diff --git a/generate/config.go b/generate/config.go
index e96774d..43383dc 100644
--- a/generate/config.go
+++ b/generate/config.go
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ import (
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 )
 
+// Config represents genqlient's configuration, generally read from
+// genqlient.yaml.
+//
+// Callers must call ValidateAndFillDefaults before using the config.
 type Config struct {
 	// The filename with the GraphQL schema (in SDL format); defaults to
 	// schema.graphql
@@ -100,8 +104,9 @@ type Config struct {
 	// them at your own risk!
 	AllowBrokenFeatures bool `yaml:"allow_broken_features"`
 
-	// Set automatically to the filename of the config file itself.
-	configFilename string
+	// The directory of the config-file (relative to which all the other paths
+	// are resolved).  Set by ValidateAndFillDefaults.
+	baseDir string
 }
 
 // A TypeBinding represents a Go type to which genqlient will bind a particular
@@ -134,22 +139,21 @@ type TypeBinding struct {
 	ExpectExactFields string `yaml:"expect_exact_fields"`
 }
 
-// baseDir returns the directory of the config-file (relative to which
-// all the other paths are resolved).
-func (c *Config) baseDir() string {
-	return filepath.Dir(c.configFilename)
-}
-
-func (c *Config) ValidateAndFillDefaults(configFilename string) error {
-	c.configFilename = configFilename
+// ValidateAndFillDefaults ensures that the configuration is valid, and fills
+// in any options that were unspecified.
+//
+// The argument is the directory relative to which paths will be interpreted,
+// typically the directory of the config file.
+func (c *Config) ValidateAndFillDefaults(baseDir string) error {
+	c.baseDir = baseDir
 	// Make paths relative to config dir
-	c.Schema = filepath.Join(c.baseDir(), c.Schema)
+	c.Schema = filepath.Join(baseDir, c.Schema)
 	for i := range c.Operations {
-		c.Operations[i] = filepath.Join(c.baseDir(), c.Operations[i])
+		c.Operations[i] = filepath.Join(baseDir, c.Operations[i])
 	}
-	c.Generated = filepath.Join(c.baseDir(), c.Generated)
+	c.Generated = filepath.Join(baseDir, c.Generated)
 	if c.ExportOperations != "" {
-		c.ExportOperations = filepath.Join(c.baseDir(), c.ExportOperations)
+		c.ExportOperations = filepath.Join(baseDir, c.ExportOperations)
 	}
 
 	if c.ContextType == "" {
@@ -173,6 +177,8 @@ func (c *Config) ValidateAndFillDefaults(configFilename string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// ReadAndValidateConfig reads the configuration from the given file, validates
+// it, and returns it.
 func ReadAndValidateConfig(filename string) (*Config, error) {
 	text, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filename)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -185,7 +191,7 @@ func ReadAndValidateConfig(filename string) (*Config, error) {
 		return nil, errorf(nil, "invalid config file %v: %v", filename, err)
 	}
 
-	err = config.ValidateAndFillDefaults(filename)
+	err = config.ValidateAndFillDefaults(filepath.Dir(filename))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errorf(nil, "invalid config file %v: %v", filename, err)
 	}
diff --git a/generate/generate.go b/generate/generate.go
index 8c9bc7c..986e92a 100644
--- a/generate/generate.go
+++ b/generate/generate.go
@@ -329,11 +329,12 @@ func (g *generator) addOperation(op *ast.OperationDefinition) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// Generate returns a map from absolute-path filename to generated content.
+// Generate is the main programmatic entrypoint to genqlient, and generates and
+// returns Go source code based on the given configuration.
 //
-// This is the main entrypoint to the code-generation process for callers who
-// wish to manage the config-reading (ReadAndValidateConfig) and file-writing
-// on their own.  (Those are wired in by Main.)
+// See Config for more on creating a configuration.  The return value is a map
+// from filename to the generated file-content (e.g. Go source).  Callers who
+// don't want to manage reading and writing the files should call Main.
 func Generate(config *Config) (map[string][]byte, error) {
 	// Step 1: Read in the schema and operations from the files defined by the
 	// config (and validate the operations against the schema).  This is all
@@ -343,7 +344,7 @@ func Generate(config *Config) (map[string][]byte, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	document, err := getAndValidateQueries(config.baseDir(), config.Operations, schema)
+	document, err := getAndValidateQueries(config.baseDir, config.Operations, schema)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/generate/generate_test.go b/generate/generate_test.go
index 6a271b2..566eb32 100644
--- a/generate/generate_test.go
+++ b/generate/generate_test.go
@@ -145,43 +145,43 @@ func defaultConfig(t *testing.T) *Config {
 // configurations.  It uses snapshots, just like TestGenerate.
 func TestGenerateWithConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
-		name               string
-		fakeConfigFilename string
-		config             *Config // omits Schema and Operations, set below.
+		name    string
+		baseDir string  // relative to dataDir
+		config  *Config // omits Schema and Operations, set below.
 	}{
-		{"DefaultConfig", "genqlient.yaml", defaultConfig(t)},
-		{"Subpackage", "genqlient.yaml", &Config{
+		{"DefaultConfig", "", defaultConfig(t)},
+		{"Subpackage", "", &Config{
 			Generated: "mypkg/myfile.go",
 		}},
-		{"SubpackageConfig", "mypkg/genqlient.yaml", &Config{
+		{"SubpackageConfig", "mypkg", &Config{
 			Generated: "myfile.go", // (relative to genqlient.yaml)
 		}},
-		{"PackageName", "genqlient.yaml", &Config{
+		{"PackageName", "", &Config{
 			Generated: "myfile.go",
 			Package:   "mypkg",
 		}},
-		{"ExportOperations", "genqlient.yaml", &Config{
+		{"ExportOperations", "", &Config{
 			Generated:        "generated.go",
 			ExportOperations: "operations.json",
 		}},
-		{"CustomContext", "genqlient.yaml", &Config{
+		{"CustomContext", "", &Config{
 			Generated:   "generated.go",
 			ContextType: "github.com/Khan/genqlient/internal/testutil.MyContext",
 		}},
-		{"NoContext", "genqlient.yaml", &Config{
+		{"NoContext", "", &Config{
 			Generated:   "generated.go",
 			ContextType: "-",
 		}},
-		{"ClientGetter", "genqlient.yaml", &Config{
+		{"ClientGetter", "", &Config{
 			Generated:    "generated.go",
 			ClientGetter: "github.com/Khan/genqlient/internal/testutil.GetClientFromContext",
 		}},
-		{"ClientGetterCustomContext", "genqlient.yaml", &Config{
+		{"ClientGetterCustomContext", "", &Config{
 			Generated:    "generated.go",
 			ClientGetter: "github.com/Khan/genqlient/internal/testutil.GetClientFromMyContext",
 			ContextType:  "github.com/Khan/genqlient/internal/testutil.MyContext",
 		}},
-		{"ClientGetterNoContext", "genqlient.yaml", &Config{
+		{"ClientGetterNoContext", "", &Config{
 			Generated:    "generated.go",
 			ClientGetter: "github.com/Khan/genqlient/internal/testutil.GetClientFromNowhere",
 			ContextType:  "-",
@@ -192,9 +192,9 @@ func TestGenerateWithConfig(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
 		config := test.config
+		baseDir := filepath.Join(dataDir, test.baseDir)
 		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			err := config.ValidateAndFillDefaults(
-				filepath.Join(dataDir, test.fakeConfigFilename))
+			err := config.ValidateAndFillDefaults(baseDir)
 			config.Schema = filepath.Join(dataDir, "schema.graphql")
 			config.Operations = []string{filepath.Join(dataDir, sourceFilename)}
 			if err != nil {
diff --git a/generate/main.go b/generate/main.go
index 8841879..d35a097 100644
--- a/generate/main.go
+++ b/generate/main.go
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+// Package generate provides programmatic access to genqlient's functionality,
+// and documentation of its configuration options.  For general usage
+// documentation, see github.com/Khan/genqlient.
 package generate
 
 import (
@@ -50,6 +53,9 @@ See https://github.com/Khan/genqlient for full documentation.
 `)
 }
 
+// Main is the command-line entrypoint to genqlient; it's equivalent to calling
+// `go run github.com/Khan/genqlient`.  For lower-level control over
+// genqlient's operation, see Generate.
 func Main() {
 	exitIfError := func(err error) {
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index d086fd8..5327d16 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
-// package main is at the root to allow "go run github.com/Khan/genqlient"
+// genqlient is a GraphQL client generator for Go.
+//
+// To run genqlient:
+//	go run github.com/Khan/genqlient
+// For programmatic access, see the "generate" package, below.  For
+// user documentation, see github.com/Khan/genqlient.
 package main
 
 import (