diff --git a/doc/gendoc.py b/doc/gendoc.py
--- a/doc/gendoc.py
+++ b/doc/gendoc.py
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ def commandprinter(ui, cmdtable, section
             continue
         d = get_cmd(h[f], cmdtable)
         ui.write(sectionfunc(d['cmd']))
+        # short description
+        ui.write(d['desc'][0])
         # synopsis
         ui.write("::\n\n")
         synopsislines = d['synopsis'].splitlines()