diff --git a/.github/workflows/go.yml b/.github/workflows/go.yml
index 95805f34f..17af4fa21 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/go.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/go.yml
@@ -146,3 +146,12 @@ jobs:
           MACOS_NOTARIZATION_APPLE_ID: ${{ secrets.MACOS_NOTARIZATION_APPLE_ID }}
           MACOS_NOTARIZATION_TEAM_ID: ${{ secrets.MACOS_NOTARIZATION_TEAM_ID }}
           MACOS_NOTARIZATION_APP_PW: ${{ secrets.MACOS_NOTARIZATION_APP_PW }}
+
+      # an action that will ping another repo to trigger a docs build 
+      - name: Repository Dispatch
+        uses: peter-evans/repository-dispatch@v1
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
+          repository: defang-io/defang-docs
+          event-type: test-deploy
+      
diff --git a/src/cmd/cli/main.go b/src/cmd/cli/main.go
index aba52f77a..6ad3476af 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cli/main.go
+++ b/src/cmd/cli/main.go
@@ -751,11 +751,6 @@ var tosCmd = &cobra.Command{
 }
 
 func main() {
-
-	if len(os.Args) > 1 && os.Args[1] == "gen-docs" {
-		gen_docs()
-		return
-	}
 	defangFabric := pkg.Getenv("DEFANG_FABRIC", cli.DefaultCluster)
 	defangProvider := cliClient.Provider(pkg.Getenv("DEFANG_PROVIDER", "auto"))
 
@@ -956,6 +951,11 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	flushAllTracking()
+
+	if len(os.Args) > 2 && os.Args[1] == "gen-docs" && os.Args[2] != "" {
+		gen_docs(os.Args[2])
+		return
+	}
 }
 
 func prettyExecutable(def string) string {
@@ -1003,9 +1003,10 @@ func printDefangHint(hint, args string) {
 	}
 }
 
-func gen_docs() {
-	// Assume 'rootCmd' is the root of your command tree
-	err := doc.GenMarkdownTree(rootCmd, "./docs")
+func gen_docs(docsPath string) {
+	_ = os.Mkdir(docsPath, 0755)
+
+	err := doc.GenMarkdownTree(rootCmd, docsPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}