Render applies_to as readable text in LLM markdown output

src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/LlmMarkdownExporter.cs

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 using Elastic.Documentation.Configuration;
 using Elastic.Documentation.Configuration.Products;
 using Elastic.Markdown.Helpers;
+using Elastic.Markdown.Myst.Renderers.LlmMarkdown;
 using Markdig.Syntax;
 
 namespace Elastic.Markdown.Exporters;
@@ -155,6 +156,14 @@ private string CreateLlmContentWithMetadata(MarkdownExportFileContext context, s
 				_ = metadata.AppendLine($"  - {item}");
 		}
 
+		// Add applies_to information from frontmatter
+		if (sourceFile.YamlFrontMatter?.AppliesTo is not null)
+		{
+			var appliesToText = LlmAppliesToHelper.RenderApplicableTo(sourceFile.YamlFrontMatter.AppliesTo, context.BuildContext);
+			if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(appliesToText))
+				_ = metadata.AppendLine($"applies_to: {appliesToText}");
+		}
+
 		_ = metadata.AppendLine("---");
 		_ = metadata.AppendLine();
 		_ = metadata.AppendLine($"# {sourceFile.Title}");

src/Elastic.Markdown/Myst/Renderers/LlmMarkdown/LlmAppliesToHelper.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+// Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V under one or more agreements.
+// Elasticsearch B.V licenses this file to you under the Apache 2.0 License.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information
+
+using System.Text;
+using Elastic.Documentation;
+using Elastic.Documentation.AppliesTo;
+using Elastic.Documentation.Configuration;
+using Elastic.Markdown.Myst.Components;
+
+namespace Elastic.Markdown.Myst.Renderers.LlmMarkdown;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Helper class to render ApplicableTo information in LLM-friendly text format
+/// </summary>
+public static class LlmAppliesToHelper
+{
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Converts ApplicableTo to a readable text format for LLM consumption
+	/// </summary>
+	public static string RenderApplicableTo(ApplicableTo? appliesTo, IDocumentationConfigurationContext buildContext)
+	{
+		if (appliesTo is null || appliesTo == ApplicableTo.All)
+			return string.Empty;
+
+		var viewModel = new ApplicableToViewModel
+		{
+			AppliesTo = appliesTo,
+			Inline = false,
+			ShowTooltip = false,
+			VersionsConfig = buildContext.VersionsConfiguration
+		};
+
+		var items = viewModel.GetApplicabilityItems();
+		if (items.Count == 0)
+			return string.Empty;
+
+		var itemList = new List<string>();
+
+		foreach (var item in items)
+		{
+			var text = BuildApplicabilityText(item);
+			if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
+				itemList.Add(text);
+		}
+
+		if (itemList.Count == 0)
+			return string.Empty;
+
+		return string.Join(", ", itemList);
+	}
+
+	private static string BuildApplicabilityText(ApplicabilityItem item)
+	{
+		// For LLM output, use the shorter Key name for better readability
+		var parts = new List<string> { item.Key };
+
+		// For LLM output, show the actual applicability information directly
+		var applicability = item.Applicability;
+
+		// Add lifecycle if it's not GA
+		if (applicability.Lifecycle != ProductLifecycle.GenerallyAvailable)
+			parts.Add(applicability.GetLifeCycleName());
+
+		// Add version information if present
+		if (applicability.Version is not null and not AllVersionsSpec)
+		{
+			var versionText = FormatVersion(applicability.Version);
+			if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(versionText))
+				parts.Add(versionText);
+		}
+
+		return string.Join(" ", parts);
+	}
+
+	private static string FormatVersion(VersionSpec versionSpec)
+	{
+		var min = versionSpec.Min;
+		var max = versionSpec.Max;
+		var showMinPatch = versionSpec.ShowMinPatch;
+		var showMaxPatch = versionSpec.ShowMaxPatch;
+
+		static string FormatSemVersion(SemVersion v, bool showPatch) =>
+			showPatch ? $"{v.Major}.{v.Minor}.{v.Patch}" : $"{v.Major}.{v.Minor}";
+
+		return versionSpec.Kind switch
+		{
+			VersionSpecKind.GreaterThanOrEqual => $"{FormatSemVersion(min, showMinPatch)}+",
+			VersionSpecKind.Range when max is not null => $"{FormatSemVersion(min, showMinPatch)}-{FormatSemVersion(max, showMaxPatch)}",
+			VersionSpecKind.Exact => FormatSemVersion(min, showMinPatch),
+			_ => string.Empty
+		};
+	}
+}

src/Elastic.Markdown/Myst/Renderers/LlmMarkdown/LlmBlockRenderers.cs

@@ -436,7 +436,18 @@ protected override void Write(LlmMarkdownRenderer renderer, DirectiveBlock obj)
 		switch (obj)
 		{
 			case IBlockAppliesTo appliesBlock when !string.IsNullOrEmpty(appliesBlock.AppliesToDefinition):
-				renderer.Writer.Write($" applies-to=\"{appliesBlock.AppliesToDefinition}\"");
+				// Check if the block has a parsed AppliesTo object (e.g., AdmonitionBlock)
+				var appliesToText = obj switch
+				{
+					AdmonitionBlock admonition when admonition.AppliesTo is not null =>
+						LlmAppliesToHelper.RenderApplicableTo(admonition.AppliesTo, renderer.BuildContext),
+					_ => null
+				};
+				// Fallback to raw definition if parsing didn't work or returned empty
+				appliesToText ??= appliesBlock.AppliesToDefinition;
+
+				if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(appliesToText))
+					renderer.Writer.Write($" applies-to=\"{appliesToText}\"");
 				break;
 		}
 

src/Elastic.Markdown/Myst/Renderers/LlmMarkdown/LlmInlineRenderers.cs

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 using Elastic.Markdown.Myst.InlineParsers.Substitution;
 using Elastic.Markdown.Myst.Roles;
+using Elastic.Markdown.Myst.Roles.AppliesTo;
 using Elastic.Markdown.Myst.Roles.Kbd;
 using Markdig.Renderers;
 using Markdig.Syntax.Inlines;
@@ -101,7 +102,13 @@ protected override void Write(LlmMarkdownRenderer renderer, RoleLeaf obj)
 					renderer.Writer.Write(output);
 					break;
 				}
-			// TODO: Add support for applies_to role
+			case AppliesToRole appliesTo:
+				{
+					var text = LlmAppliesToHelper.RenderApplicableTo(appliesTo.AppliesTo, renderer.BuildContext);
+					if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
+						renderer.Writer.Write($"[{text}]");
+					break;
+				}
 			default:
 				{
 					new LlmCodeInlineRenderer().Write(renderer, obj);

tests/authoring/LlmMarkdown/LlmMarkdownOutput.fs

@@ -133,9 +133,9 @@ This is an inline {applies_to}`stack: preview 9.1` element.
 """
 
     [<Fact>]
-    let ``converts to plain text with optional comment`` () =
+    let ``converts to readable text`` () =
         markdown |> convertsToNewLLM """
-        This is an inline `stack: preview 9.1` element.
+        This is an inline [Stack Preview 9.1+] element.
         """
 
 type ``admonition directive`` () =