Metafi
Engineering

How Metafi builds interactive docs Slack

Delivering a good user experience without compromising the authoring experience required us to rethink how content is modeled and rendered.

How Metafi builds interactive docs Slack
Darlene RobertsonOct 24, 2023
5–7 minute read

Why “interactive docs”?

Docs that answer themselves reduce support load and lift adoption. We describe our block protocol, live components, and Slack surface.


The Problem with Static Docs

Most documentation is read-only. When users hit a question, they leave the page—or worse, churn.
We wanted docs that respond to input, show live API examples, and even work directly inside Slack.

The Block Protocol

We built a “block protocol” that lets writers embed live components—forms, code runners, or data previews—directly in Markdown.
Each block is sandboxed, versioned, and composable.

Rendering in Slack

Slack’s Block Kit made it possible to render these docs as interactive threads.
When a user types /metafi help, they see the same doc rendered with buttons, dropdowns, and API previews—all without leaving chat.

Why It Works

Support teams now close tickets faster. Developers stay in context.
Interactive docs aren’t a marketing gimmick—they’re the next evolution of self-service education.