdown |
    | LinkedIn Post         | Text     |
    | Twitter Thread        | Text     |
    | Feature Page          | JSON     |
    | KB Articles           | JSON     |
    | Public Changelog      | JSON     |
    | Release Notes Email   | JSON     |
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How does the AI decide what to include?">
    Shipstar uses Claude to analyze your commits. The AI is prompted to focus on user-facing changes and filter out internal noise like dependency bumps, CI/CD changes, refactors, and code cleanup. The output reads as if written by your team — it never mentions AI or tools.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I edit the generated content?">
    Yes. All generated content can be reviewed and edited in the dashboard or via the API before publishing. Use the `PATCH /sources/content/{content_id}` endpoint to update content programmatically.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## GitHub Integration

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Which Git providers are supported?">
    Currently, Shipstar supports GitHub. Connect via OAuth and select which repositories to track.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Shipstar work with private repositories?">
    Yes. When you connect your GitHub account, you authorize Shipstar to access your repositories. Both public and private repos can be tracked.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I track multiple repositories?">
    Yes. You can track as many repositories as you like. When generating content, Shipstar aggregates commits from all active tracked repos into a single piece of content.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What date range does Shipstar use?">
    By default, Shipstar analyzes the last 7 days of commits. You can specify a custom date range with the `start_date` and `end_date` parameters when triggering content generation.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Publishing & Distribution

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How do I publish content?">
    Use the publish endpoint: `POST /content/{content_id}/publish`. This generates a unique public URL where the content is accessible without authentication. You can also unpublish at any time.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do published pages have RSS feeds?">
    Yes. Published changelogs and blog posts automatically include RSS feeds at `/feed` appended to the public URL. There's also a combined feed for all blog posts at `/api/v1/blogs/feed`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I publish to Slack?">
    Yes. Shipstar can push any content type directly to a connected Slack channel.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I publish KB articles to Intercom?">
    Yes. Shipstar integrates with Intercom to sync generated knowledge base articles directly to your help center.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Scheduling

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I automate content generation?">
    Yes. Shipstar supports calendar events that trigger content generation on a schedule. Set up recurring events — for example, a weekly changelog every Friday or a monthly blog post on the 1st.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What recurrence patterns are supported?">
    Events follow the RFC 5545 RRULE standard, so you can configure daily, weekly, monthly, or custom recurrence patterns.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## API & Authentication

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How do I get an API key?">
    1. Sign up at [app.shipstar.ai](https://app.shipstar.ai)
    2. Navigate to the Dashboard
    3. Click **API Keys** in the sidebar
    4. Create a new API key and copy it

    See the [Quickstart guide](/quickstart) for detailed instructions.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How does authentication work?">
    The API uses Bearer token authentication. Include your API key in the `Authorization` header:

    ```
    Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
    ```

    Public content endpoints (changelogs, blogs, KB articles accessed by slug) don't require authentication.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is content generation synchronous?">
    No. Content generation runs asynchronously. When you trigger a generation request, you receive a `content_id` and `status: "pending"`. Poll the content endpoint to check when it's complete. The status transitions from `pending` → `processing` → `completed` (or `failed`).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What are the usage limits?">
    Usage is metered in monthly **credits**, consumed only by content generation
    (API reads and publishing are free). Free includes 1,000 credits and 1 project;
    Solo includes 50,000 credits and up to 3 projects; Team pools 50,000 credits per
    seat with unlimited projects. Each generation costs 25–100 credits depending on
    the content type — see [Plans & Credits](/plans-and-credits) for the full table.
    Your current usage is shown in the dashboard sidebar and under **Account → Plan**.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Privacy & Data

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What data does Shipstar access?">
    Shipstar accesses commit metadata (message, author, date, SHA) from your tracked GitHub repositories. It does not access file contents, pull request discussions, or issues — only commit messages.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is my data shared with third parties?">
    Generated content and your repository data are only accessible via authenticated API requests using your API key. Published content is accessible at its public URL by design.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I disconnect my GitHub account?">
    Yes. You can disconnect your GitHub account at any time from the dashboard or via the API. This removes all tracked repositories and revokes access.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Still have questions?

<Card title="Contact Support" icon="envelope" href="mailto:support@shipstar.ai">
  Reach out to the Shipstar team and we'll get back to you
</Card>