diff --git a/doc/code_navigation/references/inference_configuration.md b/doc/code_navigation/references/inference_configuration.md
index b0c3ba542f0..8db7ecbee4d 100644
--- a/doc/code_navigation/references/inference_configuration.md
+++ b/doc/code_navigation/references/inference_configuration.md
@@ -60,10 +60,10 @@ local snek_recognizer = recognizer.new_path_recognizer {
     pattern.new_path_basename("Snek.module"),
 
     -- Ignore any files in test or vendor directories
-    pattern.new_path_exclude(pattern.new_path_combine {
+    pattern.new_path_exclude(
       pattern.new_path_segment("test"),
-      pattern.new_path_segment("vendor"),
-    }),
+      pattern.new_path_segment("vendor")
+    ),
   },
 
   -- Called with list of matching Snek.module files
@@ -94,37 +94,88 @@ return require("sg.autoindex.config").new({
 
 There are a number of specific and general-purpose Lua libraries made accessible via the built-in `require`.
 
+The type signatures for the functions below use the following syntax:
+
+- `(A1, ..., An) -> R`: Function type with arguments of type `A1, ..., An` and return type `R`.
+- `array[A]`: Table with indexes 1 to N of elements of type `A`.
+- `table[K, V]`: Table with keys of type `K` and values of type `V`.
+- `A | B`: Union type (includes values of type `A` and type `B`).
+- `A...`: Variadic (0 or more values of A, without being wrapped in a table).
+- `"mystring"`: Literal string type with only `"mystring"` as the allowed value.
+- `{K1: V1, K2: V2, ...}`: Heterogenous table (object) with a key of type `K1` mapping to a value of type `V1` etc.
+- `void`: no value returned from function
+
 ### `sg.autoindex.recognizer`
 
 This auto-indexing-specific library defines the following two functions.
 
 <!-- TODO - document paths_for_content;api.register -->
-- `new_path_recognizer` creates a `recognizer` from a config object containing `patterns` and `generate` fields. See the [example](#example) above for basic usage.
+- `new_path_recognizer` creates a `Recognizer` from a config object containing `patterns` and `generate` fields. See the [example](#example) above for basic usage.
+  - Type:
+    ```
+    ({
+      "patterns": array[pattern],
+      "patterns_for_content": array[pattern],
+      "generate": (registration_api, paths: array[string], contents_by_path: table[string, string]) -> array[index_job],
+    }) -> recognizer
+    ```
+    where `index_job` is an object with the following shape:
+    ```
+    index_job = {
+      "indexer": string, -- Docker image for the indexer
+      "root": string,    -- working directory for invoking the indexer
+      "steps": array[{   -- preparatory steps to run before invoking the indexer (e.g. installing dependencies)
+        "root": string,  -- working directory for this step
+        "image": string  -- Docker image to use for preparatory step
+        "commands": array[string] -- List of commands to run inside the Docker image
+      }],
+      "indexer_args": array[string], -- command-line arguments to be passed to the indexer
+      "outfile": string, -- path to the index generated by the indexer
+    }
+    ```
 - `new_fallback_recognizer` creates a `recognizer` from an ordered list of `recognizer`s. Each `recognizer` is called sequentially, until one of them emits non-empty results.
+  - Type: `(array[recognizer]) -> recognizer`
+
+The `registration_api` object has the following API:
+- `register` which queues a `recognizer` to be run at a later stage.
+  This makes it possible to add more recognizers dynamically,
+  such as based on whether specific configuration files were found or not.
+  - Type: `(recognizer) -> void`
 
 ### `sg.autoindex.patterns`
 
 This auto-indexing-specific library defines the following four path pattern constructors.
 
-- `new_path_literal(pattern)` creates a `pattern` that matches an exact filepath.
-- `new_path_segment(pattern)` creates a `pattern` that matches a directory name.
-- `new_path_basename(pattern)` creates a `pattern` that matches a basename exactly.
-- `new_path_extension(ext_no_dot)` creates a `pattern` that matches files with a given extension.
+- `new_path_literal(fullpath)` creates a `pattern` that matches an exact filepath.
+  - Type: `(string) -> pattern`
+- `new_path_segment(segment)` creates a `pattern` that matches a directory name.
+  - Type: `(string) -> pattern`
+- `new_path_basename(basename)` creates a `pattern` that matches a basename exactly.
+  - Type: `(string) -> pattern`
+- `new_path_extension(ext_no_leading_dot)` creates a `pattern` that matches files with a given extension. 
+  - Type: `(string) -> pattern`
 
 This library also defines the following two pattern collection constructors.
 
 - `new_path_combine(patterns)` creates a pattern collection object (to be used with [recognizers](#sg-autoindex-recognizers)) from the given set of path `pattern`s.
+  - Type: `((pattern | array[pattern])...) -> pattern`
 - `new_path_exclude(patterns)` creates a new _inverted_ pattern collection object. Paths matching these `pattern`s are filtered out from the set of matching filepaths given to a recognizer's `generate` function.
+  - Type: `((pattern | array[pattern])...) -> pattern`
 
-### `paths`
+### `path`
 
-This library defines the following five path utility functions:
+This library defines the following utility functions:
 
-- `ancestors(path)` returns a path's parent, grandparent, etc as a list.
-- `basename(path)` returns the basename of the given path.
-- `dirname(path)` returns the dirname of the given path.
-- `join(paths)` returns a filepath created by joining the given path segments via filepath separator.
-- `split(path)` split a path into an ordered sequence of path segments.
+- `ancestors(path)` returns a list `{dirname(path), dirname(dirname(path)), ...}`. The last element in the list will be an empty string.
+  - Type: `(string) -> array[string]`
+- `basename(path)` returns the basename of the given path as defined by Go's [filepath.Base](https://pkg.go.dev/path/filepath#Base).
+  - Type: `(string) -> string`
+- `dirname(path)` returns the dirname of the given path as defined by Go's [filepath.Dir](https://pkg.go.dev/path/filepath#Dir), except that it (1) returns an empty path instead of `"."` if the path is empty and (2) removes a leading `/` if present.
+  - Type: `string -> string`
+- `join(path1, path2)` returns a filepath created by joining the given path segments via filepath separator.
+  - Type: `(string, string) -> string`
+- `split(path)` is a convenience function that returns `dirname(path), basename(path)`.
+  - Type: `(string) -> string, string`
 
 ### `json`
 
diff --git a/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/libs/patterns.go b/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/libs/patterns.go
index 03f00da0015..412af5a127e 100644
--- a/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/libs/patterns.go
+++ b/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/libs/patterns.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ func (api patternAPI) LuaAPI() map[string]lua.LGFunction {
 	}
 
 	return map[string]lua.LGFunction{
+		// type: (string, array[string]) -> pattern
 		"backdoor": util.WrapLuaFunction(func(state *lua.LState) error {
 			glob := state.CheckString(1)
 			pathspecTable := state.CheckTable(2)
@@ -48,7 +49,9 @@ func (api patternAPI) LuaAPI() map[string]lua.LGFunction {
 			state.Push(luar.New(state, luatypes.NewPattern(glob, pathspecs)))
 			return nil
 		}),
+		// type: ((pattern | array[pattern])...) -> pattern
 		"path_combine": util.WrapLuaFunction(newPathPatternCombineConstructor(luatypes.NewCombinedPattern)),
+		// type: ((pattern | array[pattern])...) -> pattern
 		"path_exclude": util.WrapLuaFunction(newPathPatternCombineConstructor(luatypes.NewExcludePattern)),
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/libs/recognizers.go b/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/libs/recognizers.go
index a8672155f25..201d01d9748 100644
--- a/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/libs/recognizers.go
+++ b/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/libs/recognizers.go
@@ -14,12 +14,18 @@ type recognizerAPI struct{}
 
 func (api recognizerAPI) LuaAPI() map[string]lua.LGFunction {
 	return map[string]lua.LGFunction{
+		// type: ({
+		//   "patterns": array[pattern],
+		//   "patterns_for_content": array[pattern],
+		//   "generate": (registration_api, paths: array[string], contents_by_path: table[string, string]) -> void,
+		//   "hints": (registration_api, paths: array[string]) -> void
+		// }) -> recognizer
 		"path_recognizer": util.WrapLuaFunction(func(state *lua.LState) error {
 			recognizer, err := luatypes.RecognizerFromTable(state.CheckTable(1))
 			state.Push(luar.New(state, recognizer))
 			return err
 		}),
-
+		// type: (array[recognizer]) -> recognizer
 		"fallback_recognizer": util.WrapLuaFunction(func(state *lua.LState) error {
 			recognizers, err := util.MapSlice(state.CheckTable(1), func(value lua.LValue) (*luatypes.Recognizer, error) {
 				return util.TypecheckUserData[*luatypes.Recognizer](value, "*Recognizer")
diff --git a/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/lua/patterns.lua b/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/lua/patterns.lua
index 9ba1f9b07b2..fe0b080cb8c 100644
--- a/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/lua/patterns.lua
+++ b/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/lua/patterns.lua
@@ -1,43 +1,50 @@
-local patterns = require "internal_patterns"
+local pattern_lib = require "internal_patterns"
 
 local M = {}
 
+-- type: (string, array[string]) -> pattern
 local new_pattern = function(glob, pathspecs)
-    return patterns.backdoor(glob, pathspecs)
+    return pattern_lib.backdoor(glob, pathspecs)
 end
 
 -- glob:     /BUILD.bazel
 -- pathspec:  BUILD.bazel
-M.new_path_literal = function(pattern)
-    return new_pattern("/" .. pattern, {pattern})
+-- type: (string) -> pattern
+M.new_path_literal = function(globlike)
+    return new_pattern("/" .. globlike, {globlike})
 end
 
 -- glob:       web/
 -- pathspec:   web/* (root)
 -- pathspec: */web/* (non-root)
-M.new_path_segment = function(pattern)
-    return new_pattern(pattern .. "/", {pattern .. "/*", "*/" .. pattern .. "/*"})
+-- type: (string) -> pattern
+M.new_path_segment = function(globlike)
+    return new_pattern(globlike .. "/", {globlike .. "/*", "*/" .. globlike .. "/*"})
 end
 
 -- glob:       gen.go
 -- pathspec:   gen.go (root)
 -- pathspec: */gen.go (non-root)
-M.new_path_basename = function(pattern)
-    return new_pattern(pattern, {pattern, "*/" .. pattern})
+-- type: (string) -> pattern
+M.new_path_basename = function(globlike)
+    return new_pattern(globlike, {globlike, "*/" .. globlike})
 end
 
 -- glob:     *.md
 -- pathspec: *.md
-M.new_path_extension = function(pattern)
-    return new_pattern("*." .. pattern, {"*." .. pattern})
+-- type: (string) -> pattern
+M.new_path_extension = function(globlike)
+    return new_pattern("*." .. globlike, {"*." .. globlike})
 end
 
-M.new_path_combine = function(pattern)
-    return patterns.path_combine(pattern)
+-- type: ((pattern | table[pattern])...) -> pattern
+M.new_path_combine = function(one_or_more_patterns)
+    return pattern_lib.path_combine(one_or_more_patterns)
 end
 
-M.new_path_exclude = function(pattern)
-    return patterns.path_exclude(pattern)
+-- type: ((pattern | table[pattern])...) -> pattern
+M.new_path_exclude = function(one_or_more_patterns)
+    return pattern_lib.path_exclude(one_or_more_patterns)
 end
 
 return M
diff --git a/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/lua/recognizer.lua b/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/lua/recognizer.lua
index 9e00f878d02..ce00fd5561d 100644
--- a/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/lua/recognizer.lua
+++ b/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/lua/recognizer.lua
@@ -30,10 +30,17 @@ local normalize = function(config)
   return config
 end
 
+-- type: ({
+--   "patterns": array[pattern],
+--   "patterns_for_content": array[pattern],
+--   "generate": (registration_api, paths: array[string], contents_by_path: table[string, string]) -> void,
+--   "hints": (registration_api, paths: array[string]) -> void
+-- }) -> recognizer
 M.new_path_recognizer = function(config)
   return recognizers.path_recognizer(normalize(config))
 end
 
+-- type: (array[recognizer]) -> recognizer
 M.new_fallback_recognizer = function(config)
   return recognizers.fallback_recognizer(config)
 end
diff --git a/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/service.go b/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/service.go
index cccad98ea14..051ea191523 100644
--- a/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/service.go
+++ b/internal/codeintel/autoindexing/internal/inference/service.go
@@ -452,6 +452,11 @@ type registrationAPI struct {
 	recognizers []*luatypes.Recognizer
 }
 
+// Register adds another recognizer to be run at a later point.
+//
+// WARNING: This function is exposed directly to Lua through the 'api' parameter
+// of the generate(..) function, so changing the signature may break existing
+// auto-indexing scripts.
 func (api *registrationAPI) Register(recognizer *luatypes.Recognizer) {
 	api.recognizers = append(api.recognizers, recognizer)
 }
diff --git a/internal/luasandbox/libs/paths.go b/internal/luasandbox/libs/paths.go
index b3ea7e2fddf..355c6c085a0 100644
--- a/internal/luasandbox/libs/paths.go
+++ b/internal/luasandbox/libs/paths.go
@@ -15,21 +15,22 @@ type pathAPI struct{}
 
 func (api pathAPI) LuaAPI() map[string]lua.LGFunction {
 	return map[string]lua.LGFunction{
+		// type: (string) -> array[string]
 		"ancestors": util.WrapLuaFunction(func(state *lua.LState) error {
 			state.Push(luar.New(state, ancestorDirs(state.CheckString(1))))
 			return nil
 		}),
-
+		// type: (string) -> string
 		"basename": util.WrapLuaFunction(func(state *lua.LState) error {
 			state.Push(luar.New(state, filepath.Base(state.CheckString(1))))
 			return nil
 		}),
-
+		// type: (string) -> string
 		"dirname": util.WrapLuaFunction(func(state *lua.LState) error {
 			state.Push(luar.New(state, dirWithoutDot(state.CheckString(1))))
 			return nil
 		}),
-
+		// type: (string, string) -> string
 		"join": util.WrapLuaFunction(func(state *lua.LState) error {
 			state.Push(luar.New(state, filepath.Join(state.CheckString(1), state.CheckString(2))))
 			return nil
diff --git a/internal/luasandbox/lua/path.lua b/internal/luasandbox/lua/path.lua
index eba19763504..55809da876a 100644
--- a/internal/luasandbox/lua/path.lua
+++ b/internal/luasandbox/lua/path.lua
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ local internal_path = require "internal_path"
 
 local M = {}
 
+-- type: (string) -> array[string]
 M.ancestors = function(path)
   local ax = internal_path.ancestors(path)
 
@@ -13,18 +14,22 @@ M.ancestors = function(path)
   return t
 end
 
+-- type: (string) -> string
 M.basename = function(path)
   return internal_path.basename(path)
 end
 
+-- type: (string) -> string
 M.dirname = function(path)
   return internal_path.dirname(path)
 end
 
+-- type: (string, string) -> string
 M.join = function(p1, p2)
   return internal_path.join(p1, p2)
 end
 
+-- type: string -> string, string
 M.split = function(path)
   return M.dirname(path), M.basename(path)
 end