diff --git a/doc/book/meson.build b/doc/book/meson.build
index fa8f1dbb..69fc13fa 100644
--- a/doc/book/meson.build
+++ b/doc/book/meson.build
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ srcs = files(
 	'src/Message_XML.md',
 	'src/Architecture.md',
 	'src/Introduction.md',
+	'src/Specification.md',
 	'src/images/content-updates/sync-to-desync-subsurf-3.png',
 	'src/images/content-updates/sync-subsurf-case2-2.png',
 	'src/images/content-updates/simple-synchronized-state-4.png',
diff --git a/doc/book/protocol-to-markdown.py b/doc/book/protocol-to-markdown.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..34f73eb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/book/protocol-to-markdown.py
@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import sys
+from xml.dom import Node
+from xml.dom.minidom import parse
+
+if len(sys.argv) != 2:
+    print("usage: protocol-to-markdown.py <xml>")
+    sys.exit(1)
+filename = sys.argv[1]
+
+doc = parse(filename)
+assert doc.documentElement.tagName == "protocol"
+
+def parse_protocol(node):
+    protocol = {
+        "copyright": None,
+        "summary": None,
+        "description": None,
+        "interfaces": [],
+    }
+    for child in filter(is_element, node.childNodes):
+        match child.tagName:
+            case "copyright":
+                protocol["copyright"] = parse_text(child)
+            case "description":
+                protocol |= parse_description(child)
+            case "interface":
+                protocol["interfaces"].append(parse_interface(child))
+    return protocol
+
+def parse_interface(node):
+    interface = {
+        "name": node.getAttribute("name"),
+        "version": node.getAttribute("version"),
+        "frozen": node.getAttribute("frozen") == "true",
+        "summary": None,
+        "description": None,
+        "requests": [],
+        "events": [],
+        "enums": [],
+    }
+    for child in filter(is_element, node.childNodes):
+        match child.tagName:
+            case "description":
+                interface |= parse_description(child)
+            case "request":
+                interface["requests"].append(parse_message(child))
+            case "event":
+                interface["events"].append(parse_message(child))
+            case "enum":
+                interface["enums"].append(parse_enum(child))
+    return interface
+
+def parse_message(node):
+    message = {
+        "name": node.getAttribute("name"),
+        "type": node.getAttribute("type"),
+        "since": node.getAttribute("since"),
+        "deprecated-since": node.getAttribute("deprecated-since"),
+        "summary": None,
+        "description": None,
+        "args": [],
+    }
+    for child in filter(is_element, node.childNodes):
+        match child.tagName:
+            case "description":
+                message |= parse_description(child)
+            case "arg":
+                message["args"].append(parse_arg(child))
+    return message
+
+def parse_arg(node):
+    arg = {
+        "name": node.getAttribute("name"),
+        "type": node.getAttribute("type"),
+        "summary": node.getAttribute("summary"),
+        "description": None,
+        "interface": node.getAttribute("interface"),
+        "allow-null": node.getAttribute("allow-null") == "true",
+        "enum": node.getAttribute("enum"),
+    }
+    for child in filter(is_element, node.childNodes):
+        if child.tagName == "description":
+            arg |= parse_description(child)
+    return arg
+
+def parse_enum(node):
+    enum = {
+        "name": node.getAttribute("name"),
+        "since": node.getAttribute("since"),
+        "bitfield": node.getAttribute("bitfield") == "true",
+        "summary": None,
+        "description": None,
+        "entries": [],
+    }
+    for child in filter(is_element, node.childNodes):
+        match child.tagName:
+            case "description":
+                enum |= parse_description(child)
+            case "entry":
+                enum["entries"].append(parse_entry(child))
+    return enum
+
+def parse_entry(node):
+    entry = {
+        "name": node.getAttribute("name"),
+        "value": node.getAttribute("value"),
+        "summary": node.getAttribute("summary"),
+        "since": node.getAttribute("since"),
+        "deprecated-since": node.getAttribute("deprecated-since"),
+    }
+    for child in filter(is_element, node.childNodes):
+        if child.tagName == "description":
+            entry |= parse_description(child)
+    return entry
+
+def parse_description(node):
+    return {
+        "summary": node.getAttribute("summary"),
+        "description": parse_text(node),
+    }
+
+def parse_text(node):
+    raw = "".join([child.data for child in node.childNodes])
+    raw = raw.lstrip("\n")
+
+    start = len(raw) - len(raw.lstrip())
+    indent = raw[:start]
+
+    lines = [l.removeprefix(indent) for l in raw.split("\n")]
+    return "\n".join(lines).strip()
+
+def is_element(node):
+    return node.nodeType == Node.ELEMENT_NODE
+
+def render_protocol(protocol):
+    if protocol["copyright"]:
+        print("```")
+        print(protocol["copyright"])
+        print("```")
+
+    if protocol["description"]:
+        print(protocol["description"])
+
+    for interface in protocol["interfaces"]:
+        render_interface(interface)
+
+def render_interface(interface):
+    render_header("##", interface)
+
+    for request in interface["requests"]:
+        render_message(request)
+    for event in interface["events"]:
+        render_message(event)
+    for enum in interface["enums"]:
+        render_enum(enum)
+
+def render_message(message):
+    render_header("###", message)
+
+    for arg in message["args"]:
+        print(f"`{arg["name"]}`")
+        print(f"  : `{arg["type"]}` — {arg["summary"]}")
+        print("")
+
+def render_enum(enum):
+    render_header("###", enum)
+
+    for entry in enum["entries"]:
+        print(f"`{entry["name"]}`")
+        print(f"  : `{entry["value"]}` — {entry["summary"]}")
+        print("")
+
+def render_header(heading, element):
+    print("")
+    print(f"{heading} `{element["name"]}`", end="")
+    if element["summary"]:
+        print(f" — {element["summary"]}")
+    else:
+        print("")
+    print("")
+    if element["description"]:
+        print(element["description"])
+        print("")
+
+protocol = parse_protocol(doc.documentElement)
+render_protocol(protocol)
diff --git a/doc/book/src/SUMMARY.md b/doc/book/src/SUMMARY.md
index 713b4e02..a42224f6 100644
--- a/doc/book/src/SUMMARY.md
+++ b/doc/book/src/SUMMARY.md
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@
 - [X11 Application Support](./Xwayland.md)
 - [Content Updates](./Content_Updates.md)
 - [Color management](./Color.md)
+- [Specification](./Specification.md)