docsforge 10.2.3

Self-contained unified documentation engine with Material theme.

DocsForge

One package. One command. Beautiful docs.

DocsForge unifies the ProperDocs documentation engine and the Material for MkDocs theme into a single, installable package. You write content. DocsForge handles the engine, the theme, and the plugins.

📖 Documentation | 📦 PyPI | 🐙 GitHub

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Vision

MkDocs is effectively unmaintained. Material for MkDocs is in maintenance mode. ProperDocs is the actively maintained fork of MkDocs that keeps the ecosystem alive.

DocsForge makes the successor ecosystem effortless:

• One pip install gets you the engine + theme + recommended plugins.
• One config file (docsforge.yml) with no boilerplate plugins: list.
• Backward compatible — existing mkdocs.yml files work unchanged.
• Plugin system stays alive — we just auto-register Material plugins so you never write a plugins: section.

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Installation

pip install docsforge

That's it. ProperDocs, Material for MkDocs, and common plugins are installed together.

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Quick Start

1. Create a new site

docsforge new my-docs
cd my-docs

This scaffolds:

my-docs/
├── docsforge.yml          # Config with Material theme pre-selected
└── docs/
    └── index.md           # Starter page

2. Preview locally

docsforge serve

Material plugins (search, tags, etc.) are auto-registered — no plugins: list needed.

3. Build for production

docsforge build

4. Deploy to GitHub Pages

docsforge gh-deploy

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Config File

DocsForge looks for config in this priority:

1. docsforge.yml / docsforge.yaml ← preferred
2. properdocs.yml / properdocs.yaml
3. mkdocs.yml / mkdocs.yaml ← legacy fallback

Minimal docsforge.yml

site_name: My Documentation
site_url: https://example.com/
repo_url: https://github.com/username/repo

# Theme defaults to "material" — you can omit this entirely.
theme:
  name: material

# No plugins: section needed — search, tags, blog, privacy, social
# are auto-registered based on what you have installed.

Advanced — override auto-plugins

If you define plugins: yourself, DocsForge merges rather than overwrites:

site_name: My Docs

plugins:
  search:
    lang: en
  tags:
    tags_file: tags.md
  # blog, privacy, social are still auto-registered if available

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CLI Reference

Command	Description
docsforge new <name>	Scaffold a new project
docsforge serve	Live-reload dev server
docsforge build	Static site build
docsforge gh-deploy	Deploy to GitHub Pages

All commands accept -f / --config-file to override config discovery.

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Architecture

docsforge/                    # Unified package
├── __init__.py
├── cli.py                    # `docsforge` command (wraps properdocs)
├── config.py                 # Unified config loader
├── plugins/
│   └── auto_register.py      # Pre-loads Material plugins
├── engine/                   # ProperDocs core (git subtree)
│   └── (properdocs source)
└── themes/                   # Material for MkDocs (git subtree)
    └── (mkdocs-material source)

Key decisions:

1. Keep the plugin system alive. Material's plugins (blog, tags, privacy, social, search) are powerful. We auto-register them instead of rewriting them.
2. ProperDocs dual entrypoints. ProperDocs already supports both mkdocs.* and properdocs.* entrypoints, so Material works without code changes.
3. Unified CLI, not a fork. We wrap ProperDocs commands; we don't fork the engine.

See ARCHITECTURE.md for the full design record.

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License

GPL-3.0-or-later — same as ProperDocs.

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DocsForge is a repackaging project, not a fork. It keeps the MkDocs/ProperDocs ecosystem moving forward while the upstreams navigate their maintenance transitions.

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