mkdocs-extrafiles

mkdocs-extrafiles is a lightweight MkDocs plugin that allows you to add files and directories from outside MkDocs document directory (docs_dir) to your MkDocs site build.

Features

• Pull individual files or glob patterns from anywhere outside your docs_dir.
• Resolve relative paths against the MkDocs configuration directory.
• Create real source File objects at build time.
• Automatically watch added sources during live reload (mkdocs serve).

Installation

From PyPI

pip install mkdocs-extrafiles

or, with astral-uv:

uv add mkdocs-extrafiles

From source

git clone https://github.com/your-username/mkdocs-extrafiles.git
cd mkdocs-extrafiles
pip install .

Quickstart

• src accepts absolute paths or paths relative to the MkDocs config file.
• dest accepts relative paths to the docs_dir; during a build they are created in site_dir.

Glob patterns (*, ?, []) require dest to end with / to indicate a directory target.

Configuration

Enable the plugin and list the external sources inside mkdocs.yml:

plugins:
  - search
  - extrafiles:
      files:
        - src: README.md # file
          dest: external/README.md
        - src: LICENSE # file -> rename/relocate
          dest: external/LICENSE.txt
        - src: assets/** # glob (copies all matches)
          dest: external/assets/ # must end with '/' to indicate a directory

Behavior

• mkdocs serve: Sources are streamed directly; nothing is copied into docs_dir, but live reload will watch the resolved absolute paths.
• mkdocs build: Virtual files are materialized into site_dir, so deployments that publish only the build output still include the added sources.
• Missing sources will result in a FileNotFoundError exception.

Troubleshooting

If you are using mkdocs-gen-files then you must place extrafiles after mkdocs-gen-files in your plugin settings.

plugins:
  - search
  - gen-files:
      scripts:
        - gen_ref_pages.py
  - extrafiles:
      files:
        - src: ../README.md
          dest: extras/README.md

Developer Guide

Set up a development environment with uv:

uv sync --all-extras --all-groups
uv run pytest tests
uv run ruff check
uv run ruff format

Key Development Principles

• Maintain 100% passing tests, at least 80% test coverage, formatting, and linting before opening a pull request.
• Update docstrings alongside code changes to keep the generated reference accurate.

Document Generation

Documentation is generated using MkDocs. The technical reference surfaces the reStructuredText style docstrings from the package's source code.

uv sync --group docs

# Run the development server
uv run mkdocs serve -f mkdocs/mkdocs.yaml
# Build the static site
uv run mkdocs build -f mkdocs/mkdocs.yaml

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! To get started:

1. Fork the repository and create a new branch.
2. Install development dependencies (see the developer guide).
3. Add or update tests together with your change.
4. Run the full test, linting, and formatting suite locally.
5. Submit a pull request describing your changes and referencing any relevant issues.

For major changes, open an issue first to discuss your proposal.

License

Distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE for details.

Contact

Questions or issues? Please open an issue on the repository's issue tracker.